THE 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM, 



FROM 



THE EARLIEST CORRUPTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY 
TO THE PRESENT TIME ; 



WITH 



FULL CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, INDEXES, AND GLOSSARY, 

anft fifty 31Iti0trnfinB iPngronings. 



A NEW EDITION, WITH A SUPPLEMENT 

CONTINUING THE HISTORY FROM THE ACCESSION OP 

POPE PIUS IX. TO THE PRESENT TIME 

a. d. 1853. 

BY JOHN DOWLING, D. D., 

PASTOR OF SANSOM-STREET CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 



MvaTr'iptnv ; Tlaftv\u>» /) pzyd\ri, ff pt')Ttip tS>v nopvSv Kal Tuv ^tXuy/tiaruv rfc y?)?. 

Rkv. xvil. 5. 



NEW YORK: 
EDWARD WALKER, 114 FULTON-STREET. 

CANADA WEST: 

HAY & THATCHER, PORT HOPE. 

1853. 



4 



/ 




PUBLISHER'S NOTICE 

TO THE NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION. 



/T? 



About six years only have elapsed since the First Edition of 
the present Work was issued from the press, yet it has already ob- 
tained a circulation much more extensive than any other large vol- 
ume ever published in America, upon the subject of which it treats ; 
or perhaps in England, with the single exception of Fox's Book of 
Martyrs. Upwards of Twenty Thousand copies have already been 
called for, and we have now the pleasure of presenting a new and 
much enlarged Edition to an intelligent and discerning public- 

To render the work as complete as possible, and in compliance 
with the suggestions of many of the warmest friends of the Protes- 
tant cause, the author, Dr. Dowling, has consented to prepare for 
the present edition a Supplement of about one hundred and fifty 
pages, comprising biographical sketches of the last Pope, Gregory 
XVI., and the present, Pius IX., and a succint history of the revo- 
lution in Rome by which the Pontiff was driven from his throne, 
the noble struggle of the Roman patriots with the French, Aus- 
trian, and papal forces, the Pope's return to Rome, and the other 
important and remarkable events by which the Pontificate of Pius 
IX. has hitherto been distinguished, up to the present year, a. d., 
1853. 

In issuing the work with the Author's final corrections and addi- 
tions, the Publisher embraces the opportunity of tendering his thanks 
to the friends of Protestantism and the Bible, of all denominations, 
for the general and hearty favor with which this History of Roman- 
ism has been received ; and to the religious, literary, and secular 
press throughout the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, for 
the very flattering encomiums which, almost without an exception, 
Protestant editors have united in pronouncing upon the work, and 
upon its character as a standard authority upon the subject of which 
it treats. EDWARD WALKER, 

New York, April Sd, 1853. 114 Fulton Street. 



PREFACE. 



The present work is intended to supply a chasm that has long been 
felt by ministers, theological students, and other intelligent protes- 
tants, in the historical and religious literature of the age. 

While a multitude of works have been published (many of great 
value) on the subjects of controversy between protestants and 
papists, or on special topics illustrative of particular periods in the 
history, or particular traits in the character of Popery, the need has 
long been felt of a complete, yet comprehensive History of Roman- 
ism, through the whole period of its existence, which, in the com- 
pass of a single volume, might present, in chronological order, the 
origin and history of its unscriptural doctrines and ceremonies, the 
biography of its most famous (or infamous) popes, the proceedings 
and decrees of its most celebrated councils, with so much of the 
details of its tyranny over monarchs and states in the days of its 
glory — of its inquisitions, massacres, tortures, and burnings — and 
of the successful or unsuccessful efforts of reformers, in various 
ages, to rescue the world from its thraldom, as might be necessary 
for a full exhibition of its unchanging character. 

There are comparatively but few ministers or private Christians 
who can spare either the leisure or the expense to procure and to 
study the library of works — Roman Catholic as well as protestant, 
Latin as well as English — through which are scattered the multi- 
plicity of facts relative to this subject, a knowledge of which is 
necessary to all who would understand the true character of 
Popery, and be prepared to defend against its Jesuitical apologists 
and defenders the doctrines of Protestantism and of the Bible. 
Hence the desirableness of a work which should collect together 
all such facts as might be necessary for this purpose from these 
sources, and present them in systematic order, and in as striking 
a point of light as the importance of the subject might demand. 

Such a work is attempted in the present volume. The subject 
has for years past occupied the attention of the author, and much 
of his reading and research has been directed into this channel. 



i v PREFACE. 

Probably, however, years more might have elapsed before he would 
have summoned courage to present such a work to the world, had 
it not been for the persuasions of his enterprising publisher, Mr. 
Walker, and his assurances that if the author would prepare his 
materials for the press, he would spare no expense to issue the 
work in a style of mechanical execution and artistical embellish- 
ment superior in these respects to any work that has ever been 
published in America upon the character or the history of Roman- 
ism. How completely Mr. Walker has redeemed this promise, the 
appearance and illustrations of the volume must testify. 

With respect to the matter of the work, the author has availed 
himself of all the standard and authentic works on general and 
ecclesiastical history, on the Inquisition and Persecution of Popery, 
on the Reformers and the Reformation, and on the points of contro- 
versy between Popery and Protestantism to which he could 
gain access, either in private collections or in public libraries. 
Among Roman Catholic authors, the Latin annals of Baronius and 
Raynaldus (the great storehouse of Romish history), and the Church 
histories of Fleury and Dupin, have been freely examined, besides 
the works of Bellarmine, Paul Sarpi, and many others of a more 
special or limited scope, relating to particular pontiffs, councils or 
events. Full extracts have been made from the bulls of Popes and 
the decrees of Councils, especially of the council of Trent, illustra- 
tive of the doctrines and character of Popery. These valuable 
and authentic documents are taken from their own standard works, 
and printed generally in the original Latin, with the English trans- 
lation in parallel columns. This plan has been adopted, so as to 
permit Popery to speak for itself, and for the purpose of obviating 
the common objection of Romanists, of inaccurate translations. 

Among protestant writers, most of the standard historians and 
writers on Romanism have been consulted, and from them impor- 
tant facts have been freely gleaned. The references at the foot of 
the page will show the extent of the authors obligation to Gieseler, 
Edgar, Conyers Middleton, Isaac Taylor, Mosheim, Jones, Bower, 
Walch, Ranke, Robertson, Waddington, Hallam, George Stanly 
Faber, Southey, Townley, Sismondi, Russell, Tillotson, Jortin, Bar- 
row, Chillingworth, L'Enfant, Bonnechose, D'Aubigne, Cox, Lim- 
borch, Llorente, Puigblanch, Perrin, Cramp, Elliott, TvPCrie, Lorimer, 
Browning, &c. &c, besides a multitude of other authors referred to 
in the course of the work. The learned ■ Text-book of Ecclesiastical 
History" by Gieseler, and the " Variations of Popery" by Dr. Edgar, 



PREFACE. 



have been found especially valuable, for the copious citations from 
original authorities, many of which are not to be found in America. 
In some instances, the facts mentioned in these authorities have 
been translated and incorporated in the present work ; and in others, 
some of the most remarkable citations from original Romish author- 
ities have been copied, on account of their immense value to the 
scholar and the theologian, as illustrative of the character of 
Romanism, as drawn by her own writers. 

The copious analytical and alphabetical Indexes, Glossary, and 
full Chronological Table, have been prepared with much labor and 
care ; and the author hesitates not to say, from the inconvenience 
he has often experienced in consulting works, from the want of such 
tables, will be found a most valuable addition to the work. 

The engravings were executed by Mr. B. J. Lossing, of 
New York, and are not mere fancy sketches for the sake of 
embellishment, but are illustrative of unquestionable facts, and 
intended to impress those facts more vividly upon the memory. A 
full description of the subject of each will be found in the page 
adjoining ; an important desideratum, the absence of which de- 
stroys more than half the value of many pictorial embellishments. 

The author only deems it necessary to add, that he has en- 
deavored to avoid all matters of controversy between the differ- 
ent denominations of protestant Christians. He has written as a 
member of the great protestant family, and not as a member of any 
one particular branch of that family. It is his belief that all pro- 
testants should unite in the conflict with Rome ; and it has been 
his aim to furnish, from the armory of truth, weapons for that con- 
flict, which shall be alike acceptable to all — to the Protestant Epis- 
copalian, the Presbyterian, the Lutheran, the Dutch Reformed, the 
Congregationalist, the Methodist, the Baptist, and, in a word, to 
every one who is not ashamed of the name of PROTESTANT. 

To that God, who has declared in the sure word of prophecy, 
that " Babylon the Great" must fall, the author humbly commits his 
book. If the work shall be the means of extending light through- 
out our yet happy America, upon the history and character of that 
hierarchal despotism, which is straining every nerve to reduce the 
people of this land to its tyrannical sway, and of thus arresting the 
efforts of Rome to spread over the western continent, the darkness, 
the superstition and the mental and spiritual thraldom of the middle 
ages, he will feel that he is richly rewarded. J. D. 



IXDEX OF EXGRAYDsGS. 



Page. 

1. Frontispiece. King John delivering up bis crown to Pandulph, the Pope's 

legate. 

2, 3. Crowning of Nuns and anathema against false Nuns, ... - 73 

4. Way-side shrine of the Virgin. Calabrian minstrels playing in her honor, 83 

5. Worship of the image of the Virgin in a church, 83 

6. Relics carried in procession to a church to be consecrated, 95 

7. The Bishop closing up the Eelics in the Altar, 95 

S. Praying at the Tombs of the Martyrs, 103 

9. Sprinkling and blessing of horses at Rome on St. Anthony's day, - - 119 

10. Different forms of priestly tonsure, or shaving heads, - 137 

11. Consecration of an Abbot by the imposition of hands, ... - 137 

12. St. Peter's Church, with the Piazza, Colonnade, Obelisk, and Fountains, - 179 

13. Romish ceremony of the Baptism of Bells, ------ 209 

14. Remains of Glastonbury Abbey, the scene of St. Dunstan's miracles, - 233 

15. The Emperor Henry IV. doing penance at the gate of the Pope's palace, - 245 

16. Marking the foreheads of the people with ashes on Ash- Wednesday, - 257 

17. The ceremony of Incensing a Cross, ------- 257 

IS. Two kings leading the Pope's horse at the castle of Toici, in France, - 275 

19. View of Lambeth palace, near London, ------- 263 

20. Doorway in the Lollard's tower, an apartment of the palace, ... 2S3 

21. Emperor Barbarossa leading the Pope's mule through St. Mark's square, - 295 

22. Count Raimonds' degrading penance — whipped around the monk's tomb, - 311 

23. 24, 25. The Scapular, Rosary, Consecrated Wafer, Standards of Inquisition, &c. 327 

26. Procession of Corpus Christi at Rome. Colosseum, in the foreground, - 339 

27. Wickliff rebuking the Mendicant Friars, 331 

2S The dead body of a Pope lying in state, ------- 333 

29, 30. Jerome's contrast. The Master and the Servant Christ and the Pope, 393 

31. Burning of John Huss at Constance, ------- 405 

32. Rome and St. Peter's from the bridge of St. Angelo. Accident at Jubilee, 421 

33. The Pope as a warrior. Pope Julius in battle, ------ 431 

34. The Pope as a God. Adored on the high altar of St. Peter's, - 431 

35. Tetzel selling indulgences, --------- 441 

36. Burning of Bibles by Romish Priests at Champlain, N. Y., - 441 

37. 38. Auricular Confession in a church, and in a sick chamber, - 519 

39. Ceremony of the degradation of a Priest, previous to Martyrdom, [- - 553 

40. Burning of Latimer and Ridley at Oxford, ------ 553 

41. Cranmer's renunciation of his Recantation, in St. Mary's Church, Oxford, 559 

42. Martyrdom of Cranmer, — "This hand hath sinned, this hand shall suffer," 559 

43. Prison of the Inquisition at Cordova, in Spain, - - - 5G5 

44. Tortures of the Inquisition. Pulley, and roasting the feet, - - - 571 

45. Lady after torture brought before the tribunal of the Holy Office, - - 571 

46. Procession of heretics condemned by the Inquisition to an Auto da fe, - 577 

47. Cruelties of the Popish Piedmontese soldiery to the Waldenses, - - 533 
43. Children forcibly taken from their parents to be brought up as Papists, - 5S3 

49. Massacre of St. Bartholomew's, in Paris, in 1572, 591 

50. Fac-simile of Papal Medal in honor of Massacre of St. Bartholomew's, - 591 
■51. Portrait of Pope Pius IX., 657 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



BOOK I.— POPERY IN EMBRYO.— From the earliest corruptions op 
Christianity to the papal supremacy, a. d. 606. 

Chapter I. — Christianity Primitive and Papal. 

PAGE. 

^l. — Christ's kingdom not of this world, ------ 25 

§ 2. — Apostles despised all worldly honors, ------ 25 

§ 3. — Primitive and papal Christianity contrasted, ----- 26 

§ 4. — Purifying effect of pagan persecutions, ------ 26 

§ 5. — Popery a subject of prophecy. Tertullian quoted, 27 
$ 6. — The hindrance to the revelation of the "man of sin" removed in the 

time of the emperor Constantine, ------ 29 

Chapter II. — Religion in alliance with the State. 
§ 7. — Supposed miraculous conversion of Constantine, 30 

§ 8. — Undertakes to remodel the government of the church. Dignity of the 

Patriarchs, &c, ---- ----31 

5 9. — Bishops of Rome. Spiritual assumption and tyranny of Victor. First 

instance of pretended authority of Rome over other bishops, - 32 
$ 10. — Stephen, bishop of Rome, excludes St. Cyprian of Carthage, but the 
excommunication regarded as of no authority. Increasing wealth 
and pride of the bishops. Martin of Tours and the emperor Maximus, 33 

Chapter III. — Steps toward papal Supremacy. 

5 11. — Simple organization and government of the primitive churches, - 36 

§ 12. — Giesclcr's and Mosheim's account of the first changes in this primi- 
tive form. This change the first step toward Popery, 36 

5 13. — Another step toward papal supremacy. Council of Sardis, in 347, al- 
lows ot appeals to Rome. Decision of Zosimus, in 415, in the case 
of an appeal, rejected by the African bishops, who refused to ac- 
knowledge the authority of the decree of Sardis, 39 

5 14. — Other steps. Law of Valentinian. Romish decretals. Council of 

Chalcedon, ----------40 

515. — Favor of the different barbarian conquerors, ----- 42 
$ 16. — Willingness of the Roman pontiffs to conciliate them, by adopting 

heathen rites. Testimony of Robertson and Hallam, 42 

Chapter IV. — Divine right of supremacy claimed and disproved. 

$ 17.*— A superiority of rank had been tacitly conceded by many to the bishop 
of Rome, on account of the importance of that city. Alter the fall 
of Rome, its bishops began to demand supremacy as a divine right t 44, 



v iii ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

§ 18. The claim examined. No proof that Peter was ever bishop of Rome, 44 

§ 19. Nor if he had been, that he was constituted by Christ supreme head of 

the church, 46 

$ 20.— Others more worthy, Paul, Peter, and John, and wherefore, 47 
§ 21. If Peter had been supreme, still no proof that the supremacy de- 
scended. Note. Uncertainty about the first bishops of Rome, - 48 

Chapter V.— Popery fully established. — The man of sin revealed. 

§ 22. Disgraceful and bloody struggles between rival pontiffs, 50 

§ 23. Contests between the bishops of Rome and Constantinople, for the title 

of Universal Bishop, - - - 51 

§ 24. — Gregory's letter to the patriarch John, against the " blasphemous " title, 52 
§ 25. — His letters to the emperor Mauritius on the same subject. The title ob- 
tained by pope Boniface III., for himself and his successors, by the 

grant of the tyrant Phocas, A. D. 606, 53 

$ 26. — Henceforward the religion of Rome properly termed Popery, or the 

religion of the Pope, ---------55 

Chapter VI. — Papal Supremacy. — The actors in its establishment. — The tyrant 
Phocas, the Saint Gregory, and the pope Boniface. 

27. — Effect of the establishment of the papal supremacy, 57 

28. — Biography of the emperor Phocas, the author of the papal supremacy, 58 

§ 29. — His cruel massacre of the emperor Mauritius and five sons. His mur- 
der of the queen and daughters, -------58 

§ 30. — Gibbon's character of this blood-thirsty tyrant, 59 

5 31-33. — Saint Gregory's flatteries of the tyrant Phocas, and joy at his suc- 
cess, on account of his favor to the Roman See, 60 

§ 34. — Boniface exercises his newly obtained supremacy. His decree de- 
claring all elections of bishops null and void, unless confirmed by 
the Universal Bishop, the Pope, - - - - - - 64 

BOOK n.— POPERY AT ITS BIRTH, A. D. 606.— Its doctrinal and ri- 
tual CHARACTER AT THIS EPOCH. 

Chapter I. — Romish errors traced to their origin. — Their early growth no argu- 
ment in their favor. 

\ 1. — The germs of popish errors of early date. No argument in their favor, 65 
\ 2. — Chillingworth's noble sentiment quoted, " The Bible only the religion 

of Protestants," - - - - - - I - - 66 

k 3. — Protestantism defined. Refuses to receive any doctrine upon the mere 

authority of tradition, --------66 

\ 4. — Papists and Puseyites place the Bible and Tradition upon a level, - 67 

Chapter II. — Origin of Romish errors continued. — Celibacy of the clergy. 

$ 5. — Forbidding to marry a mark of anti-Christ. Note : Is marriage a ne- 
cessary qualification for a minister ? 69 

$6. — Tcrtullian's extravagant praise of celibacy. Consequences of such 

notions, ----------- 70 

§ 7.— Sensible remarks on this subject, by Clement of Alexandria, - - 71 

$ 8. — Cyprian's address to female devotees. Consecrating and crowning of 

Nuns, -__. --71 

5 9.— Second marriages prohibited to the clergy. Next step in the innovation, 

they are forbidden to marry at all, after ordination, 72 

§ 10.— Paphnutius, at the council of Nice, opposes this corruption, 72 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. i x 

PAQE 

x 11. —Chrysostom's singular explanation of the parable of the ten virgins, 75 

§ 12. — Siricius, bishop of Rome, decrees the celibacy of the clergy, 77 
£ 13, — This doctrine plainly contrary to the New Testament. Note : The early 

Reformers, Vigilantius and Jerome, ------ 77 

$ 14. — Instances of primitive married clergymen, 79 

Chapter III. — Origin of Romish errors continued. — Worship of the Virgin Mary, 
\ 15. — Chrysostom's description of the sanctity of a professed virgin, - - 80 
\ 16. — Fanciful conceits in the fourth century, relative to the perpetual virgin- 
ity of Mary, 81 

§ 17.— Origin of the worship of the Virgin Mary. Sect of the Collyridians, 82 
\ 18. — Modern worship of the Virgin worse than that of the ancient heretics. 

Instances of this kind of modern idolatry, ----- 82 
\ 19. — The idolatrous reverence of the Virgin accelerated by the Nestorian 
controversy, about the title " mother of God." Images of the Virgin. 
Note: Amusing anecdote of the emperor Constantine Copronymus, 85 
\ 20. — Festivals established in honor of the Virgin Mary, 86 

Chapter IV. — Origin of Romish errors continued. — Monkery. 

521. — Monkery of heathen origin. Originated in Egypt, 87 

§ 22. — Resemblance between heathen and Christian anchorites, 88 

5 23. — Early monks. Paul, Anthony, Hilarion, Martin of Tours, 88 

§ 24. — Gregory Nazianzen quoted. Symeon, the pillar saint, 89 

$ 25. — Monasteries and abbots, 90 

§ 26. — Exempted from the jurisdiction of bishops, and taken under the protec- 
tion of the popes. Thus become the tools of Rome. Instance of 

inhuman severity to a poor monk, by Gregory the Great, 91 

§ 27. — Monkish saints and their fabulous legends, ----- 92 

Chapter V. — Origin of Romish errors continued. — Worship of saints and relics. 

§ 28. — Invocation of saints grew up by degrees, from the reverence paid to mar- 
tyrs. Relics enshrined in altars, ------ 93 

5 29. — St. Ambrose's discovery of the bodies of two saints. Relics necessary, 

before a Romish church can be consecrated, 93 

5 30. — Bodies of saints embalmed in Egypt. Churches dedicated to them, 94 

§ 31. — Gregory Nazianzen's invocations to his departed father and St. Cyprian, 97 
§ 32. — Worship of images unknown to Christians in the fourth century. Let- 
ter of Epiphanius, ---------98 

$ 33. — Pagan ceremonies imitated and adopted, 98 

§ 34. — Frauds. Fictitious saints and relics. Bones of a thief reverenced as a 

saint, --------- _ - 99 

§ 35. — Mount Soracte converted into a saint, 100 

{ 36. — Ludicrous mistakes in saint-making. Saints Evodia, Viar, and Amphi- 

bolus, the name of a cloak. St. Veronica, - - - 101 

$ 37. — Two pernicious maxims arose. That it was lawful to deceive, and to 

persecute for the good of the church, - - - - - 102 

§ 38. — Praying at the sepulchres of the saints. Other superstitions, - - 105 
§ 39. — Increase of superstition in the sixth century. Purgatory, efficacy of 

relics, &c., 106 

§ 40. — St. Gregory's curious letter to the Empress, in reply to her request for 

the head of St. Paul. Wonderful prodigies, - - - - 107 
( 41 . — St. Gregory exalts the merit of pilgrimages, inculcates Purgatory, &c. 

First mention of Purgatory, - 108 



> 



! 



x ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTEXTS. 

Mai 

5 42.— With few exceptions, Popery at its birth, in 606, and Popery in its do- 
tage, in the nineteenth century, identical, 109 

Chapter VI. — Striking resemblance between pagan and papal ceremonies. — The 
loiter derived from the former. 

§ 43. — The classical scholar cannot avoid recognizing the resemblance, - 109 
§ 44. — Early adoption of these pagan ceremonies. This policy adopted by 

Gregory Thaumaturgus, - - - - - - - -110 

§ 45. — After Constantine, this sinful conformity to Paganism increased. Chris- 
tianized Paganism. Saying of Augustine, - 111 
§ 46. — Dr. Conyers Middleton's visit to Rome. His object not to study Po- 
pery, but the pagan classics. Discovered that the best way to study 
Paganism, was to study Popery, which had been mostly copied from it, 112 
J47. — Instances of this conformity, - - - - - - -"-113 

(1.) — Worshipping toward the East, - » - - - - -114 

(2.) — Burning of incense, - - - - - - - - -115 

(3.) — Use of holy water. Sprinkling of horses on St. Anthony's day, - 116 

(4.) — Burning of wax candles in the day-time, 121 

(5.) — Votive gifts and offerings, - - - - - - - -121 

(6.) — Adoration of idols or images, - - - - - - -123 

(7.) — The gods of the Pantheon turned into popish saints, - 124 

(8.) — Road gods and saints, - - - - - - - - -125 

(9.) — The Pope and the Pontifex Maximus, and kissing the Pope's toe, - 126 
(10.) — Processions of worshippers and self-whippers, - - - - 127 

(11.) — Religious orders of monks, nuns, &c, ------ 128 

§ 48. — This conformity acknowledged by a Romish author. Hence the conclu- 
sion drawn that Popery is mainly derived from Paganism, - - 129 
49. — St. Gregory instructs Augustin the monk, and Serenus, bishop of Mar- 
seilles, to favor the pagan ceremonies, - - - - - 130 



BOOK m.— POPERY ADVANCING.— From the establishment of the 

SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY, A. D. 606, TO THE POPE'S TE3JFORAL SOVEREIGNTY, 756, 
AND TO THE CROWNING OF THE EMPEROR CHARLEMAGNE, 800. 



^ 






Chapter I. — Gradual increase of the papal power. — Darkness, superstition, and 
ignorance of this period. 

1. — The churches did not all immediately submit to the supremacy of the 

Pope, 133 

I 2. — Election of the popes confirmed by the emperors or their viceroys, - 134 

5 3. — Rival candidates for the popedom. Sergius pays the Exarch a hundred 

pounds of gold to secure his election, - - - - - - 135 

; 4. — Means taken by the popes to enlarge their power. Pope Vitatianus 

appoints, by his own authority, Theodore as archbishop of Canterbury, 135 
5 5. — Important matters of dispute. Different modes of shaving heads, - 136 
§ 6. — Archbishop Theodore detained at Rome three months, to have his head 

shaved, 139 

§ 7. — The popes encourage appeals to their tribunal, by deciding in favor of 

the appellant. Instance. Appeal of Wilfred/bishop of York, - 139 

§ 8. — First instance of a pontiff requiring an oath of allegiance. Boniface, 

bishop of Germany, 140 

J 9.— Felix, archbishop of Ravenna, rejects the authority of the Pope, who, 
with the Emperor, inflicts upon him the most horrid cruelties. His 
eyes dug out, &c, 141 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xi 

f PAOK 

« 10. — Origin of kissing the Pope's foot. Pope Constantine's visit to Constan- 
tinople. Favored by the emperor Justinian, - - - - 141 

§11. — Cruel character of this tyrant, 142 

§ 12. — Ignorance and darkness of this age. Bishops unable to write, - 143 
§ 13. — Specimen of papal reasoning, to prove that monks are angels. St. Peter 

in person consecrating a church, 144 

§14. — Specimen of the doctrine of this age. St. Eligms,- ... 144 
§ 15. — Rise of Mahometanism, - - - - - - - -145 

Chapter II. — History of the Monothelite controversy. — Pope Honorius condemned 
as a heretic, by the sixth general council, A. D. 680. 

5 16. — Origin of this controversy, -------- 146 

§ 17.— Pope Honorius professes himself in favor of the doctrine of one will. 

The decree called the Echthesis, - 146 

§ 18. — Pope John IV. differs from his predecessor Honorius, and anathema- 
tizes the doctrine, - - -147 

§19-20.— Progress of the dispute, 148 

§ 21. — Pope Theodore excommunicates Pyrrhus, and signs the sentence with 

the consecrated wine of the sacrament, - - - - - 149 

§ 22. — Pyrrhus restored to his dignity of patriarch of Constantinople, notwith- 
standing the Pope's anathema, - - - - - - -150 

§ 23. — Pope Martin seized and banished by the Emperor, - - - - 150 

§ 24. — Pope Eugenius and Vitalianus more moderate, - - - - 151 

§ 25. — Pope Honorius condemned at the sixth general council, for heresy. 

Monothelitism condemned, - - - - - - -151 

§26. — Lessons from this controversy. - - - - - - -152 

(1.) — Popes careful to advance their authority, ----- 152 

(2.) — Their authority not yet universally received, - - - - - 152 

(3.) — Popes did not yet dare to anathematize and depose kings, - - 153 
(4.) — Disproves papal infallibility. Note : Extracts from Bellarmine, &c, 

on infallibility, - - - - - - - - - -153 

Chapter III. — Image-worship. — From the beginning of the great controversy on 
this subject, to the death of the emperor Leo, and of pope Gregory, both in the same 
year, A. D. 741. 

§27-28. — Opinions of the early fathers relative to image-worship, - - 154 
§29. — Paulinus adorns a church with pictures, A. D. 431, - 155 

§ 30. — St. Gregory's opinion. Pope Constantine in 713, curses those who 

deny veneration to images, - - - - - - -156 

§31. — Commencement of the great controversy, in 726, - 156 

§ 32. — Efforts of the emperor Leo to destroy image-worship. Insurrection in 

consequence of his decree in 730, - - - - - -157 

§33. — Pope Gregory's insulting letter to the emperor Leo, - - - 158 
§ 34. — Revolt against the Emperor at Rome, in consequence of his decree 

against images, - - - - - - - - -159 

§35. — Letter of pope Gregory III., to Leo, 160 

§ 36. — Gregory expends vast sums on images and relics at Rome. The Em- 
peror and the Pope both die, A. 1). 741, 160 

Chapter IV. — Continuation of the controversy on Image-worship. — From the death 
of Leo and Gregory, A. D. 741, to the establishment of this idolatry, by the second 
general council of Nice, A. D. 784. 

\ 37. — The emperor Constantine V. and pope Zachary, , - 161 



x ii ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 




§ 38.— Image-worship condemned by the council at Constantinople, in 754, 162 
\ 39.— Crimes of the empress Irene, wife of the emperor Leo IV., - - 162 

§ 40. Baronius justifies the torture or murder of her son, - - - 163 

§ 41. —She assembles the second council of Nice, in 784, which finally estab- 
lishes image-worship, - - - - - - - - 164 

{42. — Popish idolatry thus established by law, - - - - - 164 

Chapter V. — The Pope finally becomes a temporal sovereign, A. D. 756. 

43. Rebellious tumults at Rome. Rome becomes a kind of republic under 

the Pope, 165 

§ 44-45. — The Pope applies, in 740, to Charles Martel, for help against the 

Lombards, ----------166 

§46. — Pope Zachary and Luitprand, king of the Lombards, - - - 167 
§ 47. — Pepin of France, with the approval and advice of Zachary, deposes his 

master Childeric, - - - - - - - - -167 

§ 48-49.— Rome in danger from Aistulphus, king of the Lombards, - - 167 
§ 50. — Succored by Pepin, who forces the Lombards to yield up the exarchate 

to the Pope, 169 

§ 51. — Aistulphus. after Pepin's return, refuses to deliver up the places to the 

Pope, ' 169 

§ 52. — Pope Stephen applies again to Pepin, ------ 170 

53. — Forges a letter to Pepin from St. Peter in heaven, - - - - 171 

{ 54. — Pepin forces Aistulphus to keep his engagement with the Pope, who 

thus becomes a temporal monarch, A. D. 756, - - - - 171 

Chapter VI. — The confirmation and increase of the Pope's temporal power, to the 
coronation of Charlemagne, A. D. 800. 

\ 55. — Limits of the papal territories, - - - - - - -174 

\ 56. — Enlarged by Charlemagne, - - - - - - - -174 

\ 57-58. — Charlemagne twice visits Rome, - - - - - -175 

\ 59.— Crowned Emperor by the Pope, A. D. 800, 175 

\ 60-61. — Daniel's little horn and three horns or kingdoms plucked up by it. 

Final complete establishment of the independence of the papal states, 177 

BOOK IV.— POPERY IN ITS GLORY.— THE WORLD'S MIDNIGHT.— 

From the coronation of Charlemagne, A. D. 800, to the beginning of 

THE PONTIFICATE OF POPE HlLDEBRAND, OR GREGORY VII., A. D. 1073. 

Chapter I. — Proofs of the darkness of this period. — Forged decretals. — Reverence 
for monks, saints, and relics. Worship of the Virgin. Purgatory. 

5'1. — This period designated the dark ages, the iron age, &c. Lamentable 

ignorance, ---------- 181 

52. — False decretals. Pretended donation of Constantine. Extract from it, 182 
5 3. — The world duped for centuries, by these forgeries. Gibbon quoted, 183 
5 4. — Acknowledged by Baronius. Fleury, and other Romanists, to be forged. 

Opinions of Hallam, Mosheim, and Campbell, - - - - 184 
§5-6. — Increasing reverence for monks, relics, &c, - - - - 185 
57-8. — Multiplication of new saints. Absurd legends of their lives, - 186 
5 9- — The popes assume the exclusive privilege of saint-making, - - 187 
§10.— Increase of festivals or saints' days. Feast of All-Saints, - - 188 
§ 11. — Rosary of the Virgin. Absurd stories invented to do her honor. Speci- 
mens, 189 

512.— Fears of Purgatory. Feast of All-Souls, - .... 190 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xiii 

PAOE. 

CHAPTER II.— Proofs of the darkness of this period continued. — Origin and final 
establishment of Transubstanliation. — Persecution of Berenger, its famous op* 
poser. — Popish miracles in its proof. 

§ 13. Transubstantiation an insult to common sense. Stated in the words 

of its advocates, - - - - - - - - -192 

§ 14.— First traces of the doctrine in 754. Tillotson quoted, - - - 193 

§ 15. — Paschasius Radbert in 931, first formally propounds this absurdity, * 193 

\ 16. — Rabanus Maurus's treatise in opposition to it, A. D. 847. Quotation 

from it, 194 

\ 17-18. — The celebrated Berenger opposes Transubstantiation. His perse- 
cutions and death, in 1088, - 195 

\ 19. — First made an article of faith, in the fourth council of Lateran, A. D. 

1215. The decree quoted, 197 

\ 20. — Means by which the worship of the wafer idol was established. Pre- 
tended miracles of bees, asses, dogs, and horses worshipping it. Six 
specimens, as given by Romish writers, 198 

$21. — Cannibalism of the doctrine. Romish authors quoted showing why 

the consecrated wafer does not look like " raw and bloody flesh," 201 

§ 22. — " Lying wonders," a characteristic of anti-Christ, - 202 

5 23-24. — Horrid blasphemies of a pope and a cardinal. Creating God, the 
Creator of all things. The decree of Trent on Transubstantiation. 
Curses upon all who do not believe it, 203 

Chapter HI. — Proofs of the darkness of this period continued. — Baptism of bells, 
and Festival of the Ass. 

I 25. — Baptism of bells first introduced by pope John XIII., in 972, - - 207 
§ 26-27. — Descriptions of this absurd ceremony at Montreal and Dublin, - 207 
h 28. — Curious ancient description of bell-baptism from Philip Stubbes, A. d. 

1582, 211 

5 29. — Feast of the ass. Original and translation of the ode sung by the 

priests in honor of the ass, - - - - - - -213 

Chapter IV. — Profligate popes and clergy of this period. 
J 30. — Holy links in the unbroken chain of apostolic succession, - - 215 

$31. — John VIII., a monster of cruelty, 216 

§ 32. — Sergius III., the father of pope John XI., the bastard son of the harlot 

Marozia, ----------- 217 

$ 33. — John X. the paramour of the harlot Theodora, sister of Marozia, 

raised to the papal throne by her means, - - - - -217 

$ 34. — John XL the bastard of pope Sergius III., - - - - -217 

§ 35. — John XII. nephew of John the bastard. His monstrous tyranny, de- 
bauchery, and cruelty, - - - - - - - -218 

§ 36. — These facts admitted by Romanists. Baronius quoted, - - - 219 
5 37, — Attempts of Romanists to reconcile the profligacy of their popes with 
apostolic succession and papal infallibility. Father Gahan quoted. 
" Do all that they say, and not what they do," - 220 
§ 38. — Benedict IX. described by pope Victor III. as " a successor of Simon 
the sorcerer, and not of Simon the apostle." No doubt, true, but 
what becomes of the uninterrupted apostolic succession, - - 221 
$ 39. — The vices of the popes imitated by the inferior clergy, - - - 221 
\ 40. — Concubines of the priests confessing to their paramours, - - 222 
J41. — Priestly concubinage declared by Romanists a less crime than mar- 
riage, - 223 



xiv ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

5 42-44. — Amidst all this profligacy, the power and influence of the popes in- 
creased. Accounted for by the ignorance of the Scriptures, the 
authority of the forged decretals, and donation of Constantine, and 
the awful terrors of excommunication and interdict, - 224 

$ 45. — The iron age of the world was the golden age of Popery. An im- 
portant truth taught by this fact, ------ 226 

Chapter V. — Popery in England prior to the conquest. Augustin the missionary, 
and Dunstan the monk. 

§ 46. — Primitive Welsh Christians refuse to submit to Popery, - - - 227 
§ 47. — Augustin's reception in England by king Ethelbert. Ten thousand 

converts in a day, --------- 228 

§48. — The ancient pagan temples of England converted into Christian 
churches with the same facility, by washing the walls with holy 
water, and depositing relics in them, ------ 228 

§ 49. — Increase of popish superstitions. The Pope's cunning contrivance to 

raise a tribute in England, ------- 229 

§ 50. — Odo, an archbishop of the school of Hildebrand, - - - - 230 

§ 51. — Saint Dunstan, abbot of Glastonbury, pulls the devil's nose with red- 
hot tongs (!) and performs other wonderful miracles, - - - 230 
§ 52. — Description of the remains of Glastonbury Abbey, - - - 231 

§ 53-54. — Dunstan is made archbishop of Canterbury, and works miracles to 

show the wickedness of marriage in the clergy, - _ - 232 

§ 55. — Dunstan pays a visit to Heaven, learns a song from the angels, and re- 
turns to teach it to his monks. His death in 988, - - - 235 



S* 



OOK V.— POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT.— From the accession of 
pope Gregory vh., A. D. 1073, to the death of Boniface vhl, A. D. 1303. 



Chapter I. — The life and reign of pope Hildebrand or Gregory VII. 
5 1. — Hildebrand's influence at Rome before he became pope, - - - 237 
§ 2. — Robert of Normandy persuaded to acknowledge himself a vassal of 

Rome, - - - 238 

5 3. — The decree confining the election of pope to the cardinals, - - 238 
§ 4. — Hildebrand chosen Pope. His inordinate ambition and tyranny, - 239 
§ 5. — His plans for a universal empire, with the Pope at the head, - - 240 
§ 6. — Commencement of his contest with the emperor Henry IV., - - 241 
§ 7. — Dispute about investitures with the ring and the crosier, - - 241 
§ 8. — Gregory threatens the Emperor with excommunication, - - - 243 
§ 9. — Executes his threats, and deposes him from the empire. Henry's ab- 
ject humiliation. He waits three days at the gate of the palace, 
where the Pope was, before he is granted the privilege of kissing 
the Pope's toe, --------- 243 

5 10. — Henry renounces his submission, and is a second time excommuni- 
cated. Extracts from the Pope's anathema, - - - - 244 

5 11.— Sequel of Henry's life. His own sons seduced to rebel against him, 247 
5 12. — Unnatural conduct of his son Henry. Misfortunes and death of the 

unfortunate old Emperor, - 248 

Chapter II. — Life of Gregory VII. continued. Other instances of his tyranny 

and usurpation. 

$ 13.— Pope Gregory claims Spain as belonging to St. Peter, - - - 249 
§ 14.— His demand of Peter-pence in France. His claim of Hungary as the 

property of the Holy See, 250 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. XV 

page. 

( 15. — Makes similar claims upon Corsica, Sardinia, Dalmatia, and Russia. 

Meets with less success in England than anywhere else, - - 251 

§ 16. — Maxims or Dictates of Hildebrand, - 252 

§17. — Question of their genuineness. The tyrannical doctrines of Hilde- 
brand advocated in the nineteenth century. This pope, Gregory 
VII., still reverenced by papists as a Saint, - - - - 253 

§ 18. — The learned Deylingius's account of the gradual rise of papal power 

and tyranny, 254 

Chapter III. — Pope Urban and the Crusades. 

\ 19. — Rival popes, Victor, Clement, and Urban. Ceremony of sprinkling 
with ashes on Ash- Wednesday established by pope Urban. Incens- 
ing of crosses, >--_..___ 256 
\ 20. — Pope Urban establishes the crusades at the council of Clermont in 1095, 259 
Note. — Popular and wide-spread panic of the end of the world in the year 

1000, 260 

§21.— Peter the hermit visits Palestine, and upon his return preaches the 

crusades,- - - - - - - - - -- 261 

\ 22-23. — Eloquent speech of pope Urban in favor of the crusades, - - 262 
\ 24. — General enthusiasm of the people. Multitudes set out for Jerusalem, 263 
\ 25. — Effects of the crusades in enriching the popes and the priesthood, - 264 
\ 26. — Vast quantities of pretended relics introduced from Palestine, - 265 

Chapter IV. — Popery in England after the conquest. Archbishops Anselm and 

Thomas a Beckel. 
\ 27. — William of Normandy obtains the Pope's sanction of his intended in- 
vasion of England, who sends him as a token of his favor, a ring 
with one of St. Peter's hairs. (/)----- - 266 

\ 28. — After William's conquest, Gregory requires him to do homage to him 

for the kingdom of England, but king William refuses, - - 267 
\ 29. — Quarrel between archbishop Anselm and king William Rufus, - 268 
\ 30. — Honors to Anselm at Rome. The English required to kiss his toe, 268 
\ 31. — Anselm refuses to do homage to king Henry, the successor of William, 269 
\ 32. — Haughty claims of pope Pascal, and overbearing insolence of Anselm, 270 
\ 33. — Cardinal Crema, the Pope's legate in England, detected in gross licen- 
tiousness, ._-.„ 271 

$ 34. — Cruel measures against the married clergy of England, - - - 271 
§ 35. — Cruel persecution of some disciples of Arnold of Brescia. First in- 
stances of death for heresy in England, - 272 
5 36. — King Henry II. of England, and Louis VII. of France, leading the 

Pope's horse, 273 

\ 37. — Commencement of the quarrel between king Henry and Thomas a 
Becket. The Pope releases the Saint from the obligation of his 
oath to submit to the laws of England against clerical criminals, 274 
38. — Becket refuses to obey a summons to the King's court. He is tried 

and found guilty by the Parliament, but refuses to submit, - - 277 
\ 39. — Declines the jurisdiction of the King and barons, and appeals to the 

Pope, - 278 

j 40. — The death and canonization of Becket. Pilgrimages to the tomb of 

the Saint, - 279 

Chapter V. — Popery in England continued. Pope Innocent and king John. 

1 41. — Innocent III. treads in the steps and acts upon the maxims of Gregory 

VII., -279 



xvi ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

MflU 

[ 42. — Orders an episcopal palace to be demolished which was being erected 
a: Lambeth, in London. The King-, terrified by the thunders of 
Rome, unwillingly obeys, -------- 280 

£ 43, — The palace is subsequently erected. Description of Lambeth palace 

and Lollard's tower, 261 

j 44. — Pope Innocent orders Stephen Langton to be chosen archbishop of 

Canterbury, which gives rise to the dispute with king John, - 282 

j 45. — The Pope endeavors to reconcile king John to this usurpation by a 

present of four golden rings. The King's angry letter to the Pope, 285 

[ 46. — Innocent lays England under an interdict Fearful consequences of 

this sentence, - - - -2S6 

[ 47. — Insolence of the Pope's legate to the King. Paps.! sentence of depo- 
sition against John, 287 

' 48. — The Pcpe invites king PhiEj ::' France to invade and conquer E: 

land. King John's abject submission. Yields up his crown on his 
knees to the legale Pandulph. and receives it back as a vassal of 
the Pope, - 288 

\ 49. — Copy of John's deed ::" surrender of England to the Pete. - - 291 

: 50. — Henceforward king John an obedient vassal of the Pope. Innocent's 

thunders of excommunication acfainst the barons of England. - 291 



^* 



^ 



hapte?. VI. — More instances rf papal despotism. P: il", Alexander 

III. and Innocent III. 

\ 51. — Contest between the Pope and the empire renevred. Adrian IV. and 

Frederick Barbarossa, - - 293 

j 52. — Frederick's submission to pope Alexander HI. Leads the Pope's horse 

in St. Mark's Square. Venice, - 294 

; 53-56. — Instances of the tyranny of Innocent HE. toward several of the 

sovereigns and nations of continental Europe, - - - 294-293 

Chapter VLT. — The Waldenses and Albigenses. 

j 57. — These spiritual tyrants could brook no opposition. Hence their perse- 
cution of the Waldensian heretics. Testimony of Evenhnus, one 
:: their persecutors, relative to their character and doctrine, - 299 
j 53-59. — Similar testimony of Bercari s, and Thnanus, - - 301 

\ 60-61. — Bloody decree of pcpe Alexander ILL and the third council of 

Lateran, for extern... _ these heretics, ----- 302 
I 62. — Burning of Waldenses. Thirty-five in one fire, - 304 

I 63. — The church of Rome responsible for these butcheries. Another 

bloody edict of pope Lucius III. - 304 

; 64. — The emperor Frederick's erne] decrees issued to oblige the Pope. The 

priest the judge, and the king the hangman, - w - - - 305 

Chapter V1IL. — Pope Innocent's bloody crusade against the Albigenses, under his 

Si ion, earl <rf MontforL 

j 65. — Emissaries of the Pope dispatched to preach the crusade against the 

heretics, throughout Europe. Specimen of their texts and sermons, 307 
| 66. — Raimond VL, count of Thoulouse. unwilling to engage in exterminat- 
ions. Excommunicated in consequence, - 307 
j 67. — Innocent's f.erce letter to Raimond. The Legate killed in a quarrel 

-- one of Raimond's friends, - - - = - - - - 308 
{ 68. — Pope Innocent's bulls. Xo faith with heretics. Indulgences for those 

who would engage in the crusades against the Waldenses. - 309 

| 69. — Count Raimond submits and seeks absolution from the Pope, - - 310 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xvii 

PAGE. 

1 70. — His degrading penance. Whipped on the naked shoulders in a church 

by the Pope's legate. Siege of Beziers, - - - - 313 

^71, — The taking of Beziers. Inhuman cruelty of the Pope's legate. Sixty 
thousand killed, and not a human being — man, woman, or child — 
left alive, ---------- 314 

§72. — Roger, the young count of Beziers, treacherously entrapped by the 

Pope's legate. He dies in prison, probably of poison, - - 315 

§ 73. — -The inhabitants of Carcassone escape from the popish butchers 

through an underground passage. Horrible cruelty of Montfort, 316 

§74. — Menerbe taken by the papists, and the inhabitants slaughtered. One 

hundred and forty burnt in one fire, 317 

§ 75. — Lavaur taken, and the heretics burnt (in tne words of the popish his- 
torian), " with the utmost joy," - - - - - - -319 

§ 76.— Sixty more heretics at Cassoro burnt " with infinite joy," - - 319 

§ 77. — The bloody crusades against the Albigenses prove that the right to ex- 
tirpate heresy and to put heretics to death, is properly a doctrine of 
the unchangeable Roman Catholic church, - 320 

§ 78. — Proofs that the Romish church claims the right of dissolving oaths, 

and instances of its exercise, -------- 321 

§ 79. — ■Unjust slanders against the Albigenses. If true, the Pope had no 

right to send his armies to invade their country and butcher them, 322 

Chapter IX. — Establishment of the Mendicant Orders. Saint Dominic and 

Saint Francis. 

§ 80. — Profligacy of the orders of the monks and nuns, - 323 

§ 81. — Contrast between their character and the holy lives of the teachers of 
the Waldensian heretics, even according to the confession of their 
enemies, ----------- 323 

§ 82. — Hence Innocent III. encourages the establishment of Mendicant Orders, 
who, by their austerity and sanctity, might rival the heretical 
doctors, ---------.- 324 

§ 83. — Dominicans and Franciscans. Life of St. Dominic, the inventor or the 

first inquisitor-general of the holy Inquisition, - 324 

$ 84. — Extravagant stories of Dominic's pretended miracles, - - - 325 
§ 85. — Dominicans, great champions of the Virgin. Marvellous Dominican 

miracles of the Virgin and the Rosary, ----- 326 

§ 86. — Life of St. Francis, founder of the Franciscans, the " Seraphic Order," 329 
§ 87. — Rapid and vast increase of the Franciscans, . - - - - 329 

§ 88. — Pretended miracles of St. Francis. The holy stigmas, or wounds of 
Christ, inflicted upon the Saint by the Saviour himself. This hor- 
rible imposture still commemorated as a fact in the Roman Catholic 
church. Day of its commemoration, according to the Romish calen- 
dar, September 17th, -------- 330 

\ 89. — Prodigious influence acquired by the Mendicant Orders, - - - 330 

Chatter X. — The Fourth council of Lateran decrees the extermination of here- 
tics, Transubstanliation, and Auricular Confession. 

§90. — Fourth council of Lateran held A. D. 1215. Bestow the dominions 
of the unfortunate count Raimond upon the bloody Montfort, on ac- 
count of the tardiness of the Count in exterminating heretics, - 331 

{91. — Decree of the Pope and council commanding princes, under heavy 
penalties, to exterminate heretics. Extract from this bloody edict 
of the highest legislative authority in the Romish church, - - 332 

§92. — Auricular confession once a year decreed by this council. Priestly 

solicitation of females at confession, 333 



xviii ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS, 



PAdi, 



§ 93. — Inquiry in Spain relative to the solicitation and seduction of females 
by popish priests at confession. Females commanded, under penalty 
of the Inquisition, to lay informations. Inquiry hushed up, on ac- 
count of the immense number of criminals. One hundred and 
twenty days consumed in the city of Seville alone in taking infor- 
mations from females, - - 335 

§ 94. In this council also, Transubstantiation first decreed as an article of 

faith. In after ages, this was the great burning article, - - 337 

595 Worship of the host, or wafer. Origin of the festival of Corpus 

Christi, 337 

§9g. — Manner of its celebration in popish countries. Spain, Italy. Vio- 
lence to an American stranger in Rome for not bowing the knee to 
the idol, - - - --- - - - - - 338 



^ 



hapter XI. — Contest between the popes and the emperor Frederick II. Guelphs 

and Ghibelines. 

§ 97. — Honorius III. succeeds Innocent III. The Isle of Man ceded to the 

Pope, and received back as a fief of the Holy See, - - - 342 

§ 98. — Frederick's successful expedition to Palestine, - 342 

§ 99. — Pope Gregory IX. makes war on his dominions in his absence. Fred- 
erick's reprisals on his return. He is excommunicated, - - 343 

§ 100-101. — Innocent IV. at the council of Lyons in 1245, pronounces a sen- 
tence of deposition against the Emperor, and absolves his subjects 
from their allegiance. Frederick's death, and the unbounded joy 
of the Pope, "344 

§ 102. — Successors of Innocent IV. The quarrel continued by Frederick's 
son, Manfred, king of the two Sicilies. Pope Urban invites Charles, 
count of Anjou, to conquer from Manfred the kingdom of Sicily, 345 

§ 103. — Amusing instance of the care which the Pope took of his own per- 
sonal interest in the agreement with Manfred, - 346 

§ 104. — Defeat and death of Manfred, and conquest of Sicily by Charles, 

who murders the youthful Conradin, nephew of Manfred, - - 347 

§ 105. — Sicily delivered from the dominion of Charles and the French by the 

popular outbreak and massacre called the Sicilian Vespers, - 347 

§ 106. — The council of Lyons in 1274, decrees the election of Pope in con- 
clave of the cardinals, ----.___ 348 

§ 107. — Horrible profligacy of Henry, bishop of Liege, - 348 

§108. — Pope Gregory X. threatens the German princes unless they imme- 
diately choose an emperor, to do it for them. Note : Annals of 
Baronius and Raynaldus, -------- 349 

§ 109. — Under pope Nicholas III., the Papal States become entirely inde- 
pendent of the empire, about A. D. 1278, 350 

§ 110. — Pope Martin IV. excommunicates the emperor of Constantinople and 
Don Pedro, king of Arragon. The latter treats the papal thunders 
with derision. The terror of these spiritual weapons, since the 
successful resistance of the emperor Frederick, gradually declining, 350 

§111. — Pope C lestine the hermit. Rare spectacle. A good man for a 

Pope. Soon persuaded to resign as unfit for the office, - - 351 

§112-113. — Cardinal Benedict Cajetan, who had been chief in persuading 
Celestine to resign, succeeds him as Boniface VIII. His dispute 
with Philip the Fair, king of France, 352 

§114.— Pope Boniface's lordly arrogance. Extract from the bull Vnam 

Sanctam, ---.-->_»_ 353 

§115. — Boniface excommunicates Philip. The Pope, arrested by Nogaret, 

dies of rage and vexation, 354 



> 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xix 

PA.QB 

\ 116. — Sensible decline of the papacy from the death of pope Boniface VIII. 

Eloquent extract, on this subject, from Hallam, - 354 

Chapter XII. — Purgatory, Indulgences and Romish Jubilees. 

J 117. — Establishment of the Jubilee by Boniface VIII. Inquiry on the Ro- 
mish doctrine of Indulgences, 355 

£ 118. — Unknown to the ancients. Proved by extracts from Alphonsus, Poly- 

dore Virgil, and cardinal Cajetan, 358 

§ 119. — Indulgences dependent for all their importance on the fiction of Pur- 
gatory, 357 

§120,121. — Origin of the purgatorian fiction. Augustine, Gregory, - - 358 
§ 122. — Visit of Drithelm to Purgatory. Horrible descriptions, - - 361 

§123. — Indulgences grafted on Purgatory, 361 

§124.— Works of Supererogation, 362 

§ 125-7. — Wholesale Indulgences at Jubilee of Boniface, &c. Other Jubi- 
lees, 363 

BOOK VI.— POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE.— From the death 
of Boniface VIII., A. D. 1303, to the commencement of the council of 
Trent, A. D. 1545. 

Chapter I. — The residence of the Popes at Avignon, and the great Western 

Schism. 

§ 1-3. — Decline of the power of the Popes, after Boniface VIII., - - 367 
§ 4.— The Avignon Popes. Saint Catherine, ------ 369 

\ 5-9. — Occasion of great Western Schism. Election of two rival popes, 

Urban VI. and Clement VII. Consequences of this schism, - 370 
§10. — Council of Pisa elects a third pope, Alexander V., - - - 373 

§ 11-12. — Fierce and bloody contests. John Huss writes against pope John's 

bull of crusade against Ladislaus, ------ 374 

§ 13. — Council of Constance deposes the rival popes and elects Martin V., 376 

Chapter II. — Wicklif the English reformer. The condemnation of his works, and 
the burning of his bones by order of the council of Constance. 

§ 14-16.— Life and labors of Wickliff, 376 

§ 17. — His translation of the New Testament. Specimen, - 380 

§ 18-19.— The hatred of the papists to an English bible. Wickliff's bold 

protestations on behalf of the Scriptures, ----- 383 
§ 20-22. — The council of Constance order his bones to be dug up and burnt. 

Execution of the sentence, ------- 385 

CnAPTER III. — John Huss of Bohemia. His condemnation and martyrdom by the 
council of Constance. 

§ 23, 24.— Early life of Huss. Reads Wickliff's writings, - - - 387 
§ 25-26. — Gives himself to his destined work. Wickliff's writings burnt in 
Bohemia. Prague laid under an interdict by John XXI1L, on ac- 
count of Huss, who solemnly appeals to Jesus Christ, - - 389 
§ 27. — His pious letters, and presentiment of martyrdom, - - - - 390 
§ 28. — Jerome of Prague unites with Huss in the work of reform, - - 391 
§ 29, 30. — Their opposition to indulgences and the Pope's bull of crusade. 

Tumult at Prague, 392 

§ 31. — Huss writes against the rival popes. The Six Errors, &c, - - 396 
\ 33-40. — Goes ' to the council of Constance. Safe-conduct of the Emperor 



xx ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

PAOB' 

treacherously violated ; and Huss imprisoned, condemned, degraded 
and burnt, 399-404 



^> 



hapter IV. — Jerome of Prague at the council of Constance. His condemnation 

and martyrdom. 

§ 41. — Jerome sets out for Constance, but flees in alarm and is arrested, - 407 
5 42-44. — He is cruelly imprisoned and recants ; but soon renounces his re- 
cantation, and courageously professes his faith before the council, 407 
§ 45. — Contends for the supreme authority of the Scriptures, - 410 

§ 46-48. — Sentenced by the council and burnt, ----- 410 

§49. — Copies of the decrees of the council establishing the doctrine of no 

faith with heretics, - - - - - - - - -413 

5 50. — The same doctrine openly avowed by pope Martin V., - - - 414 
§ 51, 52. — Close of the council. The members rewarded with indulgences. 

Denial of the cup to the laity, - - - - - - 415 

Chapter V. — Popery and the Popes for the century preceding the Reformation. 
§ 53. — Pope Martin V. His pompous titles, ------ 417 

§ 54-56. — Pope Eugenius IV. His violent dispute with the council of Basil, 418 
§ 57, 58. — Jubilee of 1450. Capture of Constantinople, - 420 

§ 59, 60. — Pope Pius II. (iEneas Sylvius) proposes to go to the aid of the 
eastern Christians against the Turks. His change of views on the 
supreme authority of the Pope, ------ 420 

§61,62. — Pope Innocent VIII. and his seven bastards. His cruel edict 

against the Waldensian heretics, ------ 425 

5 63, 64. — Pope Alexander VI. the devil's master-piece. His horrible profligacy 

and miserable death by poison he had prepared for another, - - 426 

§ 65. — America discovered and given, by a papal bull, to the Spaniards, - 428 

§ 66-68. — Pope Julius a warrior. Absolves himself from his oath. His 

quarrel with Louis XII. of France and with the council of Pisa, 429 

§ 69-71. — Leo X. and the fifth council of Lateran. Laws against the free- 
dom of the press, and enjoining the extirpation of heretics, - 434 

Chapter VI. — The Reformation — Luther and Tetzel. The reformer's war against 

indulgences. 

\ 72, 73. — Indulgences the occasion of the Reformation. Tax book for sins, 436 

§ 74-77. — Tetzel, and his mode of peddling indulgences. Incidents, - 439 

§ 78, 79. — Luther opposes indulgences. His celebrated theses, - - 445 

\ 80. — Tetzel burns Luther's theses, and the Wittemberg students burn his, 447 

§ 81, 82. — Luther's Solutions, and letter to pope Leo X., - - - - 448 

Chapter VII. — Luther and Cajelan. The nolle constancy of the reformer. 
\ 83. — Leo commissions Cajetan to reduce Luther to submission, - - 451 
\ 84. — Leo writes to the elector Frederick, to persuade him to withdraw his 

protection from Luther. Arrival of Melancthon at Wittemberg, 452 
§85-91. — Luther goes to Augsburg, and appears before cardinal Cajetan. 
His constancy and courage in defending the truth, and return to 
Wittemberg, after ten days, 452 

Chapter VIII.— Luther strikes at the throne of anti-Christ. The breach made 

irreparable. 
§ 92.-— The legate, Charles Miltitz. Luther reads the decretals, and gradually 

discovers that the Pope is anti-Christ, 459 



^ 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxi 

PAGE. 

§93. — Disputes with Eck, at Leipsic, on the pope's primacy, - 460 

5 94-96. — Ulric Zwingle tries to befriend Luther. Pope Leo's bull against 

Luther, who burns it, with the Decretals, at Wittemberg, - - 461 
§ 97. — Luther finally excommunicated as an incorrigible heretic. Aleander 
the papal legate burns his books, but is not permitted by the Elector 
to bum him, ---------- 463 

Chapter IX. — Luther at the Diet of Worms, and in his Patmos at Wariburg. 

§ 98. — Aleander, the papal legate's efforts against Luther at Worms, - 465 

§ 99, 100. — Luther's courage in going to Worms, and his constancy when 

there, 466 

§ 102-104. — His constrained retreat to his Patmos at Wartburg. Translates 
the New Testament. His return to Wittemberg. His peaceful 
death, 468 

§ 105, 106. — Loyala the founder of the Jesuits. Popish parallel with Lu- 
ther, 472 

BOOK VII.— POPERY AT TRENT.— From the opening session of the 
council of Trent, A. D. 1545, to the closing session, A. D. 1563. 

Chapter I. — The first four sessions. Preliminaries, and decree upon the author- 
ity of Tradition and the Apocrypha. 

§ 1, 2. — Opening of the council about two months before Luther's death. 

The Pope's opposition to measures of reform, - 475 

§ 3-5. — The three first sessions. Cardinal de Monte, President, - - 477 
§ 6. — The fourth session. Tradition placed on a level with Scripture, - 478 
§ 7, 8. — The Apocryphal books inserted in the Scriptures. Proofs that they 

are not inspired, --------- 480 

Chapter II. — Fourth session continued. Latin Vulgate exalted above the inspired 
Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. Private judgment and liberty of the pi-ess for- 
bidden, and a popish censorship of the press established. 

§ 9. — Decree on the Latin Vulgate. Its numerous errors. Dr. Jahn quoted, 485 

§ 10. — Two editions of the Vulgate published by popes Sixtus and Clement, 

both declared infallible, and yet 2000 variations between them. - 487 

§ 11, 12. — Decrees against private judgment and liberty of the press, - 488 
13. — Protestants indignant at these decrees. Congregation of the Index, 490 
14. — The famous ten rules adopted by the council concerning prohibited 
books, describing the kinds of books prohibited, the examination of 
bookseller's shops by popish inquisitors, and the punishments of ex- 
ercising the liberty of the press, ------ 4Q\ 

g 15. — Names of some authors prohibited. Copy of a papal license granted 

to Sir Thomas More, to read heretical books (note), - 497. 

Chapter III. — Original sin and Justification, 
5 16. — The fifth session. Decrees on original sin and Justification, - - 499 
$ 17. — Christ's work made a stepping-stone for human merit. Extracts from 

Romish prayer books, -------- 501 

$ 18. — Extract from Tyndal. Experience of Luther on Justification, - 502. 

Chapter IV. — The Sacraments and the doctrine of Intention. Baptism and Con- 
firmation. 

521. — Seventh session. Decree on the Sacraments in general, - - 505 
\ 22-24. — Doctrine of Intention. Its absurdity. Defects in the Mass, - 506. 



\ 



xxii ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTEXTS. 

pa as 

Chapter V. — Suspension of the Council in 1549. and resumption under pope 
Julius III. in 1551. Decree on Transubstantiaiion. 

$ 25, 26. — Council adjourned to Bologna. Suspended. Death of pope Paul 
III., and choice of De Monte, the legate, a notorious Sodomite, as 
Julius III., 511 

£ 27 28. — Council resumed. Thirteenth session. Decree on Txansubstan- 

tiation, 512 

Chapter VI. — Of Penance. Auricular confession, Satisfaction, and Extreme Uno 
tion — to the second suspension in April, 1552. 

$29. — Fourteenth session. Decrees on Penance and Auricular confession. 514 
§ 30, 31. — Indecency of female confession. Questions from " Garden of the 

Soul," 515 

5 32, 33. — Insult to a female at confession. Confessing sick ladies at Rome, 518 
§ 34. — Confession declared necessary to salvation. Bigotry and tyranny, 521 
§ 35. — Decree on Satisfaction. Penitents redeeming themselves. - - 522 
5 36. — False translations. <; Doing penance" for -repent." Bordeaux Tes- 
tament (note), 522 

I 37, 38. — Decree on Extreme unction. Adjournment April 28th, 1552, - 524 

Chapter YIL — From the seventeenth to the ticenty-fifth and closing session. De- 
nial of the cup to the laity. The Mass. Sacraments of Orders and Matri- 
mony. Purgatory, Indulgences, Relics, dfc. 

$ 39-41. — The council re-opened January 8th, 1562. Eighteenth to twen- 
tieth session, .---...--. 526 

| 42. — Twenty-first session. Decree on refusing the cup to the laity, - 527 

§ 43, 44. — Twenty-second session. Decree on the Mass and use of Latin 

tongue, - 528 

§ 45. — Twenty-third session. Decree on the sacrament of Orders, - - 530 
5 46. — Twenty-fourth session. Decree on the sacrament of Matrimony, - 531 
q 47. — Twenty-fifth session. Decrees on Pur^atorv, Indulgences, Relics, 

&c, - - -------- 532 

Chapter Vffl. — Conclusion of the Council. Acclamations of the Fathers, and 

pope Pius's creed. 

§ 48. — Decree of Confirmation of the Decrees, ----- 535 

§ 49 — Acclamations of the Fathers. Curses on all heretics, - - - 535 
■$ 50. — Pope Pius's creed, containing a summary of the decrees of Trent, 537 
5 51. — According to this creed, Leighton, Baxter, Nevins, Payson, Milnor, 

&.c, all now in Hell, _"'__ 539 

BOOK VIII.— POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS.— 
' ^Persecutions or PorERT to the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, A. D. 
1685. 

/Hap. I. — Persecution proved from decrees of general councils and writings of 
celebrated divines to be an essential doctrine of Popery. 

\ 1. — Ingenious cruelties of Popery. Fifty million victims, - - - 541 

§ 2. — Decrees of general councils, enjoining persecution, - - - - 542 

$ 3. — Citations from Aquinas, Dens and Bellarmine defending persecution, 545 
54. — Popery unchangeable. Charles Butler quoted. Peter Dens teaches 

that heretics should be put to death. Rhemish testament (note), 548 



^ 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxiii 

PAGB 

Chapter II. — Sufferings of the English protestants under Bloody Queen Mary. 

The burning of Latimer, Ridley. Cranmer, <SfC 
§ 5. — Number of Victims. 288 burned alive by Bloody Mary, - 549 

§ 6-9. — Latimer and Ridley. Ceremony of degradation. Martyrdom, - 550 
§ 10-13. — Cranmer. His recantation, renunciation of that recantation, noble 

dying testimony, and martyrdom, ------ 556 

§ 14. — Last band of martyrs. Death of Mary, and joy of the people, - 562 
} 15.— Grief of pope Paul IV., at the death of his " faithful daughter" Mary. 

Copy of his Bull, excommunicating and deposing queen Elizabeth, 563 



— v***^ 



Chapter III. — The Inquisition. Seizure of the Victims. Modes of Torture, and 

celebration of the Auto da Fe. 

16. — The masterpiece of popish cruelty. Pollock's description, - - 567 

§ 17-19.— Apprehension of the victims. Different kinds of tortures, - 568 

§ 20-22. — Auto da fe. Procession of the victims, Dresses, the caroza, san 

benito, &c. Great burning. Joy of the people, - - - 574 



Chapter IV. — Inhuman Persecutions of the Waldenses. 
\ 23.— Cruelties on the Waldenses in the valley of Pragela, A. D. 1400, - 579 
\ 24, 25. — Similar outrages in the valleys of Loyse and Frassiniere, under 

pope Innocent VIII. , &c, ------- 580 

\ 26. — Horrible cruelties on the Waldenses of Calabria, - - - 581 

\ 27, 28. — Waldenses of Piedmont. Interference of Oliver Cromwell. Mil- 
ton's Sonnet. Sufferers of Mount Cenis, - 585 



^ 



Chapter V. — Persecutions in France. Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and Revo- 
cation of the Edict of Nantes. 
29-31. — Massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572. Numbers slain, - - 587 
32. — Joy of the Pope and cardinals at the news. Procession at Rome to 
return thanks to God for the extirpation of heretics. Medal struck 
in honor of the event. Recent issue of that medal at Rome, - 590 
§ 33. — Tolerating edict of Nantes in 1598. Revocation by Louis XIV. in 

1685, at the instance ot his Jesuit confessor, - 593 

\ 34. — Cruelties consequent upon the revocation. Dragoonading, - - 594 
§ 35. — The galleys. Popery loves to persecute the holiest men, - - 594 
§ 36-38. — Proofs. Extracts from letters of Le Febvre, Marolles, and Mauru, 595 

5 39. — Fiendish cruelty to a mother and her babe, 597 

40. — Pope's letter applauding Louis for persecuting the heretics, - - 598 

BOOK IX.— POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE.— From the Revocation of the 
Edict of Nantes, A. D. 1685, to the present time, A. D. 1845. 

Chapter I. — The Jesuits. Their missions. Their suppression, revival, and pre- 
sent position. 

$1. — Early Jesuit missions. College De Propaganda, &c, - - - 599 

\ 2 — Temporizing policy. Adoption of Heathen ceremonies, - - - 600 

§3. — The Jansenists. Pascal and Father Quesnel, 601 

\ 4. — The Jesuits, notorious assassins of sovereigns, - 602 
\ 5, 6. — Their suppression in various countries, and final abolition of the 

order by pope Clement XIV., 604 

{7. — Revival of the order by pope Pius in 1814. Jesuits' oath, - • - 605 

Chapter II. — The persecuting and intolerant spirit of Popery in tlie eighteenth 

and nineteenth centuries. 
$8 9. — Persecutions in the Cevennes. Cruel death of Boeton, - - 606 



xx iv ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

PASS 

§ 10, 11. — Stul later persecutions. Desubas in 1745, Rochette in 1762, . 607 
$ 12. — Efforts of the French priests to revive the persecution so late as 1772. 

French Revolution, 609 

§ 13. — Last victim of the Inquisition in Spain. Inquisition still in Rome, 609 
§ 14. — Raffaele Ciocci. Popery still a wolf, though in the skin of a lamb, 610 
§ 15.— Public burning of Bibles at Champlain, N. Y., in 1842, - - 612 
§ 16. — A woman condemned to death for heresy in 1844, - - - 613 

§ 17. — Persecution part of the system of Popery. Bishop's oath, - - 615 
1 18, 19. — Annual cursing and excommunication of all the classes of heretics 

on Maunday Thursday, by the Pope. &c, - - - - 616 

Chapter III. — Popery unchanged. Modern documentary evidence of its hatred to 
liberty of opinion, separation of church and state, freedom of the press, and a 
translated Bible. 
\ 20. — A Romish author cited on the unchangeableness of Popery, - - 618 
\ 21. — Popery still opposed to freedom of thought. Pope Gregory's bull of 

1832 cited, 619 

h 22. — Opposed also to separation of church and state, political liberty, &c. 

Quotations, -- „____.- 619 
\ 23. — Still opposed to liberty of the press. Quotation, - 620 
\ 24, 25. — To the Bible in the vulgar tongue. Pope Pius quoted in 1816, Gre- 
gory in 1844, 621 

\ 26, 27. — No Bibles allowed without popish notes. Burning of Catholic 

testaments because without notes, in South America, - - 624 

Chapter IV. — Popery as it now is. Testimony of eye-witnesses. Its modern 

pious frauds and pretended miracles. 
§ 28. — Unchanged in its grovelling superstitions and lying wonders, - 626 

§ 29. — Interesting letter from a recent traveller on the continent and in Rome, 026 
§ 30. — Parallel between Popery and modern Heathenism by Rev. E. Kincaid, 627 
§ 31. — Miracle of liquefying the blood of St. Januarius, - 629 

§ 32. — The holy house at Loretto. Flight through the air from Nazareth (!), 

holy porringer and all (! !). ------- 630 

§ 33. — The miraculous virgins of the Tyrol exhibited in 1841 with the wounds 

of Christ. The Adolorata and Ecstatica, 630 

§ 34. — Virgin Mary weeping. The imposture detected, - - - 631 

§ 35. — The miraculous medal of 1830, and its wonders, - 632 

Chapter V. — Recent events. Discontent in Italy. Puseyism. The holy coat, 

and the priest Ronge. Jesuits in Switzerland. Statistics. Conclusion. 
§ 36. — Spirit of liberty in the Papal States. Pope's dread of it, - - 633 
§ 37. — Puseyism in Oxford. Pleasing to the Pope, - 634 

§ 38-39. — Movement in Germany. Imposture of the Holy Coat at Treves in 

1844. Fearless expostulation of John Ronge. A new Church, 635 
§ 40-41. — Recent proceedings of the Jesuits in Switzerland, - 639 

§ 42. — Popish missions to the United States, &c. Sums expended, - 641 

§ 43. — Statistics of Popery in America, - 642 

§ 44. — Designs of the Pope and his adherents in America, - 643 

§ 45. — Statistics of Popery in Britain. Maynooth college, - 644 

§ 46. — Total of Romanists throughout the world. Popery is in its Dotage, 644 
§ 47. — Concluding remarks. The Pope is anti-Christ. Authors who have 

believed this, 646 

q 48.— Probably some of God's people in the Romish Babylon. All exhorted 

to come out of her, 647 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM 

BOOK I. 
POPERY IN EMBRYO. 

FROM THE EARLIEST CORRUPTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY TO THE 
PAPAL SUPREMACY, A. D., 606. 



CHAPTER I. 

CHRISTIANITY PRIMITIVE AND PAPAL. 

§ 1. — The blessed founder of Christianity chose to make his advent 
among the lowly and the despised. This was agreeable to the spirit 
of that Holy Religion which he came to establish. There was a 
time when a multitude of his followers, astonished and convinced 
by the omnipotence displayed in his wondrous miracles, were dis- 
posed to " take him by force to make him a king," but so far from 
encouraging their design, the inspired historian tells us " that he 
departed again, into a mountain himself alone." (John vi., 15.) 
In reply to the inquiries of the Roman governor, he uttered those 
memorable words, " my kingdom is not of this world," and his 
whole conduct from the manger to the cross, and from the cross to 
the mount of ascension, was in strict accordance with this char- 
acteristic maxim of genuine Christianity. 

§ 2. — In selecting those whom he would send forth as the apostles 
of his faith, he went, not to the mansions of the great or to the 
palaces of kings, but to the humble walks of life, and chose from 
the poor of this world, those who, in prosecuting their mission, were 
destined, like their divine master, to be despised and rejected of 
men. In performing the work which their Lord had given them to 
do, the lowly but zealous fisherman of Galilee, and the courageous 
tent-maker of Tarsus, with their faithful fellow-laborers, despising 
all earthly honors and worldly aggrandizement, were content to lay 
every laurel at the foot of Christ's cross, and to " count all things 
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, their 
Lord," for whom they had " suffered the loss of all things." (Phi- 
lippians, hi., 8.) 



26 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [booxl 

Contrast. Effect of persecution. 

§ 3. — A few centuries afterward, we find the professed successor 
of Peter the fisherman, dwelling in a magnificent palace, attended 
by troops of soldiers ready to avenge the slightest insult offered 
to his dignity, surrounded by all the ensigns of worldly greatness, 
with more than regal splendor, proudly claiming to be the sovereign 
ruler of the universal church, the Vicegerent of God upon earth, 
whose decision is infallible and whose will is law. The contrast 
between these two pictures of Primitive Christianity in the first 
century, and Papal Christianity in the seventh or eighth, is so 
amazing, that we are irresistibly led to the inquiry, can they be the 
same ? If one is a faithful picture of Christianity, can it be possible 
that the other is worthy of the name ? 

Leaving the reader to answer this question for himself, after ac 
companying us in the present history, we proceed to remark that 
this transformation cannot be supposed to have taken place all at 
once. The change from the lowliness of the one to the lordliness 
of the other, required ages to complete, and it was not till the lapse 
of more than five centuries from the death of the last of the apostles* 
that the transformation was entire. 

§ 4. — The apostle Paul tells us that even in his day " the mystery 
of iniquity " had begun to work, and had it not been for the purify- 
ing influence of the fires of persecution kindled by the emperors 
of pagan Rome, the advance of ecclesiastical corruption and spir- 
itual despotism would probably have been far more rapid than it was 
— and at an earlier period a the man of sin" have been " revealed," 
even that " son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above 
all that is called God or that is worshipped ; so that he as God, 
sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." For 
three centuries after the ascension of Christ, his disciples were ex- 
posed, with but few and brief intermissions, to a succession of cruel 
and bitter persecutions and sufferings. The pampered wild beasts, 
kept for the amusement of the Roman populace, fattened upon the 
bodies of the martyrs of Jesus in the amphitheatres of Rome or of 
other cities of the empire, and hundreds of fires were fed by the 
living frames of those who " loved not their lives unto the death." 
" They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were 
slain with the sword ; they wandered about in sheep skins and goat 
skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was 
not worthy); they wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in 
dens and caves of the earth." 

Under such a state of tilings, there was of course but little 
inducement to the worldly minded and ambitious, to seek admission 
to the church ; and if during a season of relaxation some such might 
creep within its pale, it required only the mandate of another em- 

* St. John is supposed to have died about A. D. 100. "He lived/' says Dr. 
Care, :: till the time of the Emperor Trajan, about the beginning of whose reign, 
he departed this life, very aged, about the ninety-eighth or ninety-ninth year of his 
age, as is generally thought." See Cave's Lives of the Apostle's, page 104. 



chap, i.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 27 

How Popery proves the Bible. Because predicted in it 

peror to kindle anew the fires of persecution in order to separate 
the dross from the gold. This opposition of the powers and poten- 
tates of the earth, constituted the most effectual barrier against the 
speedier progress of corruption in the church, and according to the 
prediction of St. Paul, before " the man of sin " could be revealed 
it was necessary that this let or hindrance should be removed. It 
can scarcely be doubted that the apostle referred to the continu- 
ance of persecuting pagan Rome, when he said, " and now ye know 
what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time, for the 
mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will 
let until he be taken out of the way ; and then shall that wicked 

BE REVEALED." 

§ 5. — It is an important fact that Popery is plainly a subject of 
prophetic prediction in the Sacred Scriptures, and though the 
almost entire subversion of true Christianity, which occurred in the 
course of only a few centuries, might otherwise have a tendency to 
stagger our faith in its divine origin, yet when it is remembered 
that this great antichristian Apostasy or "falling away" (uTiooraoca) 
happened in exact accordance with " the scriptures of truth," the 
fact serves to strengthen rather than to shake our faith in the divinity 
of our holy religion. Not long ago, the remark was made by a 
Roman Catholic, " The Bible cannot be true without Holy Mother 
of Rome." He meant to say that the Pope gives it all its evidence 
and authority. " Very true," said a Protestant : " for as the Holy 
Bible has predicted the rise, power, and calamities of Popery — if 
these predictions had not been fully manifested in the actual exist- 
ence and tremendous evils of Popery, the Bible would have wanted 
the fulfilment of its prophecies, and therefore would not have been 
true !" The same thought was recently suggested in an eloquent 
discourse by Professor Gaussen, of Geneva, before his Theological 
class. " In pointing to the Pope," said he, " we point to a miracle 
which calls upon us to believe the Bible I Considered in this view, 
the obduracy of the Romanists, like the obduracy of the Jews, 
wonderfully instructs the church, because it has been foretold ; and 
thus it is that the scandals of Rome are transformed into an eloquent 
argument. The sovereign pontiff and the Romish hierarchy be- 
come, in this way, admirable supports of the truth." 

To prove that Popery is the subject of prophetic prediction, it 
would be easy to produce a multitude of passages, but we shall 
content ourselves for the present with citing entire the full length 
portrait of the Romish Apostasy in the second epistle to the Thessa- 
lonians, chap, ii., v. 1, &c, and in first Timothy, chap, iv., v. 1, &c. 
" Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon 
shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor 
by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no 
man deceive you by any means ; for that day shall not come, 
except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be re- 
vealed, the son of perdition ; who opposeth and exalteth himself 



28 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book i. 

Inspired descriptions of the Romish Apostasy. Tertullian quoted. 

above all that is called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he, 
as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 
Remember ye not, that when I was yet with you I told you these 
things ? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be re- 
vealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work ; 
only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall 
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the 
brightness of his coming: Even him whose coming is after the 
working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ; 
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be 
saved." " Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times 
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, 
and doctrines of devils ; speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their 
conscience seared with a hot iron ; forbidding to marry, and com- 
manding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be re- 
ceived with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the 
truth." How accurate is this inspired portrait of the great Apos- 
tasy of Rome, although penned five or six centuries before its 
complete development ! Aside from the accurate symbolical de- 
scriptions of the same power in the prophecies of Daniel and the 
Revelations, these two passages alone constitute a complete pro- 
phetical picture of the Papal anti-Christ, in which every feature, 
every lineament is drawn to the very life ; nor is this to be won- 
dered at, for it was sketched by the pencil of Omniscience itself. 

It is obvious that the wicked power which in the former of these 
passages is the subject of the apostle's discourse, and denominated 
the ma\ t of sin, had not then been fully displayed, and that there 
existed some obstacle to a complete revelation of the mystery of 
iniquity. The apostle uses a particular caution when hinting at it ; 
but the Thessalonians, he says, knew of it ; probably from the 
explanation he had given them verbally, when he was with them. 
It can scarcely be questioned, that the hindrance or obstacle, refer- 
red to in these words, was the heathen or pagan Roman govern- 
ment, which acted as a restraint upon the pride and domination of 
the clergy, through whom the man of sin ultimately arrived at his 
power and authority, as will afterwards appear. The extreme 
caution which the apostle manifests in speaking of this restraint, 
renders it not improbable that it was something relating to the 
higher powers ; for we can easily conceive how improper it would 
have been to declare in plain terms, that the existing government 
of Rome should come to an end. 

There is a remarkable passage in Tertullian's Apology, that may 
serve to justify the sense which Protestants put upon these verses ; 
and since it was written long before the accomplishment of the pre- 
dictions, it deserves the more attention. " Christians," says he, " are 
under a particular necessity of praying for the emperors, and for 
the continued state of the empire ; because we know that dreadful 



chap, i.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 29 

Constantine the Emperor. Kingdom of the clergy. 

power which hangs over the world, and the conclusion of the age, 
which threatens the most horrible evils, is restrained by the continu- 
ance of the time appointed for the Roman empire. This is what we 
would not experience ; and while we pray that it may be deferred, 
we hereby show our good- will to the perpetuity of the Roman 
state."* From this extract it is very manifest that the Christians, 
even in Tertullian's time, a hundred and twenty years before the 
pagan government of Rome came to its end, looked forward to that 
period as pregnant with calamity to the cause of Christ ; though it 
is probable they did not accurately understand the manner in which 
the evils should be brought on the church. And this, indeed, the 
event proved to be the case. For while the long and harassing 
persecutions, which were carried on by the pagan Roman emperors, 
continued, and all secular advantages were on the side of Paganism, 
there was little encouragement for any one to embrace Christianity, 
who did not discern somewhat of its truth and excellence. 

§ 6. — Many of the errors, indeed, of several centuries, the fruit of 
vain philosophy, paved the way for the events which followed ; but 
the hindrance was not effectually removed, until Constantine the 
emperor, on professing himself a Christian, undertook to convert the 
kingdom of Christ into a kingdom of this world, by exalting the 
teachers of Christianity to the same state of affluence, grandeur, and 
influence in the empire, as had been enjoyed by pagan priests and 
secular officers in the state. The professed ministers of Jesus hav- 
ing now a wide field opened to them for gratifying their lust of 
power, wealth, and dignity, the connection between the Christian 
faith and the cross was at an end. What followed was the king- 
dom of the clergy, supplanting the kingdom of Jesus Christ. 

Every feature in the inspired description corresponds to that of 
a religious power, in the assumption of Divine authority, Divine 
honors, and Divine worship ; a power which should arrogate the 
prerogatives of the Most High, having its seat in the temple or 
house of God, and which should be carried on by Satan's influence, 
with all deceit, hypocrisy, and tyranny ; and with this corresponds 
the figurative representation given of the same power, in the thir- 
teenth chapter of Revelations. 

As many things in the Christian profession, before the reign of 
Constantine, made way for the kingdom of the clergy, so, after they 
were raised to stations of temporal dignity and power, . + was not 
wholly at one stride that they arrived at the climax here Jepicted 
by the inspired apostle. Neither the corruption of Christianity, nor 
the reformation of its abuses, was effected in a day ; " evil men and 
seducers waxed worse and worse." 

In the sequel, it will appear, that when the bishops were once 
exalted to wealth, power, and authority, this exaltation was of itself 
the prolific source of every corrupt fruit. Learning, eloquence, and 
influence, were chiefly exerted to maintain their own personal 

* Tertullian's Apology, ch. xxxii. 



30 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book i. 

Christ's kingdom not of this world. Effects of losing sight of this important principle. 

dominion and popularity. Contests for pre-eminence over each 
other, became the succedaneum of the ancient contention for the 
faith, and its influence over the world. 

All the violent contentions, the assembling of councils, the perse- 
cutions alternately carried on by the different parties, were so many 
means of preparing the way for the assumption of spiritual tyranny, 
and the idolatry and superstition of the Roman hierarchy. In all 
these transactions, the substitution of human for divine authority ; 
contentions about words instead of the faith once delivered to the 
saints ; pomp and splendor of worship, for the primitive simplicity ; 
and worldly power and dignity instead of the self-denied labors 
of love and bearing the cross ; — this baneful change operated in 
darkening the human mind as to the real nature of true Christianity, 
until, in process of time, it was lost sight of. 

When Jesus Christ was interrogated by the Roman governor 
concerning his kingdom, he replied, " My kingdom is not of this 
world." This is a maxim of unspeakable importance in his religion ; 
and almost every corruption that has arisen, and by which this 
heavenly institution has been debased, from time to time, may be 
traced, in one way or other, to a departure from that great and 
fundamental principle of the Christian kingdom.* 



CHAPTER II. 

RELIGION IN ALLIANCE WITH THE STATE. 

§ 7. — It was owing to forgetfulness or disregard of the important 
principle, mentioned at the close of the last chapter, viz., that Christ's 
kingdom is not of this world, that the emperor Constantine, soon 
after his remarkable, and as some suppose, miraculous conversion 
to Christianity in the year 312, took the religion of Christ to the 
unhallowed embraces of the state, assumed to unite in his own 
person the civil and ecclesiastical dominion, and claimed the power 
of convening councils and presiding in them, and of regulating the 
external affairs of the church. The account of Constantine's con- 
version, which is related by Eusebius in his life of the Emperor, 
by whom the particulars were communicated to the historian, is as 
follows : (Eusebius, vita Const., lib. i., chap. 28., &c.) At the head of 
his army, Constantine was marching from France into Italy, op- 

* See Jones's Ch. Hist., ch. ii., sect. 4. 



chap.h.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A.D. 606. 31 

Constantine's pretended miraculous conversion. Increase of dignities in the church. 

pressed with anxiety as to the result of a battle with Maxentius, 
and looking for the aid of some deity to assure him of success, when 
he suddenly beheld a luminous cross in the air, with the words 
inscribed thereon, " By this overcome." Pondering on the event 
at night, he asserted that Jesus Christ appeared to him in a vision, 
and directed him to make the symbol of the cross his military 
ensign. Different opinions have been entertained relative to the 
credibility of this account. Dr. Milner receives it, though in evident 
inconsistency with his creed ; Mo.sheim supposes, with the ancient 
writers, Sozomen and Rufinus, that the whole was a dream ; Gre- 
gory, Jones, Haweis, and others reject it altogether, and Professor 
Gieseler, with his usual accuracy and good sense, reckons it among 
" the legends of the age, which had their origin in the feeling that 
the final struggle was come between Paganism and Christianity." 
For my part, I have no hesitation in regarding the whole as a fable. 
It was not till many years after it was said to have occurred, that 
Constantine related the story to Eusebius, and in all probability he 
did it then by the instigation of his superstitious mother Helena, the 
celebrated discoverer of the wood of the true cross (?) at Jerusalem, 
some 250 years after the total destruction of that city, and all that 
it contained, and the disappearance of the identity of its very foun- 
dations, under the ploughshare of the Roman conqueror Vespasian. 
The subsequent life of Constantine furnished no evidence that he 
was a peculiar favorite of Heaven ; and the results of his patronage 
of the church, eventually so disastrous to its purity and spirituality, 
are sufficient to prove that God would never work a miracle to 
accomplish such a purpose. 

§ 8. — Soon after Constantine's professed conversion to Christianity, 
he undertook to remodel the government of the church, so as to make 
it conform as much as possible to the government of the state. Hence 
the origin of the dignities of patriarchs, exarchs, archbishops, canons, 
prebendaries, &c, intended by the Emperor to correspond with the 
different secular offices and dignities, connected with the civil ad- 
ministration of the empire. Taking these newly constituted digni- 
taries of the church into his own special favor, he loaded them with 
wealth and worldly honors, and richly endowed the churches over 
which they presided, thus fostering in those who professed to be the 
followers and ministers of HIM who was " meek and lowly in 
heart," a spirit of worldly ambition, pride, and avarice. And thus 
was the let or hindrance to the progress of corruption, and the 
revelation of " the man of sin " spoken of by Saint Paul in the 
remarkable prediction, already referred to, in a great measure re- 
moved. 

From this time onward, the progress of priestly domination and 
tyranny was far more rapid than in any previous age. The lofty 
title of Patriarch was assumed by the bishops of Rome, Alexandria, 
Antioch, and Jerusalem, and also of Constantinople, after the re- 
moval of the scat of empire to that city, claiming, according to 
Bingham (Antiquities, B. IL, chap. 17), " the right to ordain all the 
3 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [boot l 



T^t zrz : - i::ii-.rr. 



metropolitans :ese ; :: ::... lioeesan 

them; tc receive : 7 :. s from metropolitan and pro- 
vincial synods ; :: censure metropolitans and their suffragan bishops; 
to pronounce absolution upon great criminals, and :: be absolute 
and independent one of another.*' 

In relation to these five patriarchates, the R Mnanists. 3 _ .rrnan 
says Christian Antiquities, chap. 3. Sect ■: . are carefol :: 
that " there wei :-. at first, five patriarchs in the church ; that th: 5t : : 
Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch were ieservedly 90 called 
et ex naturd, but that those of Constantinople an d Jerusalem 
by mere accident, iccidens, graced with this title/ 1 T::r feet that 
these patriarchs were :.bsolute and independent of each other, sfa 
that, up to this time, notwithstanding the proud pretensions of the 
bishof :: patriarch of Rome, he was not as yet acknowledged as 
head of the universal church. 

. — The bish jps : : the three great cities it the R : m : n E .pire, 
Rome. Alexan Iris . and Antioch, accc rding to the learned and : : ■ 
rate Gieseler, had the largest dioceses. Hence the; - were : : osidei e : 
as the heads of the church, and in all general affairs, particular de 
ference was paid to their opinion. Still, however, _:: sti sss was 
laid on the perfect equahty of all bi sh : ~ s ; and each, in his own di: sese, 
was : d s Terable only : ; 3od and bis conscience. Nor were they 
likely t ; allow any peculiar authority to the supi osed so scessoi c : 
Pi:rr. inasmuch as they attributed tc Peter nc superiority over the 
other apostles. In the West, indeed, a certain regard was paid to 
the church of Rome as the largest, but by no means were any 
peculiar rights conceded to it over other chur 2h.es. 0: : : .".rse. :ins 
would be still .ess the case in the East. 9 

It is true thai 5: early as before the conclusion of the sec 
century. Victor, bishop :: Rome, had attempted to lord it over his 
brethren of the East, by forcing them, by his pretended laws and 
decrees, to follow the rule, which was observed by the Western 
churches, in relation to the time of keeping the paschai feast, :: 
which, in later times, the name of Err was replied. The As :- 
atics did not observe :h:s festival on the same day as the Western 
churches, and in order to make them conform to his wishes. Victor 
wrote an imperious letter to the churches in Asia, commanding them 
to observe it on the same day as he did. The _ : _ tics answered 
this lordly summons by the pe:: ::" Polycrates, bishoj : Ephesos, 
who declared, in their name, and that with great spirit and res : lo- 
tion, that they would by no means depart, in this matter, from the 
custom handed down to them by their ancestors. Up :n this, the 
thunder of excommunication began to roar. Victor . ::: erated 
h I e a n s e r : : : h e A si a tie bishops, broke communion 
:hem, pronounced them unworthy ;: the name of his brethren, 
and excluded them from all fellowship with the church of Rome. 

Gheseler'fi text-book ::" e ::iesiastical historv. translated from the German 

r :::::- ;v F. Cizzlzr^-. V;l L. iige 153. 



chap, n.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 33 

Supremacy not yet established. Historical proofs. Victor and Stephen. 

This excommunication, indeed, extended no further ; nor could it 
cut off the Asiatic bishops from communion with the other churches, 
whose bishops were far from approving the conduct of Victor. The 
progress of this violent dissension was stopped by the wise and 
moderate remonstrances, which Irenseus, bishop of Lyons, addressed 
to the Roman prelate upon this occasion, in which he showed him 
the imprudence and injustice of the step he had taken, and also by 
the long letter which the Asiatic Christians wrote in their own 
justification. In consequence therefore of this cessation of arms, 
the combatants retained each their own customs, until the fourth 
century, when the council of Nice abolished that of the Asiatics, and 
rendered the time of the celebration of Easter the same through 
all the Christian churches. " This whole affair," remarks the learned 
Mosheim, " furnishes a striking argument, among the multitude that 
may be drawn from Ecclesiastical History, against the supremacy 
and universal authority of the bishop of Rome."* 

§ 10. — Another proof equally conclusive, that the bishop of Rome 
was not acknowledged as supreme head of the church, may be drawn 
from the dispute that arose between the imperious Stephen of Rome 
and Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, in Africa, about the middle of the 
third century, relative to the validity of baptism administered by 
heretics. As there was no express law which determined the man- 
ner and form, according to which those who abandoned the heretical 
sects were to be received into the communion of the church, the 
rules practised in this matter were not the same in all Christian 
churches. Many of the oriental and African Christians placed re- 
canting heretics in the rank of catechumens, and admitted them, by 
baptism, into the communion of the faithful ; while the greatest part 
of the European churches, considering the baptism of heretics as 
valid, used no other forms in their reception than the imposition 
of hands, accompanied with solemn prayer. This diversity pre- 
vailed for a long time without kindling contentions or animosities. 
But, at length, charity waxed cold, and the fire of ecclesiastical 
discord broke out. In this century, the Asiatic Christians came to 
a determination in a point that was hitherto, in some measure, unde- 
cided ; and in more than one council established it as a law, that all 
heretics were to be rebaptized before their admission to the commu- 
nion of the church.f When Stephen, bishop of Rome, was in- 
formed of this determination, he behaved with the most unchris- 
tian violence and arrogance toward the Asiatic Christians, broke 
communion with them, and excluded them from the communion of 
the church of Rome. These haughty proceedings made no impres- 
sion upon Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, who, notwithstanding the 
menaces of the Roman pontiff, assembled a council on this occa- 
sion, and with the rest of the African bishops, adopted the opinion of 
the Asiatics, and gave notice thereof to the imperious Stephen. The 



*Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, Vol. I., page 205, note 
f Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, B. VII., chap. 5, 7, page 2 



vge 273, 274. Phil. Edition. 



34 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book i, 

Stephen excommunicates St. Cyprian. Remark of a heathen on the extravagance of the Roman bishops, 

fury of the latter was redoubled at this notification, and produced 
many threatenings and invectives against Cyprian, who replied, with 
great force and resolution, and, in a second council held at Carthage, 
declared the baptism, administered by heretics, void of all efficacy 
and validity. Upon this, the choler of Stephen swelled beyond 
measure, and, by a decree full of invectives, which was received 
with contempt, he excommunicated the African bishops, whose 
moderation, on the one hand, and the death of their imperious anta- 
gonist on the other, put an end to the violent controversy.* 

In relating these quarrels, of course, we express no opinion as to 
which party was right. In all probability, the heretics, whose bap- 
tism they questioned, were in many cases nearer the truth than 
either party. Our single object in relating the dispute is to show, 
that so late as the year 256, when the council of Carthage was held, 
the decisions of the bishop of Rome, when they conflicted with the 
views of other bishops, were not received as authority ; and that 
Saint Cyprian, as he is called by Romanists themselves, could 
reject his decrees with contempt without forfeiting his title to the 
honors of subsequent canonization. What greater proof could be 
required that the blasphemous dogma that the bishop of Rome is 
supreme head of the church, and vicegerent of God upon earth, had 
never yet been heard of ? He was travelling step by step, towards, 
but he had not yet reached, nor did he attain, till more than three 
centuries afterwards, that blasphemous eminence, when, according 
to the prediction of Paul, he " opposed and exalted himself above 
all that is called God or is worshipped." 

He far surpassed all his brethren in the magnificence and splen- 
dor of the church over which he presided ; in the riches of his reve- 
nues and possessions ; in the number and variety of his ministers : 
in his credit with the people ; and in his sumptuous and splendid 
manner of living. Ammianus Marcellinus, a Roman historian, who 
lived during these times, adverting to this subject, says, " It was no 
wonder to see those who were ambitious of human greatness, con- 
tending with so much heat and animosity for that dignity, because 
when they had obtained it, they were sure to be enriched by the 
offerings of the matrons, of appearing abroad in great splendor, of 
being admired for their costly coaches, and sumptuous feasts, 
outdoing sovereign princes in the expenses of their table." This 
led Proetextatus, a heathen, who was praefect of the city, to say, 
" Make me bishop of Rome, and Til be a Christian too /"f 

These dazzling marks of human power, these ambiguous proofs 
of true greatness and felicity, had such a mighty influence upon 
the minds of the multitude, that the See of Rome became, in this 
century, a most seducing object of sacerdotal ambition. Henc* it 
happened, that when a new pontiff was to be elected by the suffrages 
of the presbyters and people, the city of Rome was generally agitated 

* Cyprian's Epistles, lxx., lxxiii. 

t Ammianus Marcellinus, Liber xxvii., cap. 3. 



chap, n.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 35 

Bloody feud between rival bishops of Rome. Rudeness of Martin of Tours to the Emperor. 

with dissensions, tumults, and cabals, whose consequences were 
often deplorable and fatal. The intrigues and disturbances that 
prevailed in that city in the year 366, when, upon the death of Libe- 
rius, another pontiff was to be chosen in his place, are a sufficient 
proof of what we have now advanced. Upon this occasion, one 
faction elected Damasus to that high dignity, while the opposite 
party chose Ursicinus, a deacon of the vacant church, to succeed 
Liberius. This double election gave rise to a dangerous schism, 
and to a sort of civil war within the city of Rome, which was carried 
on with the utmost barbarity and fury, and produced the most cruel 
massacres and desolations. 

In this disgraceful contest, which ended in the victory of Damasus, 
according to the historian Socrates, great numbers were murdered 
on either side, no less than one hundred and thirty-seven persons 
being destroyed in the very church itself. Who does not perceive, 
in these wicked strifes and sanguinary struggles, a proof that now 
that which " let " or hindered was " taken out of the way," the full 
revelation of the predicted " man of sin " was rapidly hastening 
onward ? 

While such an example of worldly pride and domination was set 
by those who were looked up to as the heads of the church, it is not 
surprising that other bishops partook of the same spirit. As an 
instance of their haughty bearing towards earthly kings and rulers, 
it is related of Martin, bishop of Tours, in France, that in the 
year 455, he was invited to dine with the Emperor Maximus. When 
the cup of wine was presented to the Emperor by the servant, he 
directed that it should be first offered to the bishop, expecting, of 
course, that then he should receive it from the hand of Martin. 
Instead of this, however, Martin handed the cup to a priest of infe- 
rior rank who sat near him, thus by his rudeness intimating that 
he regarded him as of higher dignity than the Emperor.* Some 
time after this the queen asked her husband's consent that she might 
be allowed, in the character of a servant, to wait on the bishop at 
supper, and, strange to say, her request was granted. For this con- 
duct, according to the superstitious notions of the times, Sulpitius, 
the biographer of Martin, compares her to the queen of Sheba. A 
Roman Catholic historian, referring to this bishop, uses the follow- 
ing language : — " The great St. Martin, the glory and light of Gaul, 
was a disciple of St. Hilary. The utter extirpation of idolatry out 
of the diocese of Tours, and all that part of Gaul, was the fruit of his 
edifying piety, illustrious miracles, zealous labors, and fervent ex- 
hortations and instructions. He was remarkable for his humility, 
charity, austerity, and all other heroic virtues."t Certainly this 
historian, to say the least, must have had singular notions of what 
constitutes true Christian humility. 

* " Exspectans atque ambiens, ut ah illius dextera poculum sumeret. Sed Mar- 
tinus ubi ebibit, pateram presbytcro suo tradidit, nullum scilicet existimans dignio- 
rcm, qui post se biberct." Su/p. Severn s <h> vita Mart. c. 20, quoted by Gieseler. 

f Gahan's History of the Church, page 153. 



36 



CHAPTER IIJ. 

STEPS TOWARDS PAPAL SUPREMACY. 



§ 11. — Nothing could be more simple and unpretending than the 
form of church organization and government in primitive times. 
Each church consisted of a company of believers in the Lord 
Jesus, united together in covenant relationship, for the worship of 
God, the maintenance of gospel doctrines, and the due administration 
of the ordinances appointed by Christ. "Every church," says 
Waddington, an Episcopalian, "in the management of its internal 
affairs, was essentially independent of every oilier" The same histo- 
rian adds that " the churches formed a sort of federative body of 
independent religious communities, dispersed through the greater 
part of the empire, in continual communication and in constant 
harmony with each other." {Wad. Ch. Hist, p. 43.) 

" The rulers of the church," says Mosheim, a Lutheran, " were 
called either presbyters (i. e. elders), or bishops, which two titles are, 
in the New Testament, undoubtedly applied to the same order of 
men."* (Acts xx., 17, 28 ; Phil, i., 1), &c. (Mosheim, vol. i.,p. 99.) 
These were persons of eminent gravity, and such as had distin- 
guished themselves by their superior sanctity and merit. " Let 
none," says the same learned author, " confound the bishops of this 
primitive and golden period of the church, with those of whom we 
read in the following ages. For, though they were both distinguished 
by the same name, yet they differed extremely, and that in many 
respects. A bishop, during the first and second century, was a 
person who had the care of one Christian assembly, which, at that 
time, was, generally speaking, small enough to be contained in a 
private house." Thus when writing to the Colossians, the apostle 
Paul sends a salutation to Nymphas, and " the church which is in 
his house." (ch. iv., 15.) In the commencement of the epistle to the 
Philippians, he refers to the officers of these primitive churches? 
when he directs his letter " to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which 
are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." (ch. i., 1.) 

§ 12. — In process of time, however, the beautiful simplicity of the 
primitive churches was abandoned ; the independence of each par- 
ticular church was lost, and as we have already seen, a variety of 
church dignitaries were created in the place of the primitive elders 
or bishops of the apostolic age ; and as this change constituted the 

* This is now universally admitted by all denominations, Episcopalians as well 
as others. Thus, in the tract " Episcopacy tested by Scripture," publishec^y the 
Protestant Episcopal Tract Society, New York (p. 12), the author, who is ac- 
knowledged to be one of their ablest advocates, remarks concerning the use of the 
title bishop in the New Testament, " That the name is there given to the middle 
order or presbyters ; and all that we read in the New Testament concerning ' bishops.' 
including of course the words ' overseer ' and ' oversight,' which have the same 
derivation," says he, " is to be regarded as pertaining to that middle grade," that 
is, to the presbyters or elders. 



chap, in.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 37 

Gieseler's and Mosheim's account of the organization and government of the primitive churches. 

foundation stone upon which the structure of papal assumption was 
afterward reared, I shall relate, in the words of two distinguished 
historians, the account of this first step in this pernicious inno- 
vation. 

It has been seen from Dr. Mosheim and others, that according to 
New Testament usage, the title bishop belonged to presbyters or 
elders. Soon after the death of the apostles, however, this title 
began to be claimed exclusively by such as sought pre-emi- 
nence over their brethren in the ministry. The words in which 
Gieseler relates this change, are as follows : " After the death of the 
apostles, and the pupils of the apostles, to whom the general direc- 
tion of the churches had always been conceded, some one amongst 
the presbyters of each church was suffered gradually to take the 
lead in its affairs. In the same irregular way the title of sntaxonog 
(bishop) was appropriated to the first presbyter. Hence the differ- 
ent accounts of the order of the first bishops in the church at Rome."* 
Mosheim's account of the gradual assumption of authority by these 
early bishops, and of the early loss of the primitive independency of 
the churches, is as follows : " The power and jurisdiction of the 
bishops were not long confined to their original narrow limits, but 
soon extended themselves, and that by the following means. The 
bishops who lived in the cities, had, either by their own ministry or 
that of their presbyters, erected new churches in the neighboring 
towns and villages. These churches, continuing under the inspec- 
tion and ministry of the bishops, by whose labors and counsels they 
had been engaged to embrace the gospel, grew imperceptibly into 
ecclesiastical provinces, which the Greeks afterwards called dioceses. 
The churches, in those early times, were entirely independent ; none 
of them subject to any foreign jurisdiction, but each one governed by 
its own rulers and its own laws. For, though the churches founded 
by the apostles had this particular deference shown them, that they 
were consulted in difficult and doubtful cases ; yet they had no 
juridical authority, no sort of supremacy over the others, nor the 
least right to enact laws for them. Nothing, on the contrary, is 
more evident than the perfect equality that reigned among the 
primitive churches ; nor does there even appear in the first century, 
the smallest trace of that association of provincial churches, from 
which councils and metropolitans derive their origin. 

" During great part of the second century, the Christian churches 
were independent of each other ; nor were they joined together by 
association, confederacy, or any other bonds but those of charity. 
Each Christian assembly was a little state, governed by its own 
laws, which were either enacted, or at least approved by the 
society. But, in process of time, all the Christian churches of a 
province were formed into one large ecclesiastical body, which, 
like confederate states, assembled at certain times, in order to 
deliberate about the common interests of the whole. This institu- 

* Gieseler's Ecclesiastical History, Vol. i., page 65. 



38 HISTORY OF ROMANISM, [book i. 

Consequences of the establishment of Synods or Councils. 

tion had its origin among the Greeks, with whom nothing was more 
common than this confederacy of independent states, and the regular 
assemblies which met, in consequence thereof, at fixed times, and 
were composed of the deputies of each respective state. But 
these ecclesiastical associations were not long confined to the 
Greeks ; their great utility was no sooner perceived, than they 
became universal, and were formed in all places where the gospel 
had been planted. To these assemblies in which the deputies or 
commissioners of several churches consulted together, the name of 
synods was appropriated by the Greeks, and that of councils by the 
Latins ; and the laws that were enacted in these general meetings, 
were called canons, i. e., rules. 

" These councils, of which we find not the smallest trace before the 
middle of the second century, changed the whole face of the church, 
and gave it a new form ; for by them the ancient privileges of the 
people were considerably diminished, and the power and authority 
of the bishops greatly augmented. The humility, indeed, and 
prudence of these pious prelates, prevented their assuming all at 
once, the power with which they were afterward invested. At 
their first appearance in these general councils, they acknowledged 
that they were no more than the delegates of their respective 
churches, and that they acted in the name, and by the appointment, 
of their people. But they soon changed this humble tone, imper- 
ceptibly extended the limits of their authority, turned their influence 
into dominion, and their counsels into laws ; and openly asserted, 
at length, that Christ had empowered them to prescribe to his 
people, authoritative rules of faith and manners. 

"Another effect of these councils was the gradual abolition of that 
perfect equality which reigned among all bishops in the primitive 
times. For the order and decency of these assemblies required 
that some one of the provincial bishops met in council, should be 
invested with a superior degree of power and authority ; and hence 
the rights of metropolitans derive their origin. In the mean time, 
the bounds of the church were enlarged, the custom of holding 
councils was followed wherever the sound of the gospel had 
reached ; and the universal church had now the appearance of one 
vast republic, formed by a combination of a great number of little 
states. This occasioned the creation of a new order of ecclesiastics, 
who were appointed in different parts of the world, as heads of the 
church, and whose office it was to preserve the consistence and 
union of that immense body, whose members were so widely dis- 
persed throughout the nations. Such was the nature and office of 
the patriarchs, among whom, at length, ambition being arrived at 
its most insolent period, formed a new dignity, investing the bishop 
of Rome, and his successors, with the title and authority of prince 
of the patriarchs. 

" The Christian doctors had the good fortune to persuade the 
people that the ministers of the Christian church succeeded to the 
character, rights, and privileges of the Jewish priesthood ; and this 



chap. in. ] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 39 

Papal supremacy not established in the fourth century. 

persuasion was a new source both of honors and profit to the sacred 
order. This notion was propagated with industry, some time after 
the reign of Adrian, when the second destruction of Jerusalem had 
extinguished among the Jews all hopes of seeing their government 
restored to its former lustre, and their country arising out of ruins. 
And accordingly the bishops considered themselves as invested with 
a rank and character similar to those of the high priest among the 
Jews, while the presbyters represented the priests, and the deacons 
the levites. It is, indeed, highly probable, that they who first intro- 
duced this absurd comparison of offices so entirely distinct, did it 
rather through ignorance and error, than through artifice or design. 
The notion, however, once introduced, produced its natural effects ; 
and these effects were pernicious. The errors to which it gave rise 
were many ; and one of its immediate consequences was the estab- 
lishing a greater difference between the Christian pastors and their 
flock, than the genius of the gospel seems to admit."* 

§ 13. — It was long after these innovations upon primitive sim- 
plicity, before the bishops of Rome enjoyed, or even claimed that 
spiritual sovereignty over other bishops, and over the universal 
church, which they afterwards demanded as a divine right. Not- 
withstanding the pomp and splendor that surrounded the Roman 
See, in the fourth century it is remarked by the same historian from 
whom we have just quoted, that the bishops of that city had not then 
acquired that pre-eminence of power and jurisdiction in the church 
which they afterwards enjoyed. In the ecclesiastical commonwealth, 
they were indeed the most eminent order of citizens as well as their 
brethren, and subject like them to the edicts and laws of the empe- 
rors. None of the bishops acknowledged that they derived their 
authority from the permission and appointment of the bishop of 
Rome, or that they were created bishops by the favor of the apos- 
tolic see. On the contrary, they all maintained that they were the 
ambassadors and ministers of Jesus Christ, and that their authority 
was derived from above. It must, however, be observed, that even 
in this century, several of those steps were partly laid by which 
the bishops of Rome mounted afterwards to the summit of eccle- 
siastical power and despotism. These steps were partly laid by 
the imprudence of the emperors, partly hy the dexterity of the 
Roman prelates themselves, and partly by the inconsiderate zeal and 
precipitate judgment of certain bishops. f 

One of these steps was a decree of a somewhat obscure council 
held at Sardis, during the Arian controversy, in the year 347. 
Among other things enacted in this council, it was provided "that 
in the event of any bishop considering himself aggrieved by the 
sentence of the bishops of his province, he might apply to the bishop 
of Rome, who should write to the bishops in the neighborhood of the 
province of the aggrieved bishop, to rehear the cause ; and should 

* Mogheim, cent, i., part 2, cent, ii., part 2. 
\ See Dupin de antiqua Ecclesiai disciplina. 



40 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [booki. 

Steps toward supremacy. Council of Sardis. Decree of Valentinian. 

also, if it seemed desirable to do so, send some presbyters of his 
own church to assist at the rehearing." It is probable, indeed, as 
Richerius in his History of Councils observes, that this decree was 
only provisional, and intended for the security of the Eastern ortho- 
dox bishops against the Arians, and that the privilege conferred 
upon the bishop of Rome, was not meant to be given to the See of 
Rome, but only to the then bishop Julius, who is expressly men- 
tioned therein ; and consequently that it was only designed for the 
case then before the council. An attempt, however, was made, at 
the beginning of the fifth century, by Zosimus, bishop of Rome, to 
establish his authority in the African churches, by means of this 
decree, on the following occasion. Apiarius, a presbyter of the 
church of Sicca, in Africa, having been deposed by his bishop for 
gross immoralities, fled to Rome, A. D. 415, and was received to 
communion by Zosimus, who forthwith sent legates into Africa, to 
the bishops there, demanding that Apiarius's cause should be heard 
over again ; asserting that the bishops of Rome had the privilege of 
requiring such rehearings conferred upon them in virtue of this 
decree of the Council of Sardis. The African bishops, however, 
refused to acknowledge the authority of this decree, and after a pro- 
tracted controversy, sent a final letter to the bishop of Rome, " in 
which they assert the independence of their own, and all other 
churches, and deny the pretended right of hearing appeals claimed 
by the bishop of Rome : and further exhort him not to receive into 
communion persons who had been excommunicated by their own 
bishops, or to interfere in any way with the privileges of other 
churches."* 

§ 14. — A second step toward the papal supremacy, was a law 
enacted in the year 372, by the emperor Valentinian, which favored 
extremely the rise and ambition of the bishops of Rome, by empower- 
ing them to examine and judge other bishops. A few years afterward, 
the bishops assembled in council at Rome, without considering the 
dangerous power they entrusted to one of their number, and intent 
only upon the privilege it secured to them of exemption from the 
jurisdiction of secular judges, declared in the strongest terms their 
approbation of this law, and recommended that it should be imme- 
diately carried into effect, in an address which they presented to the 
emperor Gratian.f 

A third circumstance which contributed toward the rapidly 
increasing influence of the Roman bishops, was the custom which 
obtained somewhat extensively before the close of the fourth century, 
of referring to their decision in consequence of their claim to 
apostolic descent, all questions concerning the apostolic customs 
and doctrines. This gave them occasion to issue a vast number of 
didactic letters, generally called Decretals, which soon assumed a 
tone of apostolic authority, and were held in high estimation in 

* See Hammond on the Six Councils— Oxford, 1843, p. 40. 
f See Dr. Maclaine's note in Mosheim, i., p. 344. 



chap, in.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 41 

Council of Chalcedon decrees the equality of the bishops of Rome and Constantinople. 

the West, as flowing from apostolic tradition. " From this time 
forth, there was no controversy in the East in which each party did 
not seek to win the bishop of Rome, and through him the Western 
church, to its cause, vying with each other in flattery and servility. 
At the councils, his legates were always treated with the greatest 
deference, and at the council of Chalcedon, they, for the first time, 
presided."* 

The council of Chalcedon was held A. D. 451, and notwith- 
standing the pre-eminence assumed therein by the legate of the 
bishop of Rome, he had not power or influence to prevent the 
passage of a canon which proved extremely odious to his lordly 
master Leo, who has been surnamed the Great, and which resulted 
in a protracted and bitter controversy between the bishops of Rome 
and Constantinople who should be greatest. Some years previous 
to this time, since the removal of the seat of empire to Constanti- 
nople, the ambition and assumption of the bishop of Constantinople 
had almost equalled that of Rome. He had lately usurped the 
spiritual government of the provinces of Asia Minor, Thrace, Pontus, 
and the eastern part of Illyricum, very much to the chagrin and 
dissatisfaction of Leo. C This dissatisfaction was increased when, 
by the twenty-eighth canon of the council of Chalcedon, it was 
resolved, that the same rights and honors which had been con- 
ferred upon the bishop of Rome, were due to the bishop of Con- 
stantinople on account of the equal dignity and lustre of the two 
cities, in which these prelates exercised their authority. The same 
council confirmed also, by a solemn act, the bishop of Constantinople 
in the spiritual government of those provinces over which he had 
ambitiously usurped the jurisdiction. Leo opposed with vehe- 
mence the passing of these decrees, and his opposition was seconded 
by that of several other prelates. But their efforts were vain, as 
the emperors threw in their weight into the balance, and thus sup- 
ported the decisions of the Grecian bishops. , 

In consequence then of the decrees of this famous council, the 
bishop of Constantinople began to contend obstinately for the supre- 
macy with the Roman pontiff, and to crush the patriarchs of Alex- 
andria and Antioch, so as to make them feel the oppressive effects 
of his pretended superiority. Elated with the favor and proximity 
of the imperial court, he cast a haughty eye on all sides where any 
objects were to be found on which he might exercise his ambition. 
After reducing under his jurisdiction these two patriarchs, as pre- 
lates only of the second order, he invaded the diocese of the Roman 
pontiff, and spoiled him of several provinces. The two former pre- 
lates, though they struggled with vehemence, and raised consider- 
able tumults by their opposition, yet they struggled ineffectually, 
both for want of strength, and likewise on account of a variety 
of unfavorable circumstances. But the Roman pontiff, far superior 
to them in wealth and power, contended also with more vigor and 

* Gieselcr, Vol. i., page 260. 



42 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [booki. 



Appeals of other bishops to Rome. Reverence of the barbarian conquerors. 

obstinacy, and in his turn, gave a deadly wound to the usurped 
supremacy of the patriarch of Constantinople. Notwithstanding 
the redoubled efforts of the latter, a variety of circumstances united 
in augmenting the power and authority of the Roman pontiff, though 
he had not, as yet, assumed the dignity of supreme lawgiver and 
judge of the whole Christian church. The bishops of Alexandria 
and Antioch, unable to make head against the lordly prelate of 
Constantinople, often fled to the Roman pontiff for succor against 
his violence ; and the inferior order of bishops used the same method, 
when their rights were invaded by the prelates of Alexandria and 
Antioch. So that the bishop of Rome, by taking all these prelates 
alternately under his protection, daily added new degrees of influ- 
ence and authority to the Roman See, rendered it everywhere 
respected, and was thus imperceptibly establishing its supremacy. 
This was, evidently, another of the steps by which he was rapidly 
ascending to the summit of ghostly dominion.* 

§ 15. — One more circumstance is worthy of mention, as contributing 
in no small degree to the increase of the power and influence of the 
bishop of Rome, viz., the regard almost universally paid to him by 
the fierce and barbarous tribes, who now in quick succession poured 
in from the north, and conquered and ravaged Italy and the capital 
of the ancient empire. In the years 408, 409, and 410, the proud 
city of Rome was three times in succession subjected to a siege by 
the renowned Alaric, king of the Goths, who is distinguished by 
contemporary historians by the terrible epithets of the scourge of 
God and the destroyer of nations. At first he was bought off by 
the terrified inhabitants, but at length the city was taken and given 
up to be pillaged and sacked by the fierce Gothic soldiery. In the 
year 452, the ferocious Attila, king of the Huns, invaded the north 
of Italy, laid waste some of its fairest provinces, and was only 
prevented from marching to Rome and renewing the horrid cruelties 
and excesses of Alaric by an immense ransom, and the powerful 
influence of the Roman pontiff, Leo the Great, who, at the head of 
an embassy, waited on Attila, as he lay " encamped at the place 
where the slow-winding Mincius is lost in the foaming waves 
of the lake Benacus, and trampled with his Scythian cavalry the 
farms of Catullus and Virgil."f In the year 454, Rome was again 
taken and pillaged by Genseric, king of the Vandals ; and in the 
year 476, the western empire was finally subverted, and Italy, with 
its renowned and time-honored capital, reduced under the dominion 
of the Gothic barbarians by the conquests of Odoacer, king of the 
Heruli, a tribe of Goths, and the deposition and banishment of 
Augustulus, the last of the western Roman emperors. 

§ 16. — These barbarous nations, these fierce and warlike Germans 
who, after the defeat of the Romans, divided among them the west- 
ern empire, bore, with the utmost patience and moderation, both 

* See Mosheim, Cent. v. Part 2, Chap. ii. 

f Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. ii., p. 303. 



chap, in.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 43 

Heathen rites adopted at Rome. Opinions of Robertson and Hallara. 

the dominion and vices of the bishops and priests, because, upon 
their conversion to Christianity, they became naturally subject to 
their jurisdiction ; and still more, because they looked upon the 
ministers of Christ as invested with the same rights and privileges, 
which distinguished the priests of their fictitious deities. Nor is it at 
all to be wondered at that these superstitious barbarians, accustomed 
as they were to regard with a feeling amounting almost to adora- 
tion, the high priests of their own heathen gods, should manifest a 
readiness to transfer that veneration to the high priests of Rome, 
especially when they saw the multitude of heathen rites that were 
already introduced into Christian worship, and the willingness of 
the Roman pontiffs, by still further increasing the number of these 
pagan ceremonies, to accommodate their religion to the prejudices 
and inclinations of all. 

In ages of ignorance and credulity, remarks a celebrated Scottish 
historian, " the ministers of religion are the objects of superstitious 
veneration. When the barbarians who overran the Roman empire 
first embraced the Christian faith, they found the clergy in possession 
of considerable power ; and they naturally transferred to those 
new guides the profound submission and reverence, which they 
were accustomed to yield to the priests of that religion which they 
had just forsaken. They deemed their persons to be equally sacred 
with their function, and would have considered it as impious to subject 
them to the profane jurisdiction of the laity. The clergy were not 
blind to these advantages which the weakness of mankind afforded 
them. They established courts, in which every question relating to 
their own character, their function, their property, was tried and 
pleaded, and obtained an almost total exemption from the authority 
of civil judges."* Thus was a kind of mutual compromise effected 
between these barbarous heathen conquerors, and the bishop of 
Rome, and his clergy. The former generally agreeing to accept 
the Christian name, and the latter tacitly consenting to conform 
as much as possible to their heathen rites and ceremonies of worship. 

The blind submission of these heathen tribes to the degenerate 
ministers of Christianity, tended much to increase the wealth and 
consequently the power of the clergy. On this subject remarks the 
elegant historian of the middle ages, " The devotion of the con- 
quering nations, as it was still less enlightened than that of the 
subjects of the empire, so was it still more munificent. They left, 
indeed, the worship of Hesus and Taranis in their forests ; but they 
retained the elementary principles of that, and of all barbarous 
idolatry, a superstitious reverence j 'or the priesthood, a credulity that 
seemed to invite imposture, and a confidence in the efficacy of gifts 
to expiate offences. Of this temper it is undeniable that the minis- 
ters of religion, influenced probably not so much by personal cove- 
tousness as by zeal for the interests of their order, took advantage. 
Many of the peculiar and prominent characteristics in the faith and 

* Robertson's Charles V., American edition, page 34. 



44 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book i. 

Supremacy claimed from divine right. 

discipline of those ages appear to have been either introduced, or 
sedulously promoted, for the purpose of sordid fraud. To those 
purposes conspired the veneration for relics, the worship of images, 
the idolatry of saints and martyrs, the religious inviolability of sanc- 
tuaries, the consecration of cemeteries, but, above all, the doctrine of 
purgatory, and masses for the relief of the dead. A creed thus 
contrived, operating upon the minds of barbarians, lavish, though 
rapacious, and devout though dissolute, naturally caused a torrent 
of opulence to pour in upon the church."* 



CHAPTER IV. 

DIVINE RIGHT OF SUPREMACY CLAIMED AND DISPROVED. 

§ 17. — By general consent a kind of superiority of rank had long 
been conceded to the bishops of Rome, chiefly from the fact that 
that city was the first in rank and importance, and the ancient 
capital of the empire ; and upon the same ground it was that the 
council of Chalcedon, already referred to, " proceeding on the 
principle that the importance of a bishop depended alone on the 
political consequence of the city in which he lived, decreed the same 
rights to the bishop of Constantinople in the Eastern church, which 
the bishop of Rome enjoyed in the Western."! After the fall of the 
ancient capital, however, and its consequent diminution of political 
importance, as compared with the Eastern capital, the bishops of 
Rome found it necessary to assert with renewed earnestness, the 
pretensions which they had occasionally hinted at before, of their 
divine right of supremacy, in consequence of their claiming to be 
the successors of the apostle Peter, who, they now asserted, without 
a shadow of scriptural or historical proof, was the first bishop of 
Rome, and was constituted by Jesus Christ, supreme head of the 
church upon earth. 

§ 18. — As this is a fundamental point with the Romish church, J 

* Hallam's Middle Ages, chap, vii., pages 261, 262, American edition. 

f Gieseler. vol. i., page 269. 

\ The views of Romanists on this point, so essential to their whole system, are 
explicitly set forth in the following translation from the Latin of an extract from 
the theology of Peter Dens, a standard work, prepared for the use of Romish 
seminaries and students of theology. Mechlin edition, 1838. 

Concerning the Supreme Pontiff. (Nos. 90, 93, 94.) 

" What is the Supreme Pontiff? 

" He is Christ's Vicar upon earth, and the visible head of his church. 



chap. iv.J POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 45 



No proof that Peter was bishop of Rome. 



it may be well, at this place, to make a short digression, for the 
purpose of examining the validity of this claim. In relation to the 
first supposition, that of Peter having been bishop of the church 
at Rome, there is no historical proof whatever. There is no men- 
tion in the New Testament that Peter ever was at Rome, and hence 
Scaliger, Salmasius, Spanheim, Adam Clarke, and many other 
learned writers, have denied that he ever visited that city. But 
supposing the Romanist tradition to be true, that he suffered death 
at Rome, in company with the apostle Paul, about A. D. 65, still, 
there is no proof whatever that he was bishop of Rome, or that he 
had any particular connection with the church or churches in that 
city, any more than Paul or any other of the apostles. Indeed, it 
would be much easier to prove that Paul was bishop of the church 
of Rome than that Peter was, for it is expressly mentioned in the 
New Testament, that Paul visited Rome, and that he remained 
there for " two whole years — preaching the kingdom of God, and 
teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ." (Acts 
xxviii., 30, 31.) Now if Pope Peter was also at Rome, and more 
especially if he was there in the character of " supreme head of 
the church universal," is it not most astonishing that Paul should 
take not the slightest notice of him, and that neither the Sacred 

" Christ instituted the church of the New Testament upon earth, not on the plan 
of an aristocratic or democratic government, but on the plan of a monarchical 
government, yet tempered by that which is best in an aristocracy, as was said 
No. 81. But when Christ was about to withdraw his visible presence by his 
ascension into heaven, he constituted his Vicar the visible head of the church, he 
himself remaining the supreme, essential and visible head. 

" Who is called Supreme Pontiff, and wherefore ? 

" The Roman Pontiff, not only because he holds the highest honor and dignity 
in the church, but principally, because he has supreme and universal authority, 
power and jurisdiction over all bishops and the whole church. 

" From whom does the Pope, legitimately elected, receive his power and juris- 
diction ? 

" Ans. He receives it immediately from Christ as his Vicar, just as Peter re- 
ceived it. Nor is it any objection that the Pope is elected by cardinals ; for their 
election is only an essential requisite, which being supplied, he receives power and 
jurisdiction immediately from Christ. 

" From whom do the Bishops receive the power of jurisdiction ? 

" Ans. The French contend that they receive it immediately from Christ ; but 
it seems that it ought rather to be said that they receive it immediately from the 
Roman Pontiff, because the government of the church is monarchical," &c, &c. 

" What power has the Roman Pontiff? 

" We reply with St. Thomas, &c. : ' The Pope has plenitude of power in 
the church ;' so that his power extends to all who are in the church, and to all 
things which pertain to the government of the church. 

" This is proved from what was said before : because the Roman Pontiff is the 
true Vicar of Christ, the head of the whole church, the pastor and teacher ; there- 
fore," &c. " Hence it follows, that all the faithful, even bishops and patriarchs, 
are obliged to obey the Roman Pontiff; also, that he must be obeyed in all things 
which concern the Christian religion, and therefore, in faith and customs, in rites, 
ecclesiastical discipline," &c. " Hence, the perverse device of the Quesnelliles falls 
to the ground; namely, that the Pope is not to be obeyed, except in those things which 
he enjoins conformably to Sacred Scripture." 



46 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [booki. 

No proof that Peter was constituted by Christ supreme head of the Church. 

Scriptures nor any of the apostolic fathers should say one word 
in relation to his connection with the church in that city ? 

Look again, at the style in which Peter alludes to himself in 
his epistles ; how different from that which has ever been adopted 
by his professed successors, the lordly Roman pontiffs, since the 
establishment of their supremacy ! If Peter really was, as Romanists 
contend, the first Pope of Rome, why do we not find him adopting 
a style something like the following : " We, Simon Peter, sovereign 
pontiff of Rome, apostolic vicar, and supreme head of the church ?" 
&c, or something in the style of Pope Gregory's Encyclical Letter 
of 1832, viz.: "Encyclical Letter of our most Holy Father, Pope 
Peter, by Divine Providence, the First of the name, addressed to 
all Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops."* But instead 
of this, we read simply " Simon Peter, a servant and apostle to them 
that have obtained like precious faith." (2 Pet., i., 1.) 

§19. — The second supposition, viz. : that Peter was constituted 
by Christ, supreme head of the Church, is professedly derived from 
the following conversation between Christ and Peter, " When Jesus 
came into the coast of Cesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 
saying, who do men say that I, the Son of man, am ? and they 
said, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and 
others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, but who 
say ye that I am ? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the 
Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto 
him, blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood hath not 
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I 
say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will 
build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 
(Matt, xvi., 13, &c.) Now in reference to this passage, it is suffi- 
cient to remark that the rock nsiqa (petra), on which Christ prom- 
ised to build his church, was not, as Romanists maintain, the fallible 
mortal Peter, IIetqos (Petros), who had made this confession, but the 
glorious and fundamental truth which this confession embodied, or 
the glorious and divine personage, who was the subject of it, 
" Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." The words 
in the Greek are " Sv ei IJergog, xul em ravxrj -nq nsTga" " Thou art 
Peter, and upon this neTga rock," which thou hast confessed, &c. 
So also the Latin Vulgate has " Tu es Petrus (mas.), et super hanc 
petram (fem.), cedificabo ecclesiam meam." The interpretation which 
Roman Catholic writers put upon this expression, is comparatively 
modern in its origin, and directly opposed to the opinions of some 
whom they regard as the most enlightened among the ancient 
fathers. In their authorized creed, Romanists solemnly profess to 
receive no interpretations of Scripture, except " according to the 
unanimous consent of the fathers." (Nisi juxta unanimem consen- 
sum patrum. Creed of Pope Pius.) To prove that in their inter- 

* Title of Pope Gregory's Letter, " Encyclical Letter from our most Holy 
Father, Pope Gregory, the Sixteenth of the name, addressed to all Patriarchs, Pri- 
mates, Archbishops, and Bishops." 



chap, iv.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 47 

Augustine, Hilary, and Bede quoted. Other apostles more worthy than Peter. 

pretation of this passage, they violate their own rule, many cita- 
tions from the fathers might be given. Let the following two 
suffice. The first is from Augustine, the celebrated bishop of Hippo 
(on Matt., 13. ser.) " De verbis Domini, tic es Petrus," &c. " Thou 
art Peter, and upon this rock which thou hast confessed, upon this, 
which thou hast acknowledged, saying, ' Thou art Christ, the Son 
of the living God,' I will build my church ; that is, upon myself, the 
Son of the living God, I will build my church," &c. 

The other is from Hilary, another of the most celebrated fathers. 
(Can. 16, de fundam. Eccles.) " Unum igitur hoc est immobile fun- 
damentum," &c. " This one foundation is immovable, that is, that 
one blessed rock of faith, confessed by the mouth of Peter, ' Thou 
art the Son of the, living God.' " — (De Trinit., 1. 6.) " Super hanc 
confessionis petram ecclesice cedificatio est." " The building of the 
church is upon this rock of confession." And again, " hcec fides" 
&c. " This faith is the foundation of the church ; this faith hath 
the keys of the kingdom of heaven : what this faith shall loose or 
bind is bound and loosed in heaven." 

So also the venerable Bede, who, though not reckoned among 
the fathers, was a writer of great renown in the eighth century, 
remarks on this passage as follows. " It is said unto him by a 
metaphor, Upon this rock, i. e., the Saviour, whom thou hast con- 
fessed, the church is builded." 

Whatever may be the weight attached to the authority of these 
writers, it is evident that if the promise referred to Peter, it failed 
of accomplishment ; for when Peter with oaths and curses denied 
his Lord, certainly the gates of hell did prevail against him, and if 
he, a fallible and peccable mortal, had been the foundation of the 
church ; when that fell, the church, the superstructure must have 
fallen with it. The fact is, that Christ alone is the supreme head 
as well as the foundation of the church, and he gave no special 
precedence or dignity to one of the apostles which he gave not to 
another. He established no earthly supreme head of the church, and 
his apostles ever acted toward each other in the spirit of the declara- 
tion of their Lord, " One is your master, even Christ, and all ye 

ARE BRETHREN." 

§ 20. — If any one were worthy of the supremacy over the rest, 
and to be called " Prince of the apostles," thei'e are at least three 
of their number who would be more worthy of the honor than 
Peter, viz. : either Paul, or James, or John. Paul was more worthy, 
for he publicly and deservedly rebuked Peter, and " withstood him 
to the face, because he was to be blamed" (Gal. ii., 11), and certainly 
Paul could not have been inferior to Peter, for Paul himself declares 
that in nothing was he behind the very chiefest apostles." (2 Cor. 
xii., 11.) James was more worthy than Peter, for he appears to 
have been bishop or pastor of the first church ever established, viz. : 
that at Jerusalem, and presided and announced the final decision in 
the council held at Jerusalem, in relation to the alleged necessity 
of circumcision. (Acts, chap, xv.) John was certainly more 
4 



48 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [look i. 

Pecer's imaginary successors. Various and conflicting lists of them. 

worthy of the supremacy than Peter, if any one were entitled to 
such a pre-eminence ; for John never denied his Lord, but Peter 
did ; John, " the beloved disciple," asked Jesus a question at the 
Supper, which Peter did not dare to ask. (John xiii., 23, 24.) John 
was standing near the cross, at the death of his Lord, and had the 
mother of Jesus confided to his care, while Peter was probably at 
a distance, weeping over his cowardly denial. (John xix., 25, &c.) 
John lived longer than Peter, was the last survivor of all the 
apostles, and penned more of the volume of Inspiration than either 
Peter, or any other of the twelve. 

§ 21. — But in relation to the other supposition ; supposing that it 
could be proved, which we have shown it cannot, that Peter, 
during his life, was the supreme head of the church on earth, still 
it would be impossible to prove that this supremacy descended 
down from one generation to another, through the long line of 
popes, many of whom, as we shall show, in the progress of this 
work, were monsters of vice and impurity. There is no evidence 
that the apostles had the slightest expectation of any such regular 
line of descent. The Xew Testament does not say a single word 
about it, and even the Roman bishops themselves did not make the 
claim to have derived their power from Peter, till several centuries 
after the apostolic age. 

Before leaving this subject, there is one absurdity which springs 
from this claim of the Romanists, that deserves to be mentioned. 
Most Roman Catholic authors reckon Linus the second bishop of 
Rome, or supreme head of the church ;* pope Linus, according to 

* We are not to suppose, however, that there is any uniformity among writers, 
or certainty as to the three or four supposed first successors of St. Peter. Says 
Mr. Walch, the author of a compendious but learned history of the Popes, originally 
published in German : u If we may judge of the church of Rome, by the constitu- 
tion of other apostolic churches, she could have had no particular bishop, before the 
end of the first century. The ancient lists," he adds. ' ; are so contradictory that it 
would be impossible exactly to determine, either the succession of the bishops, or 
their chronology. Some say that Clemens, of Rome, had been ordained by the 
apostle Peter, and was his immediate successor. Others place Linus and Cletus 
betwixt them. A third set name Linus, but instead of Cletus. name Axacletvs, 
Axexcletvs, Daclettts. Lastly a fourth party states the succession thus : Peter, 
Linus, Cletus. Clemens, Anacletus." — Watch's Lives of the Popes. 

Among the early fathers, Tertullian, Rufinus, and Epiphanius, say Clement 
succeeded Peter. Jerome declares that ' most of the Latin authors sup- 
posed the order to be Clement the successor of Peter.' But Irenseus, Eusebius, 
Jerome, and Augustine, contradict the above authorities, and say Linus succeeded 
Peter ; Chrysostom seems to go the same way. Bishop Pearson has proved that 
Linus died before Peter ; and therefore, on the supposition that Peter was first 
bishop of Rome, Linus could not succeed him. Cabassute, the learned Popish 
historian of the councils, says. ; it is a very doubtful question concerning Linus, 
Cletus. and Clemens, as to which of them succeeded Peter.' Dr. Comber, a very 
learned divine of the church of England, says, ' upon the whole matter there is no 
certainty who was the bishop of Rome, next to the apostles, and therefore the 
Romanists euild UPON ax ill eottom, when they lay so great weight on their 

PERSONAL SUCCESSION.' " 

" The liee blunder," remarks the same learned Episcopalian, i; there is 
about the next bishop of Rome. Thefabulous Pontifical makes Cletus succeed Linus, 



chap, iv.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 49 

Singular absurdity. The apostle John subject to the second Pope. 

them, having succeeded upon the martyrdom of pope Peter. Now, 
it is not denied by any, that the apostle John outlived Peter about 
thirty years. If then Peter was the supreme head of the church, 
and Linus was his successor in the supremacy, then of course the 
inspired apostle John must have been inferior to Linus in rank and 
dignity, and subject to him in precisely the same way as Roman 
Catholic bishops are now subject to their pope. Now when it is 
remembered that Linus, of whom we know scarcely anything more 
than his name, was not one of the apostles, it will be seen that this 
supposition is directly at variance with the inspired declaration of 
Paul, " God hath set some in the Church, first, apostles ; secondarily, 
prophets ; thirdly, teachers ; after that miracles ; then gifts of 
healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." (1 Cor, xii., 
28.) To such strange absurdities does this doctrine of the papal 
supremacy lead. Of course the same conclusion will follow, which- 
ever of the various theories is adopted, as to the supposed imme- 
diate successor of Peter.* 

Notwithstanding, however, the weakness of these pretensions, 
after the city of Rome had fallen from its ancient dignity, into the 
power of the barbarians, and the superiority of its lordly bishop 
could no longer be quietly submitted to from the superiority of that 
city to every other, the pontiffs renewed and reiterated this arro- 

and gives us several Lives of Cletus, and Anacletus, making them of several 
nations, and to have been popes at different times, putting Clement between them. 
Yet the aforesaid bishop of Chester [PearsonJ proves these were only two names 
of the same person. And every one may see the folly of the Romish church, 
which venerates two several saints on two several days, one of which never had a 
real being, for Cletus is but the abbreviation of Anacletus 's name.''' (Dr. Comber on 
" Roman Forgeries in Councils" part i., c. i.) 

Amidst all these varying and opposing lists, this contradiction and con- 
fusion worse confounded, how utterly baseless must be those pretensions, 
whether made by the papists of Rome, or the semi-papists of Oxford, which are 
founded upon a supposed ascertained, and unbroken descent from the apostles ? 
The arguments to sustain them are lighter than air. Hence we are not surprised 
to hear that bright luminary of the British establishment, Archbishop Whately, 
declare his solemn conviction, that " there is not a minister in all Christen- 
dom, who is able to trace up, with any approach to certainty, his own 
spiritual pedigree. The ultimate consequence must be," remarks the same 
excellent prelate, " that any one who sincerely believes that his claim to the bene- 
fits of the gospel covenant depends on his own minister's claim to the supposed 
sacramental virtue of true ordination, and this again on apostolical succession, 
must be involved, in proportion as he reads, and inquires, and reflects, and reasons 
on the subject, in the most distressing doubt and perplexity. It is no wonder, 
therefore, that the advocates of this theory studiously disparage reasoning, depre- 
cate all exercise of the mind in reflection, decry appeals to evidence, and lament 
that even the power of reading should be imparted to the people. It is not without 
cause that they dread and lament 'an age of too much light,' and wish to involve 
religion in a ' solemn and awful gloom.' It is not without cause that, having 
removed the Christian's confidence from a rock, to base it on sand, they forbid all 
prying curiosity to examine their foundation." (Whately on the Kingdom of Chris/, 
Essay ii., § 30.) 

* Those who wish to see the argument on this subject carried out in a masterly 
way, are referred to the treatise of the learned Barrow, on the Pope's supremacy. 



50 IHSTORY OF ROMANISM. [book l 

Another fierce contest between rival bishops of Rome. Symmachus and Laurenuus. 

gant claim to supremacy from divine right, with an earnestness 
proportioned to the danger that existed of sinking into a second 
rank, from the rising political importance and splendor of the rival 
city of Constantinople. 



CHAPTER V. 

POPERY FULLY ESTABLISHED. THE MAN OF SIN REVEALED. 

§ 22. — In the course of the sixth century, the city of Rome thrice 
witnessed the disgraceful spectacle of rival pontiffs, with fierce 
hatred, bloodshed, and massacre, contending with each other for the 
spiritual throne. The first of these struggles occurred about the 
commencement of the century, " between Symmachus and Lau- 
rentius, who were on the same day elected to the pontificate by 
different parties, and whose dispute was at length decided by The- 
odoric, king of the Goths. Each of these ecclesiastics maintained 
obstinately the validity of his election ; they reciprocally accused 
each other of the most detestable crimes : and to their mutual dis- 
honor, their accusations did not appear on either side entirely desti- 
tute of foundation. Three different councils, assembled at Rome, 
endeavored to terminate this odious schism, but without success. 
A fourth was summoned by Theodoric, in 503, to examine the 
accusations brought against Symmachus, to whom this prince had, 
at the beginning of the schism, adjudged the papal chair. This 
council w r as held about the commencement of this century, and in 
it the Roman pontiff was acquitted of the crimes laid to his charge. 
But the adverse party refused to acquiesce in this decision, and this 
gave occasion to Ennodius, bishop of Ticinum, now Pavia, to draw 
up his adulatory apology for the council and Symmachus." It was 
on this occasion and in this apology, says Gieseler, that the asser- 
tion was first hazarded, that " the bishop of Rome was subject to no 
earthly tribunal. Not long afterward an attempt w T as made to give 
this principle a historical basis, by bringing forward forged acts of 
former pontiffs."*' In subsequent ages, it will be seen that the popes 
not only declared themselves free from all subjection to every 
earthly tribunal, but boldly maintained that all earthly powers and 
potentates were subject to them. In this apology for Symmachus, 
the servile flatterer, Ennodius, styles the object of his flattery, " Judge 
in the place of God, and vicegerent of the Most High." This 
was the first time so far as is known, that this blasphemous title 

* Gieseler, vol. i., page 339. 



chap, v.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 51 

More quarrels at Rome. Dispute about the title of universal bishop. 

was given to man, though some centuries afterward it was com- 
monly applied to the popes, thus fulfilling the prophetic words of 
Paul : " So that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing 
himself that he is God." (2 Thess. ii., 4.) 

About the year 530, there was another disgraceful contest, and 
the city of Rome was again agitated by the rival claims of Boniface 
II., and Dioscurus, though the premature death of the latter soon 
put a period to this clerical war. But the century did not close 
without a scene alike disgraceful. A prelate of the name of Vigilius, 
intrigued at court to procure the deposition of the reigning bishop 
Silverus. The latter was, in consequence, deprived of his dignities 
and banished. He appealed to the emperor Justinian, who inter- 
fered in his behalf, and encouraged him to return to Rome, with the 
delusive expectation of regaining his rights ; but the artifices of 
Vigilius prevailed — his antagonist was resigned to his power, and 
immediately confined by him in the islands of Pontus and Pandatara, 
where, in penury and affliction, he terminated his wretched exist- 
ence. 

§ 23. — During the last few years of the sixth century, the contest 
for supremacy between the bishops of Rome and Constantinople 
raged with greater acrimony than at any preceding period. The 
bishop of Constantinople not only claimed an unrivalled sovereignty 
over the eastern churches, but also maintained that his church was, 
in point of dignity, no way inferior to that of Rome. The Roman 
pontiffs beheld with impatience these pretensions, and warmly 
asserted the pre-eminence of their church, and its undoubted superi- 
ority over that of Constantinople. Gregory the Great distinguished 
himself in this violent contest ; and the fact that in a council held 
in 588, John, the faster, bishop of Constantinople, assumed the title 
of universal bishop, furnished Gregory with a favorable opportunity 
of exerting his zeal. Supposing that the design of his rival was to 
obtain the supremacy over all Christian churches, Gregory opposed 
his pretensions with the utmost vehemence, and in order to establish, 
more firmly, his own authority, invented the fiction of the power of 
the keys, as committed to the successor of St. Peter, rather than to the 
body of the bishops, according to the previous opinion, and, says Wad- 
dington, " He betrayed on many occasions a very ridiculous eager- 
ness to secure their honor. Consequently he was profuse in his distri- 
bution of certain keys, endowed, as he was not ashamed to assert, with 
supernatural qualities ; he even ventured to insult Anastasius, the 
patriarch of Antioch, by such a gift. * I have sent you (he says), 
keys of the blessed apostle Peter, your guardian, which, when 
placed upon the sick, are wont to be resplendent with numerous 
miracles.' ' Amatoris vestri, beati Petri apostoli, vobis claves 
transmisi, qua; super ocgros positce multis solent miraculis coruscare.' 
We may attribute this absurdity to the basest superstition, or to the 
most impudent hypocrisy ; and we would gladly have preferred 
the more excusable motive, if the supposed advancement of the See, 



52 HISTORY OF ROMAXISM. [book l 

Letter of Saint Gregory, about the -'blasphemous," ••infernal,'' and "diabolical " title, 

which was clearly concerned in these presents, did not rather lead 
us to the latter/'"' (Wad. Ch. Hist. 143.) 

§ 24. — Besides these vain pretensions. Gregory wrote epistles to 
his own ambassador at Constantinople, to the patriarch John, and 
to the emperor Mauritius, in which in various passages he denounces 
the title of universal bishop as " vain." " execrable," M anti-Chris- 
tian." " blasphemous,*' " infernal;' and u diabolical." In his letter to 
the patriarch of Constantinople, he pleads with him thus : " Disci- 
pulis Dominus dicit, autem nolite vocari rabbi, unus enim Magisier 
vester est, vos omnes fratres estis." vkc. • Our Lord says unto his 
disciples, be not ye called rabbi, tor one is your Master, and all ye 
are brethren. 3 What, therefore, most dear brother, are you, in the 
terrible examination of the coming Judge, to say, who, generalis 
pater in muado vocari appetis ? desire to be called, not father only, 
but the general father of the world I 

" Beware of the sinful suggestions of the wicked. I beg, I entreat, 
and I beseech, with all possible suavity, that your brotherhood 
resist all these flatterers who oiler you this name of error, and that 
you refuse to be designated by so foolish and so proud an appella- 
tion. For I indeed say it with tears, and from the inward anguish 
of my bowels, that to my sins I attribute it, that my brother cannot 
to this day be brought to humility, who was made bishop for this 
end, that he might lead the minds of others to humility. It is 
written. ! God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble :* 
and again it is said, 'he is unclean before God, who exalteth his heart ;' 
hence, it is written against the proud man, ' Quid superbis, terra et 
cinis V * Earth and ashes, why art thou proud V 

" Perpend?, rogo, quia in hac presumptions pax totius turbatur 
ecclesicE." 6zc. " Consider, I entreat you. that by this rash pre- 
sumption is the peace of the whole church disturbed, and the grace 
poured out in common upon ail contradicted : in which you can 
increase only in p: i as you carefully decrease in self-esteem, 

and become the greater the more you restrain yourself from this 
name of proud and foolish usurpation ; love humility, therefore, my 
dearest brother, with your whole heart, by which concord among 
all the brethren and the unity of the holy universal church may be 
preserved. Truly, when Paul, the apostle, heard some say, • I am 
of Paul, 1 am of Apollos, I am of Cephas/ he, vehemently abhorring 
this tearing asunder of the Lord's body, by which they, in some 
sense, united his members to other heads, cries out. Was Paul 
ified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul ? I£ 
then, he would not sutler the members of the Lord's body to be, as 
it were, particularly subject to certain heads, beyond Christ, and 
they apostles too, what will you say to Christ the head of his 
universal holy church, in the trial of his last judgment, who endea- 
vor to subject all his members under the title of universal ? Whom, 
pray, do you propose to imitate bv this perverse name, but him 
who. despising the lesions of angels, his companions, endeavored to 
break forth, and ascend to an elevation peculiar to himself, that he 



chap. v.J POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 53 

Gregory says that no true saint would accept it. Writes against it to the Emperor. 

might seem to be subject to none, and to be above all of them ? 
Who also said, ' I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne 
above the stars of heaven ; I will be like the Most High !' For 
what are all your brother bishops of the universal church, but the 
stars of heaven, whose lives and preaching give light among the 
sins and errors of men, as in the darkness of night ? Above whom, 
when you thus desire to elevate yourself by this haughty title, and 
to tread down their name in comparison of yours, what do you say 
but I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars 
of heaven ? 

" Atque ut cuncta brevi singulo locutionis astringam," &c. And 
that I may sum up all in one word : the saints before the law, the 
saints under the law, and the saints under grace, the gospel — all 
these, making up the perfect body of our Lord, are constituted but 
members of the church ; none of them would ever have himself 
called universal. Let your holiness then acknowledge how he 
must swell with pride, who covets to be called by this name, which 
no true saint would presume to accept. Were not, as your brother- 
hood knows, my predecessors in the apostolical See, which I now 
serve by God's providence, called by the council of Chalcedon to 
this offered honor ? but none of them would ever allow himself to 
be named by such a title — none snatched at this rash name, lest if 
he should seize on this singular glory of the pontificate, he should 
seem to deny it to all his brethren. 

" Sed omnia quce prcedicta sunt,fiunt: rex superbice prope est et 
quod dici nefas est, sacerdotum est prceparatus excitus (vel exercitus) 
ei qui cervice militant elationis" But all things winch are foretold 
are come to pass ; the king of pride approaches, and O, horrid to 
tell ! the going forth of (or the army of the priests), is ready for him, 
who fight with the neck of pride, though appointed to lead to 
humility."* 

§25. — In his letters to the emperor Mauritius, Gregory reite- 
rates the same sentiments. On account of their importance, the 
following extracts from these letters are subjoined. "The care 
and principality of the whole church," says Gregory, " is committed 
to St. Peter; and yet he is not called ' universal apostle' — though 
this holy man, John, my fellow priest, labors to be called ' univer- 
sal bishop !' I am compelled to cry out, * O the corruption of times 
and manners?' Behold the barbarians are become lords of all 
Europe; cities are destroyed, castles are beaten down, provinces 
depopulated, there are no husbandmen to till the ground. Idolaters 
rage and domineer over Christians ; and yet priests, who ought to 
lie weeping upon the pavement, in sackcloth and ashes, covet names 
of vanity, and glory in new and profane titles. 

"Do I, most religious sovereign, in this plead my own cause? 
Do I vindicate a wrong done to myself, and not maintain the cause 
of Almighty God, and of the church universal ? Who is he who 

* Epist. Greg., lib. iv., epist. 38. 



54 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book t 

Gregory places the brand of anti-Christ upon him who usurps the title of universal bishop. 

presumes to usurp this new name against both the law of the gospel 
and of the canons ? We know that many priests of the church of 
Constantinople have been not only heretics, but even the chief leaders 
of them. ( If, then, every one of that church assumes the name by 
which he makes himself the head of all good men ; the Catholic 
church, which God forbid should ever be the case, must needs be 
overthrown when he falls who is called Universal. But, far from 
Christians be this blasphemous name, by which all honor is taken 
from all other priests, while it is foolishly arrogated by one. This 
man (John), contemning obedience to the canons, should be humbled 
by the commands of our most pious sovereign. He should be 
chastised who does an injury to the holy Catholic church ! whose 
heart is puffed up, who seeks to please himself by a name of 
singularity, by which he would elevate himself above the Emperor ! 
We are all scandalized at this. Let the author of this scandal 
reform himself, and all differences in the church will cease. I am 
the servant of all priests, so long as they live like themselves — but 
if any shall vainly set up his bristles, contrary to God Almighty, 
and to the canons of the fathers, I hope in God that he will never 
succeed in bringing my neck under his yoke — not even by force 
of arms." 

These urgent letters of Gregory appear to have been unavailing. 
The patriarch John, indeed, was soon afterward removed by death 
from his archiepiscopal dignity ; but Cynacus, who succeeded him 
as bishop of Constantinople, adopted the same pompous title as his 
predecessor. Having had occasion to despatch some agents to 
Rome, in the letter which he wrote to the Roman pontiff Gregory, 
he so much displeased him by assuming the appellation of " univer- 
sal bishop," that the latter withheld from the agents somewhat of 
the courtesy to which they considered themselves entitled,, and, of 
course, complaint was made to the emperor Mauritius of the neglect 
which had been shown them. This circumstance extorted a letter 
from the Emperor at Constantinople to the bishop of Rome, in which 
he advises him to treat them, in future ; in a more friendly manner, 
and not to insist so far on punctilios of style, as to create a scandal 
about a title, and fall out about a few syllables. To this Gregory 
replies, " that the innovation in the style did not consist much in the 
quantity and alphabet ; but the bulk of the iniquity was weighty 
enough to sink and destroy all. And, therefore, I am bold to say," 
says he, " that whoever adopts, or affects the title of universal bishop, 
has the pride and character of anti-Christ, and is in some manner 
his forerunner in this haughty quality of elevating himself above the 
rest of his order. And, indeed, both the one and the other seem to 
split upon the same rock ; for as pride makes anti-Christ strain 
his pretensions up to Godhead, so whoever is ambitious to be called 
Hie only or universal prelate, arrogates to himself a distinguished 
superiority, and rises, as it were, upon the ruins of the rest"*' Let 

* Epist. Greg. 1. vi. Ep. 30. 



chap, v.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 55 

Pope Boniface soon after obtains this very title for himself and successors. 

the reader ponder well the sentence last quoted, in this epistle of 
Gregory, confessedly one of the most eminent of the Roman bishops, 
and who has, by them, been canonized as Saint Gregory ; in which 
he places the brand of anti-Christ on whoever assumes this title, 
and then judge whether we are not justified in pronouncing the era 
of the papal supremacy, when only two years after Gregory's death, 
pope Boniface III. sought for and obtained the title of universal 
bishop, as the date of the full revelation of anti-Christ. We do 
but repeat the opinion so emphatically expressed by Saint Gregory 
only a few years before the actual occurrence of this remarkable 
event in the history of Popery. Boniface, who succeeded to the 
Roman See in 605, was so far from having any scruples about adopting 
this " blasphemous title," that he actually applied to the emperor 
Phocas,.a cruel and bloodthirsty tyrant, who had made his way to 
the throne by assassinating his predecessor ; and earnestly solicited 
the title, with the privilege of handing it down to his successors. 
The profligate emperor who had a secret grudge against the bishop 
of Constantinople, granted the request of Boniface, and after strictly 
forbidding the former prelate to use the title, conferred it upon the 
latter in the year 606, and declared the church of Rome to be head 
over all other churches.* Thus was Paul's prediction accomplished, 
" the man of sin " revealed, and that system of corrupted Christi- 
anity and spiritual tyranny which is properly called POPERY, 
fully developed and established in the world. The title of universal 
bishop, which was then obtained by Boniface, has been worn by all 
succeeding popes, and the claim of supremacy, which was then 
established, has ever since been maintained and defended by them, 
and still is, down to the present day. 

§ 26. — Henceforward the religion of Rome is properly styled 
Popery, or the religion of the pope. Previous to the year 606, 
there was properly no pope. It is true that in earlier ages the title 
of pope, which is derived from the Greek word nannag, father, in its 
general and inoffensive sense, had been used as a frequent title of 
bishops, without distinction. Siricius, bishop of Rome, was probably 
the first who assumed the name as an official title, toward the close 
of the fourth century, and it was afterward claimed exclusively by 
the popes of Rome, as the appropriate designation of the sovereign 
pontiffs. f This arrogant claim has long since been quietly conceded 
by other Christians, and the title has been exclusively enjoyed, 

* These facts arc related by Baronius and other Romish historians. " Quo 
tempore intercesserunt qiucdam odiorum fomenta inter eundem Phocam imperato- 
rem atque Cyriacum Constantinopolitanum. Hinc igitur in Cyriacum Phocas 
exaccrbatus in ejus odium imperiali edicto sancivit, nomen universalis decere Ro- 
manum tantum modo ecclesiam, tanquam quae caput essct omnium ecclcsiarum, 
solique convenire Romano pontirici ; non autem cpiscopo Constantinopolitano, qui 
sibi ill nd usurpare pracsumeret. Quod quidem hunc Bonifacium papain tertium ab 
imperatore Phoca obtinuisse, cum Anastnsius Bibliothecarius, turn Paulus diaconus 
tradunt." Spondan, Epitom. Baron. Annal. in annum 606. 

f See Coleman's Christian Antiquities, page 76. 



56 HIST ORY OF ROMANISM. [book i. 

Popery not Catholic. Calling things by their right names. 

without dispute and without envy.* When we say, therefore, that 
previous to A. D. 606, there was no pope, we mean, of course, in 
the present exclusive sense of the word, as the supreme sovereign 
pontiff, and boasted head of the universal church. Till this time, 
notwithstanding the prior origin of many popish corruptions, Popery 
or the Roman Catholic religion in its present form, as a distinct and 
compacted system, had no existence. This is the epoch of its 
origin and birth. Papal supremacy then bound, and still binds 
its discordant elements into one, and should this claim be given up, 
the whole anti-Christian system would fall to pieces, like the por- 
tions of an arch, when the key-stone is removed. The historian is 
therefore fully justified in applying to this system, the distinctive 
and appropriate terms, popish, popery, and their cognates. In the 
words of that singular but forcible writer, John Rogers, when 
assigning his reasons for not employing the terms Catholic or Roman 
CatJiolic, by which papists prefer to be designated, "We are far, 
very far from intending or wishing to hurt the feeling, or pain the 
mind of any member of the kirk of Rome ; but we intend to follow 
a plan scriptural and reasonable, and to write with grammatical and 
philosophical propriety. We desire not to be, and not to appear 
to be offensive or insulting ; but to be orderly, or to conform to 
method and rule. We desire not to give displeasure or pain, but to 
have definitude or precision. We aim to be accurate or correct, 
and to employ words in their right and true meaning. We avoid 
using Catholic and Roman Catholic, on five grounds ; in order to 
be analogical, in order to be logical, in order to oppose papal 
bigotry, in order to oppose papal pride, and in order to oppose 
papal persecution."f The word Catholic means universal, and 
since the Romish is not a universal church, it is evidently incorrect 
to call that communion the Holy Catholic church. To avoid 
this impropriety, some employ the terms Roman Catholic, but here 
again is a manifest impropriety, as that cannot be universal in any 
sense, which is not absolutely so, and to apply the term Catholic or 
universal, to that which must be limited by the adjective Roman, 
or any other word denoting speciality, is evidently a contradiction 
in terms. For these reasons this system will be designated in the 
present work, by the names, Romanism, Popery, &c, and the adjec- 
tives, Romish, Papal, &c, not as terms of reproach, but simply 
because they are more consistent with historical accuracy and 
truth, than any others which could be selected. If we occasionally 
employ, therefore, the terms Catholic or Roman Catholic, we wish 

* Father Gahan, in his History of the Church (page 335), mentions, apparently 
with approbation, the following whimsical derivation of the title Papa, or Pope : 
" Some writers say that the word Papa comes from the initial letters of these 
four words, Petrus, Apostolus, Princeps, Apostolorum (i. e., Peter the apostle, 
prince of the apostles), which being abbreviated with apunctum or colon after each 
of the four initial letters, coalesced in progress of time into the word Papa, with- 
out any intermediate punctuation." 

f See " Anti-popopriestian," by John Rogers, page 76. 



chap, vi.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 57 

Consequences of the establishment of the papal supremacy. 

it to be distinctly understood that we do so, simply as a matter of 
courtesy or convenience, and not because we for a moment admit 
the propriety of the application of either of these terms to the anti- 
Christian system of Rome. 



If 



CHAPTER VI. 



PAPAL SUPREMACY THE ACTORS IN ITS ESTABLISHMENT THE TYRANT 

PHOCAS THE SAINT GREGORY, AND THE POPE BONIFACE. 

§ 27.-+-The bestowment of the title of Universal Bishop by Pho- 
cas, the tyrant, upon Boniface III., bishop of Rome, the first of 
the popes, and the consequent establishment of papal supremacy, 
was the memorable event that embodied into a system and cemented 
into one the various false doctrines, corrupt practices, and vain and 
superstitious rites and ceremonies, which had arisen in earlier ages, 
to deface the beauty and mar the simplicity of Christian worship. 
Before this event, the bishop of Rome had no power to enforce his 
decisions upon other churches and bishops ; and, as we have al- 
ready seen, in many instances they might reject his decrees, with- 
out forfeiting their standing, as constituent portions of the so called 
Catholic church ; now they were compelled to submit to his man- 
dates, as the spiritual sovereign of the world, or be branded with 
the name of heretics. Before this, the false doctrines which arose, 
arid the superstitious heathen ceremonies which were adopted into j/S 
Christian worship, might be believed or practised in one church or^ 
province and rejected in another ; so that the corruptions which 
had long since towered to a greater height at Rome than any- 
where else, were still but partially diffused over the Christian 
worldTl Immediately upon the establishment of papal supremacy, 
the gigantic errors and corruptions of Rome were rendered binding 
upon all. Before this time, while there was no supreme earthly 
head to enforce uniformity, a variety of liturgies and forms of 
worship were adopted in different places, some of them in a greater 
and others in a less degree conformable to the spirit of the New 
Testament ; now, by the sovereign decrees of his Holiness the 
Pope, all must be conformed to the standard of Rome. Qn the 
ages that preceded the establishment of papal supremacy, " we are 
not to think," observes Mosheim, ■• that the same method of wor- 
ship was uniformly followed in every Christian society, for this was 
far from being the case J Every bishop, consulting his own private 
judgment, and taking into consideration the nature of the times, the 
genius of the country in which he lived, and the character and 



58 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book i. 

Biography of Phocas the tyrant, who bestowed upon the popes the title of Universal Bishop. 

temper of those whom he was appointed to rule and instruct, 
formed such a plan of divine worship as he thought the wisest and 
the best. Hence that variety of liturgies which were in use, be- 
fore the bishop of Rome had usurped the supreme power in re- 
ligious matters, and persuaded the credulous and unthinking, that 
the model, both of doctrine and worship, was to be given by the 
mother church, and to be followed implicitly throughout the Chris- 
tian world.'' (Moskeim, vol. i. p. 385.) 

§ 28. — As it was owing to the decree of the emperor Phocas, 
constituting him supreme Universal Bishop and head of the universal 
church, that the proud prelate of Rome was thus enabled to tyrannize 
over the whole of Christendom, and mould and fashion the churches 
at his will, it may be necessary that we retrace our steps for four or 
five years, and relate with some minuteness the origin and charac- 
ter of the man who conferred on him this power, that we may see 
whether this doctrine, so essential to the very existence of Popery, 
viz. : the papal supremacy, come from heaven or of men. If ] 
mistake not, we shall find that its origin is from beneath, and that 
the principal agent in establishing it, was one of the most guilty of 
the human race, approaching very near, if he did not altogether 
reach the idea of consummate or universal depravity, embodied in 
his great master, the devil. 

This Phocas was a native of Asia Minor, of obscure and unknown 
parentage, who entered the army of the emperor Mauritius as a 
common soldier. Having attained the rank of a centurion, a petty 
officer, with the command of a hundred men. he happened in the 
year 602 to be with his company on the banks of the Danube, 
when he headed a mutiny against the Emperor among his troops, 
caused himself to be tumultuously proclaimed leader of the insur- 
gents, and marched with them to Constantinople. " So obscure had 
been the former condition of Phocas," says Gibbon, " that the 
Emperor was quite ignorant of the name and character of his rival ; 
but as soon as he had learned that the centurion, though bold in 
sedition, was timid in the face of danger, ' Alas !' cried the prince, 
'if he is a coward, he will surely be a murderer.' " 

§ 29. — Upon the approach of Phocas to Constantinople, the unfor- 
tunate Mauritius, with his wife and nine children, escaped in a small 
bark to the Asiatic shore ; but the violence of the wind compelled 
him to land at the church of St. Autonomus, near Chalcedon, from 
whence he despatched Theodosius, his eldest son, to implore the 
gratitude and friendship of the Persian monarch. For himself, he 
refused to fly ; his body was tortured with sciatic pains, his mind 
was enfeebled by superstition ; he patiently awaited the event of 
the revolution, and addressed a fervent and public prayer to the 
Almighty, that the punishment of his sins might be inflicted in this 
world, rather than in a future life. The patriarch of Constanti- 
nople " consecrated the successful usurper in the church of St. John 
the Baptist. On the third day, amidst the acclamations of a thought- 
less people, Phocas made his public entry in a chariot drawn by 



chap, vi.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 59 

Cruel murder by the tyrant, of Mauritius, his wife and family. 

four white horses ; the revolt of the troops was rewarded by a 
lavish donative, and the new sovereign, after visiting the palace, 
beheld from his throne the games of the hippodrome. The ministers 
of death were despatched to Chalcedon : they dragged the Emperor 
from his sanctuary ; and the five sons of Mauritius were' successively 
murdered before the eyes of their agonizing parent. At each stroke, 
which he felt in his heart, he found strength to rehearse a pious 
ejaculation, ' Thou art just, O Lord! and thy judgments are right- 
eous. 9 The tragic scene was finally closed by the execution of the 
Emperoi himself, in the twentieth year of his reign, and the sixty- 
third year of his age. The bodies of the father and his five sons 
were cast into the sea, their heads were exposed at Constantinople 
to the insults or pity of the multitude, and it was not till some signs 
of putrefaction appeared, that Phocas connived at the private burial 
of these venerable remains." The flight of Theodosius, the son of 
the unfortunate Emperor, to the Persian court, had been intercepted 
by a rapid pursuit, or a deceitful message : he was beheaded at 
Nice, and the last hours of the young prmce were soothed by the 
comforts of religion, and the consciousness of innocence. 

§ 30. — In the massacre of the imperial family, the usurper had 
spared the widow and three daughters of the late Emperor, but the 
suspicion or discovery of a conspiracy rekindled the fury of Phocas. 
These unfortunate females took refuge in one of the churches of the 
city, then regarded as an inviolable asylum. The patriarch, moved 
partly by compassion to the royal sufferers, partly by reverence 
for the place, would not permit them to be dragged by force from 
their asylum ; but defended them, whilst there, with great spirit and 
resolution. The tyrant, one of the most vindictive and inexorable 
of mankind, and who could therefore ill brook this spirited opposi- 
tion from the priest, thought it prudent then to dissemble his resent- 
ment, as it would have been exceedingly dangerous, in the begin- 
ning of his reign, to alarm the church. And he well knew how 
important, and even venerable a point it was accounted, to preserve 
inviolate the sacredness of such sanctuaries. He desisted, therefore, 
from using force, and, by means of the most solemn oaths and pro- 
mises of safety, prevailed at length upon the ladies to quit their 
asylum. In consequence of which, they soon after became the helpless 
victims of his fury. " A matron," says Gibbon, " who commanded 
the respect and pity of mankind, the daughter, wife, and mother of 
emperors, was tortured like the vilest malefactor, and the empress 
Constantina, with three innocent daughters, was beheaded at Chal- 
cedon, on the same ground which had been stained with the blood 
of her husband and five sons ! The hippodrome, the sacred asylum 
of the pleasures and the liberty of the Romans, was polluted with 
heads and limbs and mangled bodies ; and the companions of Pho- 
cas were the most sensible that neither his favor nor their services, 
could protect them from a tyrant, the worthy rival of the Caligulas 
and Domitians of the first age of the empire"* The imperial famil** 

* Decline and Fall, chap. xlvi. 



60 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [eooki. 

Horrid barbarities of Phocas. Bishop Gregory the Great. 

being now entirely cut off, the bloodthirsty tyrant began to proceed 
with the same inexorable cruelty against all their friends, and all 
who had betrayed the least compassion for them, or had borne any 
civil or military employments in the late reign. Thus, throughout 
the empire were men of the first rank and distinction either daily 
executed or publicly or privately massacred. Some were first inhu- 
manly tortured : others had their hands and feet cut off; and some 
were set up as marks for the raw soldiery to shoot at, in learning 
the exercise and use of the bow. The populace met with no better 
treatment than the nobility, great numbers of them being daily 
seized for speaking disrespectfully of the tyrant, and either killed by 
his guards on the spot, or tied up in sacks and thrown into the 
sea, or dragged to prison, which by that means was so crowded 
that they soon died, suffocated with the stench and noisomeness of 
the place. 

Such, then, was the character of the monster in the shape of a 
man, as recorded by the pen of impartial history, by whose sover- 
eign decree pope Boniface was constituted Universal Bishop, and 
supreme head of the church on earth ; and such is the foundation, 
and the only foundation, upon which this lordly title rests, which 
has been claimed by all the successors of Boniface ; the Gregorys, 
the Innocents, and the Leos, down to the imbecile old man, Gregory 
XVL, who, in the nineteenth century, issues his mandates from the 
Vatican at Rome, demanding the unlimited submission and obedi- 
ence of the faithful in the United States, and all other nations of the 
earth. So much for the source of this usurped spiritual sovereignty. 
Whether any human power possessed the right thus to elevate a 
mortal to the station of Universal Bishop, supreme head and abso- 
lute monarch of Christ's church, and if so, whether so atrocious a 
villain, and so bloody a murderer, as this Phocas, possessed such 
a right, must be left to the common sense of the reader to decide. 

§ 31. — I have named the famous Romish bishop, Gregory the 
Great, as he is called by papists, as one actor in establishing the 
papal supremacy. Notwithstanding his artful epistle to Mauritius, 
in which he condemns the title of Universal Bishop, because it had 
been assumed by a rival, he is worthy of the honor in this affair of 
being placed side by side with Phocas, partly because no man before 
him had done so much in defence of the proud prerogatives of the - 
Roman See, but chiefly because by the base and servile flatteries 
he bestowed -upon that weak-minded but bloodthirsty tyrant, he 
paved the way for the success of Boniface, a few years later, in his 
application to Phocas, for the title of Universal Bishop. 

At the accession of Phocas, Gregory was still bishop of Rome, 
and with the hope, doubtless, that he* should be more successful 
with this bloody tyrant than he had been with Mauritius, in caus- 
ing him to restrain the rising greatness and ambition of his rival 
patriarch at Constantinople, he immediately wrote to him a letter 
of congratulation, full of the vilest and most venal flatteries, so that 
it has been truly said, were we to learn the character of Phocas 



chap, vi.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 61 

The rapture of Saint Gregory at the accession of the murderous tyrant. 

from this pontiff's fetters, we should certainly conclude him to have 
been " rather an angel than a man." 

§ 32. — It is humiliating in the extreme to record the deep de- 
basement of such a man as Gregory, when he could so far descend 
from the dignity of his high and holy calling, as to address this 
usurper, while his hands were yet reeking with the blood of his 
slaughtered victims, in language like the following : " Glory to God 
in the highest ; who, according as it is written, changes times and 
transfers kingdoms. And because he would have that made known 
to all men, which he hath vouchsafed to speak by his own prophets, 
saying, that the Most High rules in the kingdoms of men, and to 
whom he will he gives it." He then goes on to observe that God, 
in his incomprehensible providence, sometimes sends kings to afflict 
his people and punish them for their sins. This, says he, we have 
known of late to our woful experience. Sometimes, on the other 
hand, God, in his mercy, raises good men to the throne, for the 
relief and exultation of his servants. Then applying this remark to 
existing circumstances, he adds : " In the abundance of our exulta- 
tion, on which account, we think ourselves the more speedily con- 
firmed, rejoicing to find the gentleness of your piety equal to your 
imperial dignity." Then, breaking out into rapture, no longer to be 
restrained, he exclaims, " Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be 
glad ; and, for your illustrious deeds, let the people of every realm 
hitherto so vehemently afflicted, now be filled with gladness. May 
the necks of your enemies be subjected to the yoke of your supreme 
rule, and the hearts of your subjects, hitherto broken and depressed, 
be relieved by your clemency." Proceeding to paint their former 
miseries, he concludes with wishing that the commonwealth may 
long enjoy its present happiness. Thus, in language evidently 
borrowed from the inspired writers, and in which they anticipate 
the joy and gladness that should pervade universal nature at the 
birth of the Messiah, does this pope celebrate the march of the 
tyrant and usurper through seas of blood to the imperial throne. 

" As a subject and a Christian," says Gibbon (chap. xlvi.),"it was 
the duty of Gregory to acquiesce in the established government ; 
but the joyful applause with which he salutes the fortune of the 
assassin, has sullied, with indelible disgrace, the character of the 
saint. The successor of the apostles might have inculcated with 
decent firmness the guilt of blood, and the necessity of repentance : 
he is content to celebrate the deliverance of the people, and the fall 
of the oppressor ; to rejoice that the piety and benignity of Phocas 
have been raised by Providence to the imperial throne ; to pray 
that his hands may be strengthened against all his enemies ; and to 
express a wish, that after a long triumphant reign, he may be trans- 
ferred from a temporal to an everlasting kingdom." 

§ 33. — The unmeasured abuse with which this Saint Gregory 
loads the murdered Emperor, after his death, in his congratulatory 
letters to Phocas, naturally leads to an inquiry into the character 
of the unfortunate Mauritius. The fault with which he is princi- 



62 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book i. 

Wicked duplicity and hypocrisy of Saint Gregory. 

pally accused by contemporary historians, and which, doubtless 
proved the cause of his untimely fate, was too much parsimony , 
than which no vice could render him more odious to the soldiery, 
who were, in those degenerate times of the empire, lazy, undisci- 
plined, debauched, rapacious, and seditious. As the government 
was become military, the affection of the army was the principal 
bulwark of the throne. It was ever consequently the interest of 
the reigning family to secure the fidelity of the legions as much as 
possible. This, in times so corrupt, when military discipline was 
extinct, was to be effected only by an unbounded indulgence, and 
by frequent largesses. These the prince was not in a condition to 
bestow, without laying exorbitant exactions on the people. For 
levying these, the army were, as long as they shared in the spoil, 
always ready to lend their assistance. Hence it happened, that, 
among the Emperors, the greatest oppressors of the people were 
commonly the greatest favorites of the army. The revolt of the 
legions, therefore, could be but a slender proof of mal-administrations. 
It was even, in many cases, an evidence of the contrary. 

But it is more to our present purpose to consider the character 
which this very Saint Gregory gave of Mauritius, when in posses- 
sion of the imperial diadem. For if the former and latter accounts 
given by the pontiff cannot be rendered consistent, we must admit, 
that, first or last, his holiness made a sacrifice of truth to politics. 
Now it is certain that nothing can be more contradictory than those 
accounts. In some of his letters to that Emperor, we find the man 
whom he now treats as a perfect monster, extolled to the skies, as 
one of the most pious, most religious, most Christian princes that 
ever lived. In one of these letters, the Emperor's " pious zeal, 
solicitude, and vigilance for the preservation of the Christian faith," 
are represented as " the glory of his reign, as a subject of joy, not 
to the pontiff only, but to all the world." In another, after the 
warmest expressions of gratitude, on account of the pious liberality 
and munificence of his imperial majesty, and after telling how 
much the priests, the poor, the strangers, and all the faithful were 
indebted to his paternal care, he adds that for these reasons " all 
should pray for the preservation of his life, that Almighty God 
might grant to him a long and quiet reign, and that after his death, 
as the reward of his piety, a happy race of his descendants might 
long flourish as sovereigns of the Roman empire."* 

Yet he no sooner hears (says Dr. Campbell) of the successful 
treason of Phocas in the barbarous murder of the sovereign family, 
an event, the mention of which, even at this distance, makes a humane 
person shudder with horror, than he exclaims with rapture, " Glory 
to God in the highest." He invites heaven and earth, men and 
angels, to join in the general triumph. How happy is he that the 

* " Unde actum est, ut simul omnes pro vita dominorum concorditer orarent, 
quaterms omnipotens Deus longa vobis et quieta tempora tribuat, et pietatis vestrae 
felicissimam sobolem diu in Romana republica florere concedat." (Epist. Greg., 
lib. viii., epist 2.) 



chap, vi.] POPERY IN EMBRYO.— TO A. D. 606. 63 

Invites all the angels of heaven to rejoice in the success of Phocas. 

royal race is totally exterminated, from whom, but a little before, 
he told us, that he poured out incessant and tearful prayers (lachry- 
mabili prece is one of his expressions), that they might, to the latest 
ages, flourish on the throne, for the felicity of the Roman common- 
wealth ! An honest heathen would, at least for some time, have 
avoided any intercourse or correspondence with such a ruffian as 
Phocas ; but this Christian bishop, before he had the regular and 
customary notice of his accession to the purple, is forward to con- 
gratulate him on the success of his crimes. His very crimes he 
canonizes (an easy matter for false religion to effect), and transforms 
into shining virtues, and the criminal himself into a second Messiah, 
he that should come for the salvation and comfort of God's people. 
And all this was purely that he might pre-engage the favor of the 
new Emperor, who (he well knew), entertained a secret grudge 
against the Constantinopolitan bishop, for his attachment to the 
preceding emperor Mauritius ; a grudge which, when he saw with 
what spirit the patriarch protected the empress dowager and her 
daughters, soon settled into implacable hatred.* 

" Does it not hence appear but too plain," inquires the learned 
historian of the popes,f " that Gregory, however conscientious, just, 
and religious in his principles and conduct, when he did not apprehend 
the dignity or interest of his See to be concerned, acted upon very 
different notions and principles, when he apprehended they were 
concerned ? For how can we reconcile with conscience, justice, 
or religion, his bestowing on the worst of tyrants the highest praises 
that can be bestowed on the best of princes ? His courting the 
favor of a cruel and wicked usurper, by painting and reviling, as an 
absolute tyrant, the excellent prince, whose crown he had usurped ? 
His ascribing (which I leave Baronius to excuse from blasphemy), 
to a particular Providence the revolt of a rebellious subject, and 
seizing the crown ; though he opened himself a way to it by the 
murder of his lawful sovereign, and his six children, all the male 
issue of the imperial family 1 And finally, by his inviting all man- 
kind, nay, and the angels of heaven, to rejoice with him, and return 
thanks to God, for the good success of so wicked an attempt, per- 
haps the most wicked and cruel that is recorded in history ? Gre- 
gory had often declared that he was ready to sacrifice his life to 
the honor of his See ; but whether he did not sacrifice, on this occa- 
sion, what ought to have been dearer to him than his life, or even 
the honor of his See, I leave the world to judge ; and only observe 
here, that his reflecting in the manner he did on the memory of 
the unhappy Mauritius, was in him an instance of the utmost ingrati- 
tude, if what he himself formerly wrote, and frequently repeated, 
be true, viz. : That his tongue could not express the good he had 
received of the Almighty, and his lord the Emperor; that he 
thought himself bound in gratitude to pray incessantly for the life 

* See Dr. Campbell's Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, lect. xvi. 
f Bower, in vita Greg, i., vol. ii., page 326. 
5 



64 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book i. 

Pope Boniface assembles a council, in which he exercises his newly obtained power. 

of his most pious and most Christian lord ; and that, in return for 
the goodness of his most religious lord to him, he could do no less 
than love the very ground on which he trod." 

§ 34. — Perhaps we may not be warranted in asserting (as Dr. 
Campbell seems to suppose), that Gregory, by these vile flatteries, 
intended to secure for himself the title which had been assumed 
by his rival at the East. It is possible he would have been content 
could he have lived to see him deprived of it ; still, if he indulged 
such a wish in secret, consistency itself must have forbidden its 
utterance, when he had just before pronounced the assumption of 
such a title — the badge and the brand of anti-Christ. Perhaps 
Gregory would have been more cautious in the expression of such 
an opinion, could he have foreseen that in so short a time it would 
be importunately sought and obtained by one of his own successors, 
and that upon the foreheads of these very successors in the boasted 
chair of St. Peter, would descend from generation to generation, 
the brand indelibly stamped by the hand of Saixt Gregory — 

" WHOEVER ADOPTS OB AFFECTS THE TITLE OF UxiVERSAL BISHOP, 
HATH THE PRIDE AXD CHARACTER OF AXTI-ChRIST." 

No sooner had Boniface obtained this title, says Bower, than he 
took upon him to exercise an answerable jurisdiction and power, 
to an extent at that time unknown and unheard of in the Catholic 
church. No sooner was the imperial edict of Phocas, vesting 
him with the title of Universal Bishop, and declaring him head of 
the church, brought to Rome, than, assembling a council in the 
basilic of St. Peter, consisting of seventy-two bishops, thirty- four 
presbyters, and all the deacons and inferior clergy of that city, he 
acted there as if he had not been vested with the title alone, but 
with all the power of an Universal Bishop, with all the authority of 
a supreme head, or rather absolute monarch of the church. For 
by a decree, which he issued in that council, it was pronounced, 
declared, and defined, that no election of a bishop should thenceforth 
be deemed lawful and good, unless made by the people and clergy, 
approved by the prince, or lord of the city, and confirmed by the 
Pope, interposing his authority in the following terms : We will 
and command, ' volumus et jubemus.' The imperial edict, therefore, 
if we may so call the edict of an usurper and a tyrant, " was not, as 
popish writers pretend," says Bower, " a bare confirmation of the 
primacy of the See of Rome ; but the grant of a new title, which 
the pope immediately improved into a power answering that title. 
And thus was the power of the pope as Universal Bishop, as head 
of the church, or, in other words, the papal supremacy, first intro- 
duced. It ow T ed its original to the worst of men : was procured by 
the basest means, by flattering a tyrant in his wickedness and 
tyranny, and was in itself, if we stand to the judgment of Gregory 
the Great, anti-Christian, heretical, blasphemous, diabolical."* 

* Bower, in vita Bonifac iii. 



65 



BOOK II. 



POPERY AT ITS BIRTH, A,D. 606. 



ITS DOCTRINAL AND RITUAL CHARACTER AT THIS EPOCH. 



CHAPTER I. 

ROMISH ERRORS TRACED TO THEIR ORIGIN. THEIR EARLY GROWTH NO 

ARGUMENT IN THEIR FAVOR. 

§ 1. — As we have now traced the gradual march of hierarchal 
assumption to the period of the full establishment of Popery, it is 
important to inquire what was its doctrinal and ritual character, at 
the time of its complete development and introduction to the world, 
under the sanction and authority of its newly created sovereign and 
Universal Bishop ; and also to trace to their first origin such of the 
unscriptural doctrines and rites of the Romish church as were at that 
time embodied in the system of Popery ; and which, though all in- 
vented long after the death of the apostles, yet boast an earlier date 
than the establishment of the papal supremacy. 

There is scarcely anything which strikes the mind of the careful 
student of ancient ecclesiastical history with greater surprise, than 
the comparatively early period at which many of the corruptions 
of Christianity, which are embodied in the Romish system, took 
their rise ; yet it is not to be supposed that when the first originat- 
ors of many of these unscriptural notions and practices, planted 
those germs of corruption, they anticipated or even imagined that 
they would ever grow into such a vast and hideous system of super- 
stition and error, as is that of Popery. Thus remarks a learned and 
sagacious writer, " Each of the great corruptions of later ages took 
its rise in a manner which it would be harsh to say was deserving 
of strong reprehension. Thus the secular domination exercised by 
the bishops, and at length exclusively by the bishop of Rome, may 
be traced very distinctly to the proper respect paid by the people 
to the disinterested wisdom of their bishops in deciding their 
worldly differences. The worship of images, the invocation of 
saints, and the superstition of relics, were but expansions of the 
natural feelings of veneration and affection cherished toward the 
memory of those who had suffered and died for the truth. And 
thus, in like manner, the errors and abuses of monkery all sprang 
by imperceptible augmentations from sentiments perfectly natural 



r36 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [mom a. 

Ch ..iingwonh's immortal sentiment, "The Bible only, is the religion of Protestants." 

to the sincere and devout Chris:.;... ... times ji ersecution. disorder, 

and general corrapti o >1 morals. The very abuses which make 
the twelfth century abhorrent on the page . : history, were, in the 
fourth, fragrant with the practice ana suffrage ::' a blessed company 
of primitive confessors. The remembered saints, who had given 
their I lies to the names, had also lent their voice and exam 
those unwise excesses which at length drove true religion from the 
earth. Untaught by experience, the ancient church surmised not 
of the occult tendencies of the course it pursued, nor should it be 
loaded with consequences 'which human sagacity c - well 

have foreseen."* 

i 2. — At the epoch of the papal supremacy a gigantic system of 
error and superstition had sprung up. formed of the union of many 
errors in doctrine and practice, the successive growth of pre: 
: mturies, but which were then cemented into a regular system, and 
rendered jbhgatory upon alL To understand the charac::: : :' 
i ary at its birth, i: will be necessary to specify the priori 
those errors, with the time and circumstances, so far as can be 
: :ained of their origin and growth. And if. in perusing the 
chapters devoted to this inquiry, the protestant reader shall sod - 
times be startled to rind at how early a date the germs ::" some of 

>rs were planted, lei bun :-r:::ember that the origin 
of the..: is subsequent :: the times :: the apostles, and let him call 
:: mind the immortal words of Chillingworth : B The Bible. I say, 
the Bible only, is the religion of i protestants ! Whatsoever else 
they believe beside it, and the plain, irrefragable, indubitable c 

: f it. well may they hold it as a matter of opinion ; but as 
matter of faith and religion, neither can they, with coheres 
their ywn grounds, beheve :: themselves, nor require the belief of it 

: rs, without mosl i::gh and mosl schismatical presumpti 

for my part, after a long and (as I verily believe and hope . u 
:.:.. search ::' :.:: true wot :: eternal happiness, do profess ::. 

i sannot nnd any rest ibr the soi: :: my foot, but up:-:: this 
re :i: :::.;■". 

"Traditive interpretations : Scripture are pretended ; but there 
are few or none to be found: no tradition, but only :■: -S::-ipture, 
can derive itself from the fountain, but _:: inly proved either 

to have been hi aghl in, in such an : ge after Christ, :: that .:: such 
.. age .: was :: : in. In a wore, there is ::: sufficient certainty but 
of Scripture only, ibr any considering man to build upon. This. 

fore, and this only. I have reason to beheve : this I will pre 
ac . ::ding to this I " ... live, and for this, if there be occasion. I will 
not only willingly, but even gladly, lose my life, though I should be 
sorry thai '.ins should take it from me.'" - 

§ 3. — Pre testantism, as opposed to Popery, has been defined by 
Isaac Taylor, in his Aneien: Christianity, as •• a eefusal to ac- 

* Natural His::-- :; Zr.::.::;:a=m, page 181. 

f Works of Chfllingworth, Philadelphia editnn, pa^e 431. 



UHAP. I.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 67 

Great question, is the Bible only the rule of faith, or the Bible and tradition together. 
KNOWLEDGE INNOVATIONS BEARING AN ASCERTAINED DATE," and to 

this definition we have no particular objection, inasmuch as the 
date of most, if not all of the popish innovations, both doctrinal and 
ritual, can be ascertained with considerable accuracy. Still we 
must be allowed to add, that should innovations be discovered, 
either in that or any other communion, the date of the admission of 
which is entirely unknown ; if they are contrary to the doctrine 
and spirit of the Bible, if they are not found in God's word ; that is 
to say, if they are innovations at all, then true Protestantism requires 
their unqualified rejection, just as much as if their date were as 
clearly ascertained as is the date of the papal supremacy, or the 
absurd dogma of transubstantiation. " The Bible, I say, the Bible 
only, is the religion of protestants !" Nor is it of any account 
in the estimation of the genuine protestant, how early a doctrine 
originated, if it is not found in the Bible. He learns from the New 
Testament itself, that there were errors in the time of the apostles, 
and that their pens were frequently employed in combating those 
errors. Hence if a doctrine be propounded for his acceptance, he 
asks, is it to be found in the inspired word ? was it taught by the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and his apostles ? If they knew nothing of it, 
no matter to him, whether it be discovered in the musty folio of 
some ancient visionary of the third or fourth century, or whether 
it spring from the fertile brain of some modern visionary of the 
nineteenth, if it is not found in the sacred Scriptures, it presents no 
valid claim to be received as an article of his religious creed. More 
than this, we will add, that though Cyprian, or Jerome, or Augus- 
tine, or even the fathers of an earlier age, Tertullian, Ignatius, or 
Irenseus, could be plainly shown to teach the unscriptural doctrines 
and dogmas of Popery, which, however, is by no means admitted, 
still the consistent protestant would simply ask, is the doctrine to 
be found in the Bible ? w r as it taught by Christ and his apostles ? 
and if truth compelled an answer in the negative, he would esteem 
it of no greater authority as an article of his faith, than the vagaries 
of John of Munster, the dreams of Joanna Southcote, or the pre- 
tended revelations of Joe Smith, of Nauvoo. The Bible, and not as 
has recently been asserted, " the Bible and tradition" but " the 
Bible only, is the religion of protestants." 

§ 4. — The great question at issue between Popery and Protestant- 
ism, is this : Is the Bible only to be received as the rule of faith, or 
the Bible and tradition together ? Is no doctrine to be received as 
matter of faith, unless it is found in the Bible, or may a doc- 
trine be received upon the mere authority of tradition, when it 
is confessedly not to be found in the sacred Scriptures ? The 
whole Christian world, both nominal and real, are divided by this 
question into two great divisions : the consistent and true-hearted 
protestant, standing upon this rock — "The Bible, and the Bible 
only," can admit no doctrine upon the authority of tradition ; the 
papist and the Puseyite place tradition side by side with the Bible, and 
listen tc its dictates with a reverence equal to, or even greater than 



65 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bocz b. 

that which they pay to the sacred S ::■.::::: - ::-_e:v.se:ves ; and he 
who receives a single Jc ::ine upon the mere authority of tradition, 
let him be called by what name he wilL by so doin t \ steps 
from the protestant rock,] r er the line whi : hi tes Pro- 

testantism from Popery,* and san give dc valid reason —ay he 
should nol receive all the earlier ioctxines and ieremonies rf Ro- 
manism, upon the same inthoiity. Hence to the pi -otestant who 
understands his principles, il will constitute no argument in . vol : : 
the errors of Popery that the germs of many of them were planted 
at a period not more distant from the first establishment of Christi- 
anity, than is the age at which we live from the time when the 
pilgrim fathers landed m the shores jfNew England. We are not 
I s oppose, however, .. I the corrupt doctrines and practice : : 
rn Popery had been inverted at s: early a period as the thh 
>i fourth, m even the seventh century. Thus, the a:surd doctrine 
;: transubstantiation was never dreamed of till two or three centu- 
ries later than the age of jiegory I. or Boniface III.: the sractics 
of selling indulgences had not then arisen, and the servi :rf : : public 
worship were ; ::; ;ere performed, not exclusively in Latin, as 
in after times, but in the vernacular langos res of the various nations 
:: Christendom; still it must be confessed, that a Large portion of 
these srrors, including the enlbrced celibacy of the clergy, the 
: ice : monkery, the worship of saints and relics, fee, had sprung 
up amidst the darkness of the fourth, fifth, and sixth 
were extensively believed and practised, prior to their consolidation 
intc system, in consequence of the establishment of the papal 
supremacy. 

* It is not to be wondered at, that the professed advocates of Popeiy should claim 
a place for tradition equal, if not superior, in authority to the written word of God ; 
but it is truly lamentable to hear members and ministers of a Christian denomina- 
tion, which has heretofore won many laurels as one of the most successful defenders 
of Protestantism (which has been adorned, in past ages, by such men as a Jewell, a 
Chillingworth, and a Leighton. and is now adorned by a Whately. a Macflvaine, 
and aMilnor), boldly advocating the popish doctrine, that not the Bible only, but, 
in the words of Dr. Newman. 4: these two things, the Bible and Catholic traditions, 
form together, a united rule of faith. 55 ~ Catholic tradition, 55 remarks this celebrated 
advocate of the Oxford theology, 5 a ditine informer in religious things, it is the 
unwritten word f and again, - Catholic tradition is a divine source of knowledge in 
all things relating to faith." The same sentiments are repeated in a still stronger 
form by Dr. Keble. another of the champions of this new theology : " Tradition? 
------- be, ■ is infallible, it is the -unwritten word of God, and of necessity demands of 

-.-: :':-: ?2 :.£ -~:r:-::: :/.::': ':'.: :, ' .: : :, \" .'..■::. mi :rf:i;m.- ::: :m sm; rmsm 
because be ;:: See IFAubigne on the Oxford Theology.) 



69 



CHAPTER II. 

ORIGIN OF ROMISH ERRORS CONTINUED CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY. 

§ 5. — One of the marks by which the great " Apostasy," pre- 
dicted by St. Paul in the second epistle to Timothy, was to be 
known was " forbidding to marry." (1 Tim. iv. 3.) The same 
apostle, in describing the qualifications of a bishop, says, " This is a 
true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a 
good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of 
one wife ; given to hospitality ; one that ruleth well his own house, 
having his children in subjection, with all gravity ; for if a man 
know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of 
the church of God ?" (1 Tim. hi. 1, &c.) In describing to Titus 
the qualifications of the elders to be ordained in every city, he says, 
"If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faith- 
ful children (who are) not accused of riot or unruly. . For a 
bishop must be blameless as the steward of God : a lover of hospi- 
tality," &c. (Titus i. 5, &c.) In these passages Paul is specially 
describing the qualifications of an elder or bishop. In the words 
of the judicious Scott, the commentator, he " showed, very particu- 
larly, what manner of persons these bishops or elders ought to be." 
Among other qualifications, it is said he " must be," or ought to be, 
(Greek, Set) — " the husband of one wife." Some have inferred from 
this text," says Dr. Scott, " that stated pastors ought to be married 
as a prerequisite to their office, but this seems to be a mistake of a 
general permission, connected with a restriction — for an express 
command. It is, however, abundantly sufficient to prove that mar- 
riage is entirely consistent with the most sacred functions, and the 
most exemplary holiness, and to subvert the very basis of the anti- 
christian prohibition of marriage to the clergy, with all its con- 
current, and consequent, and incalculable mischiefs."* 

* See Scott on 1 Tim. iii. 2. Although, upon the whole, I am not disposed to 
find fault with the opinion of Dr. Scott, that this is a permission rather than a 
command ; yet, in order to show that others have thought differently, I will ven- 
ture (at the risk of hastening the diligence of some good bachelor " bishop or 
older " to become " the husband of one wife") to cite the following from the re- 
cent valuable work of the Rev. Dr. Elliott on Romanism, volume i., page 399. 
" The terms made use of in these passages mean more than a bare 'permission to 
marry, or a bare tolerance in office to those who are married. The words used 
denote duty or necessity. The impersonal verb Set, oportet, par est, necesse est, it is 
becoming, it is right, it is necessary. The expression of the apostle (1 Tim. iii. 2) 

is ici ovv tov evidKOirov pias yvvaiKog avSpa eivai, for a bislwj) MUST 01' OUGHT to be the 

husband of one wife. And, in the Epistle to Titus (ch. i., verse 7), the expression 
is similar, and means a bishop must, or ought to be blameless. The married state 
is here presented as that which is most becoming, proper, or indeed necessary for a 
man who presides over the flock of Christ. And it is considered as needful a 
qualification as temperance, blamelessness, aptitude to teach, and the like. And 
though a minister may be a good one who is not married ; yet he is not so good, in 
general, as those who have pious and intelligent wives and walk worthy their voea- 



70 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book il 

Early superstitious notions on the merit of celibacy, and the discredit of marriage. 

§ 6. — It is painful to reflect at how early a period, unscriptural 
notions, in relation to celibacy and marriage, began to prevail 
among the professed followers of Christ. Even in the time of 
Tertullian, who flourished about the commencement of the third 
century, the notion had gained some strength that celibacy was 
highly meritorious, and that matrimony was a dishonor and a dis- 
credit. Hence, when dissuading from second marriages, this ear- 
liest of the Latin ecclesiastical writers, uses the following language : 
" May it not suffice thee to have fallen from that high rank of im- 
maculate virginity, by once marrying, and so descending to a se- 
cond stage of honor ? Must thou yet fall farther ; even to a third, 
to a fourth, and, perhaps, yet lower T*. . . . These unscriptural 
opinions were owing, in part, to the superstitious notions which 
began to prevail at a very early period, in relation to the influence 
of malignant demons. It was an almost general persuasion, says 
Mosheim, that they who took wives were, of all others, the most 
subject to their influence. And as it was of infinite importance to 
the interests of the church, that no impure or malevolent spirit en- 
tered into the bodies of such as were appointed to govern or to 
instruct others ; so the people were desirous that the clergy should 
use their utmost efforts to abstain from the pleasures of the conju- 
gal life.f The natural consequence of the prevalence of opinions 
like these was. that unmarried men began to be regarded as far 
more suitable for the office of the sacred ministry than such as had 

tion. We do not hear the apostle say. K Although bishops and deacons are not 
to be prohibited from marrying, yet. whenever it can be done, it is well to prefer 
those who have professed virginity.*' Xo such language escapes the apostle. He 
represents a bishop to be one who has a wife and children, and who rules his 
house." I hope my unmarried brethren in the ministry will forgive me, if I cite 
yet another author to prove that Dr. Elliott, in this interpretation, stands not alone. 
It is Isaac Taylor in his Ancient Christianity, p. 526. ;; Xot one word is there," 
says he, i: in these clerical epistles, of ; the merit of virginity/ not a hint that ce- 
libacy is at least a ' seemly thing ' in those who minister at the altar ! The very 
contrary is what we find there. A bishop's and a deacon's qualifications for office 
are directly connected with their behavior as married men, and as fathers. So 
pointed is this assurned connexion, that ice might even consider the apostle's rule as 
amounting to a tacit exchisi of the unmarried from the sacerdotal office. If a 
man who does not i; rule well " his family, is thereby proved to be unfit to assume 
the government of the church ; by implication then, those are to be judged unfit, 
or at least they are unproved as fit, who have no families to govern. — The meager, 
heartless, nerveless, frivolous, or abstracted and visionary ccelebs — make him a 
bishop ! the very last thing he is fit for : — let him rather trim the lamps and open 
the church doors, or brush cobwebs from the ceiling ! — how should such a one be 
a father to the church !*' Some may think that in this closing exclamation, Mr. 
Taylor writes a little too much con amor-. : yet there is reason in his inquiry, and 
were it not for one or two brilliant exceptions, within the circle of my ministerial 
acquaintances, I should be almost disposed to yield an unqualified assent to his 
doctrine. 

* See Taylors Ancient Christianity, Philadelphia edition, page 140. The au- 
thor takes this opportunity of acknowledging his indebtedness to this learned and 
industrious writer for some of the quotations from :i the fathers," of which he bxLS 
availed himself in the following pages. 

| See Mosheim, vol. i., page 262. 



chap. n.J POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 71 

Clement of Alexandria remonstrates against these notions. Female devotees in the age of Cyprian. 

contracted the defilement of matrimony. In a short time, second 
marriages were, by many, condemned in any case, and were re- 
garded as wholly inconsistent with the purity of the sacred office, 
and therefore entirely inadmissible in the clergy.* 

§ 7. — It is refreshing, amidst these dawnings of early corruption, 
to hear a cotemporary of Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, raising 
his voice in a " protestant style of remonstrance" against this 
shocking fanaticism, pointing it out as a characteristic of Antichrist, 
and of the apostasy of the latter days, that there should be those 
who would " forbid to marry and command to abstain from meats." 
" What," says he, " may not self-command be preserved under the 
conditions of married life ? May not marriage be used, and yet 
continence be respected, without our attempting to sever that which 
the Lord hath joined 1 God allows every man, whether priest, 
deacon, or layman, to be the husband of one wife, and to use matri- 
mony without being liable to censure."! This instance of good 
sense and scriptural reasoning, amidst the increasing corruption on 
this point, is the more remarkable as it stands alone — a single 
star amidst the surrounding darkness. " So far as I know," says 
Mr. Taylor, " Clement of Alexandria is the only extant writer, of 
the early ages, who adheres to common sense, and apostolical 
Christianity, through and through. Those who, at a later date, 
ventured to protest against the universal error, were instantly 
cursed and put down as heretics, by all the great divines of their 
times ; and were, in fact, deprived of the means of transmitting 
their opinions to be more equitably judged of by posterity." J 

§ 8. — In the time of Cyprian, the celebrated bishop of Carthage, 
who suffered martyrdom, A. D. 258, the vow of perpetual celibacy 
was taken or enforced upon multitudes of young women, and his 
pen was frequently employed in reproving or correcting the numer- 
ous scandals and irregularities which naturally sprung from this 
fruitful source of illicit indulgence. Addressing this description of 
female devotees, he says in one of his epistles, " Listen, then, to him 
who seeks your true welfare ; lest, cast off by the Lord, ye be 
widows before ye be married ; adulteresses, not to your husbands, 
but to Christ, and, after having been destined to the highest rewards, 
ye undergo the severest punishments. For, consider, while the 
hundred-fold produce is that of the martyrs, the sixty-fold is yours ; 
and as they (the martyrs) contemn the body and its delights, so 
should you. Great are the wages which await you (if faithful); the 
high reward of virtue, the great recompense to be conferred upon 
chastity. Not only shall your lot and portion (in the future life) be 
equal to that of the other sex, but ye shall be equal to the angels of 
God."§ 

* Gieseler, vol. i. page 106. 

t yov rrjf (iictf yvvaixos avSpa navv arcodc^r.Tai, k<xv TipceBvT&pas ,»j xav Aicwof'j, av -*>«. <oy 
ai/£7r(Xr;rrr(jf yapoi xpoipcvof. — Clem. Alcxand. I. 552. 

I Ancient Christianity, p. 168. 

J For a fuller account o( these disorders, sec Cyprian ip his «*jpij» to Poirpowcs. 



72 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

Consecrating and crowning of Nuns. Prohibition of marriage after ordination. 

These female devotees have ever since been distinguished by the 
name of Nuns, in the Latin, Nonna, a word said to be of Egyptian 
origin, and to signify a virgin. In after ages a variety of ceremo- 
nies were observed, and still continue to be observed, upon a female 
taking upon herself the vow of perpetual chastity, or ' taking the 
veil,' as it is now called. The first of the adjoining plates represents 
the crowning of professed nuns, with what is called ■ the crown of 
virginity,' during which ceremony the anthem is sung, Veni Sponsi 
Christi, &c, " Come, O spouse of Christ, and receive the crown." 
In former times, it was customary to place a crown upon the heads 
of those who died virgins, and this custom is still observed in some 
popish countries. The other plate represents the reading, by the 
officiating priests, of the anathema against false nuns, a most awful 
curse against such as should violate their vows of virginity, and 
against all who should endeavor to seduce them from their vow, or 
should seize upon any portion of their wealth. (See Engraving.) 

§ 9. — But to return to our narrative. The next step in this per- 
nicious innovation, after the prohibition of second marriages to the 
clergy, w as to forbid them to marry at all, after ordination. A 
decree to this effect was passed at a council held at Ancyra, in 
Galatia, A. D. 314. By this decree, all ministers were forbidden to 
marry after ordination, except in the case of those who at the time 
of their ordination, made an explicit profession of their intention to 
marry, as being in their case unavoidable. In such a case a license 
w 7 as granted to the candidate to marry, and securing him from 
future censures for so doing. If, however, a candidate for ordina- 
tion was already married, he was not obliged to put away his wife, 
unless in the following singular exceptions, viz. : if he had married 
" a widow, or a divorced person, or a harlot, or a slave, or an 
actress."* In either of these cases, the wife must be first put away, 
as a condition of ordination. The fact that a widow, when married 
a second time, is here placed in the same category with a harlot or 
a slave, shows that at this time matrimony had grown so much into 
disrepute, that second marriages were considered a disgrace and a 
reproach. 

At the council of Nice, held A. D. 325, it is related by Socrates, 
the ecclesiastical historian, that a rule was proposed, requiring all 
clergymen who had married before their ordination, to withdraw 
from their wives, or cease to cohabit with them ; and the color of 
the account leads us to suppose that this regulation, which, in 
respect to the church universal, was called " a new law," although 
not new to several of the churches, was near to have been carried, 
and probably would have been, had not the good sense and right 
feeling of one of the bishops present defeated the fanaticism of the 
others. Paphnutius, a bishop of the Thebais, a confessor, having 
lost an eye in the late persecution, and himself an ascetic, rose, and 

* Can. Apost. 17 : 'O -x^? av ^^v, h iKPEP'Xripivrtv, i) iraipav, r\ oikLtiv, t) twv i-\ OKrivni, 
vv ivvarai elvai iTTicKonos 77 -ptcfivrcpos, ?/ 6iaKoi>os } 5) oAojj, tov xaraXoyov t;-v hpariKOv. 



fflfflMillMM^^iiS'iwa^aiM^iiJ^ife^iN 






€m 




Crowning of Nuns upon taking their Vows. 



iiS 




Reading the Anathema against such as should prove false. 



chap, ii.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 75 

Further proposal negatived at the Council of Nice. Chrysostom on the ten virgins. 

with spirit asserted the honor and purity of matrimony, and insisted 
upon the inexpediency of any such law, likely as it was to bring many 
into a snare. For a moment reason triumphed ; the proposal was 
dropped, nor anything farther attempted by the insane party, 
beyond the giving a fresh sanction to the established rule or tradi- 
tion, that none should marry after ordination.* 

§ 10. — Notwithstanding this decision of the council, however, the 
most extravagant notions prevailed, relative to the suppposed sanc- 
tity and merit of virginity, even among the most eminent of the 
Nicene fathers.f As a lamentable proof of this fact, as also the early 
corruptions of the doctrine of salvation by " grace through the 
redemption that is in Christ Jesus," and the consequent danger of 
trusting to the most eminent of the early fathers in points of Chris- 
tian doctrine, the following extract is presented from an exposition 
of the parable of the ten virgins, from the pen of the celebrated and 
eloquent Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople. Among Protestant 
writers, the " oil in the lamps " has generally been understood to 
signify the principle of divine grace in the heart, or that genuine 
piety which distinguishes true Christians from mere pretenders or 
professors. The explanation of Chrysostom is widely different : 
" What !" says he, " hast thou not understood from the instance of 
the ten virgins, in the gospel, how that those who, although they 
were proficients in virginity, yet not possessing the [virtue of] alms- 
giving, were excluded from the nuptial banquet. Truly, I am 
ashamed, and blush and weep when I hear of the foolish virgin. 
When I hear the very name, I blush to think of one who, after she 
had reached such a point of virtue, after she had gone through the 
training of virginity, after she had thus winged the body aloft 
toward heaven, after she had contended for the prize with the powers 
on high (the angels), after she had undergone the toil, and had trod- 
den under foot the fires of pleasure, to hear such a one named, and 
justly named, a fool, because that, after having achieved the greater 
labors (of virtue), she should be wanting in the less ! Now, the fire 
(of the lamps) is — Virginity, and the oil is — Almsgiving. And, in 
like manner as the flame, unless supplied with a stream of oil, disap- 
pears, so virginity, unless it have almsgiving, is extinguished. But 
now, who are the vendors of this oil ? The poor who, for receiving 
alms, sit about the doors of the church. And for how much is it to 
be bought ? — for what you will. I set no price upon it, lest, in 
doing so, I should exclude the indigent. For, so much as you have, 
make this purchase. Hast thou a penny ? — purchase heaven, 
ayoQuoov tov ovQufov, not, indeed, as if heaven were cheap; but the 
Master is indulgent. Hast thou not even a penny ? give a cup 
of cold water, for he hath said, &c. Heaven is on sale, and in the 

* Socrates Eccles. Hist, lib. i., c. 11. See Greek extract in Gieseler, vol. i., 
page 279, note 4. 

f Nicene fathers. This term is generally applied to Athanasius, Basil, Chrysostom, 
Gregory Nyssen, Gregory Nazianzen, Ambrose, and other eminent ecclesiastical 
writers who flourished about the time of the council of Nice. 



76 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

A strange exposition. Virginity and almsgiving. 

market, and yet we mind it not ! Give a crust and take back para- 
dise ; give the least, and receive the greatest ; give the perishable, 
receive the imperishable ; give the corruptible, receive the incor- 
ruptible. If there were a fair, and plenty of provisions to be had, 
at the cheapest rate, — all to be bought for a song, — would ye not 
realize your means, and postpone other business, and secure to your- 
selves a share in such dealing ? Where, then, things corruptible are 
in view, do ye show such diligence, and where the incorruptible, 
such sluggishness, and such proneness to fall behind ? Give to the 
needy, so that, even if thou sayest nothing for thyself, a thousand 
tongues may speak in thy behalf; thy charities standing up and 
pleading for thee. Alms are the redemption of the soul, ^vtqov 
\pvxrjg eoTiv sU^oovvjj. And, in like manner, as there are set vases 
of water at the church gates, for washing the hands ; so are beggars 
sitting there, that thou may est (by their means), wash the hands of 
thy soul. Hast thou washed thy palpable hands in water ; wash 
the hands of thy soul in almsgiving ! 

§ 11. — "But what is it which, after so many labors, these vir- 
gins hear ? — I know you not ! which is nothing less than to say that 
virginity, vast treasure as it is, may be useless ! Think of them 
(the foolish virgins), as shut out, after undergoing such labors, after 
reining in incontinence, after running a course of rivalry with the 
celestial orders, after spurning the interests of the present life, after 
sustaining the scorching heat, after having leapt the bound (in the 
gymnasium), after having winged their way from earth to heaven, 
after they had not broken the seal of the body (a phrase of much 
significance), and having obtained possession of the form of vir- 
ginity (the eternal idea of divine purity), after having wrestled with 
angels, after trampling upon the imperative impulses of the body, 
after forgetting nature, after reaching, in the body, the perfections 
of the disembodied state, after having won, and held, the vast and 
unconquerable possession of virginity, after all this, then they hear 
— Depart from me, I know you not ! 

" Think then what the labor is which this course of life exacts ! 
and yet, even those who have undergone all this, may hear the 
words — Depart from me, I never knew you ! And see how great a 
virtue virginity is, seeing that she hath for her sister, — almsgiving ! 
having nothing that can ever be more arduous, but will be above 
all. Wherefore it was that these (foolish virgins) entered not in, 
because they had not, along with their virginity — almsgiving ! 
Thou hast then that efficacious mode of penance, almsgiving, which 
is able to break the chains of thy sins ; but thou hast also a way of 
penitence, more ready, by which thou mayest rid thyself of thy 
sins. Pray every hour !" # 

This extract is long, but valuable, on account of the proof that it 
furnishes, that, in what is called the Nicene age, the corruptions 
afterward embodied in the system of Popery had made the most 

* Chrysostom, Homily iii., on Repentance. 



chap, n.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 77 

Siricius, bishop of Rome, decrees celibacy. The Rhemish Testament and its Popish annotators. 

alarming progress. Paul had said three centuries before, " the 
mystery of iniquity doth already work," and now the leaven of cor- 
ruption was rapidly diffusing itself over the whole mass. 

§ 12. — At length, toward the close of the fourth century, Siricius, 
who held the See of Rome from 385 to 398, issued his decrees, strictly 
enjoining celibacy on the clergy, and several Western synods 
echoed the mandates of Rome. As the bishop of Rome was not at 
this time regarded as the head of the church, these laws were of 
course not received as obligatory upon all, and in the East especi- 
ally, notwithstanding the superstitious veneration attached to celi- 
bacy, these decrees, according to Gieseler (vol. i., p. 280), were 
rejected. 

Though the decrees of Siricius and his successors were gene- 
rally obeyed in Rome, and throughout Italy, yet large numbers 
of the French, German, Spanish, and English clergy continued, for 
several centuries longer, to avail themselves of that portion of their 
scriptural right which had been left them by the council of Nice, 
notwithstanding the exertions of successive bishops and popes of 
Rome to induce them to yield up those rights and become their 
obedient vassals. How blind must be that prejudice which does 
not perceive, in this constant warfare of the proud prelates of 
Rome (both before and after the epoch of the papal supremacy) 
against God's own institution of matrimony, a plain mark of Anti- 
Christ ; an evident proof that Popery, when fully developed, is that 
Apostasy predicted by St. Paul, when he described it as " forbidding 
to marry !" In future centuries, we shall see the horrible vices, 
and almost universal corruption of morals among the popish clergy, 
which arose from thus setting aside the plain direction of inspira- 
tion " A BISHOP MUST BE THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE." 

§ 13. — The doctrine of the Romish church, forbidding the clergy 
to marry, is so evidently contrary to Scripture, that it is scarcely 
necessary to say a word in its refutation. The only wonder with 
the bible Christian will be, where they can find even a shadow of 
an argument upon which to base so unnatural and antiscriptural a 
prohibition. The only appearance of argument offered by Romish 
writers is, that mentioned by the Jesuit annotators in the Rhemish 
Testament* in their note on Titus iii. 6. " If the studious reader 
peruse all antiquity he shall find all notable bishops and priests of 
God's church to have been single, or continent from their wives if 
any were married before they came to the clergy. So were all 

* Rhemish Testament. — As I shall have future occasion to refer to this popish 
version of the New Testament, I would here remark, that it appeared in 1582, and 
was printed at Rheims, accompanied by copious notes by Romish authors. The 
Old Testament was translated like the Rhemish Testament, not from the original 
Greek and Hebrew, but from the Latin version, called the Vulgate. It was 
printed at Douay, in France, in 1G10, for which reason the Rhemish New and 
the Douay Old Testament, now generally bound together are called the Douay 
Bible. The popish doctrines of the notes to the Rhemish Testament, were ably 
confuted in a work of Dr. William Fulke, which appeared in the year 1617. 



73 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

the a after they followed Christ, as Jei itaesseth, 

affirming that our Lord loved John specially for his virgini ty." In 

Dote m 1 Tim. iii. 2. they sadly abuse those who, in the 
early ages, adopted the same opinion as that advocated by T 
and Elliott in the extract quoted in the note on page : i" this 
chapter. I must apologize for the grossness of the extract from 
these popish authors. I: deserves quoting as a literary curiosity, 
and if at all, must be : it is. The following are their 

- — " Certain bish ps xf Yigilauthis 9 sect, whether upon : se 
: auction of this text, wr through the filthyaes a :: theii r 
lust, would take none to the clergy, ex:-;:: they would be ... 
first, not believing, said Jerome {ad:- s. I igilanZ. cap. 1). that any 
single mar. liveth chastely; shov \ w holily they live themselves; 
thai suspect ill of every man. and will not give the Sacrament, of 
order, to the clergy, unless they see their wives have great bellies, 
and children wailing at their mothers' breasts. Our Protestants, 
though they be : Vigilantius'* sect, yet they are scarce tc "ome sc 
far, tc :....._.::. svery priest tc be married. Nevertheless they 
mislike them that will not marry, so much the worse, and the; 
peel ... >f every single person in the Church, thinking the gift of 
chastity to be very rare among them, and they no! y ; make 
. :: marriage equal to chaste single life, with the Heretic 
Jovinian,* but they are bold t say sometimes, that the bish 

* VigUantius and Jomman, — These twe early reformers who are spoken of 
so contemptuously by these popish writers, though they lived as : u the fifth 
•. are. for their enlightened zeal in opposing the corruptions I da srianity, 
which were o rthy :o be ranked with Wicl 

Luther. The rincipal here;;:: Jfrrznumwas, in the words of Jerome, 

"this shocking doctri virgin is no better than a married woman," The 

emperor Honorius cruelly ordered him to be whipped with scourges annei 
lead, and banished to a desolate island, where he died about A. D. 406. T > , 
tins flourished a few years later than Joi He was a 'earned and eminent 

presbyter^of a Christian church, and took up his pen to oppose the growing b ipep- 

His took, which unfortunate, has not survived the I 

directed against the institution of monkery — the celibacy of the clergy — praying 
for the dead, and to the martyrs — paying adoration to their relics — celebrating" 
gils — and lighting up candles tc them after the manner of the heathens. 
Sf Jerome, who is —teemed a luminary of the Catholic church, and who was a 
zealous advocate for all these superstitious rites, undertook the task of cc:.: iting 
Vigila. - whom he - tyles •■ a most blasphemous here :.:. "an : the: lpi teeds to 
compare him to the te:_e;v.~. fee. :: the I _ — r * 

eludes with calling him the organ of the devil. The following short extract from 
Jerome's answer will satisfactorily explain the heresi ;: Vigtiantius — That the 
honours pa : be rotten bones :: the saints and martyrs by ide ring kiss .. e \ 

wrapping them up in sih-t and vessels :: gold, \::^zz them : the i . 

. ".."..:"._ if ix candles before them, after the manr.e- : I e _::.::.. ere the 

ensigns of idolatry — thai the celibacy of the clergy was a heresy, and their roics of 

f la i k .":" — h.:.: * * x on haeresim; pu- 

-- - ais seminariam.' (Jerome umtn VigUa . — that : pray to the 

----- :: :: lesire the prayers :: the iead. wa= suters:.: - as the 

iepaited : martyis were al pre particuhu :.:. :e :t:~ 

'"-"- -'■ - ■ icy - - -"■- not remove themselves at : leasure, sc is tc le everywhere pre* 
set.: itc..:.:: :: : - - . ..e -irtyra 



chap, n.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 79 

Early instances of married clergymen. Peter, Cyprian, Gregory, Caecilius, Numidicus, &c. 

priest may do his duty and charge better married than single." 
They add that the exposition given by them is " only agreeable to 
the practice of the whole Church, the definition of ancient councils, 
the doctrine of all the Fathers without exception, and the Apostle's 
tradition." To this it is sufficient to reply that the apostle Peter 
was married, for the New Testament makes mention of his wife 
(Matt. viii. 14), and there is no scriptural proof that any one of the 
apostles lived and died single, or declined to cohabit with their 
wives. In relation to the assertion that the clergy in the early ages 
of the church lived in celibacy, it will be sufficient to demon- 
strate its glaring falsity to cite the following few out of multitudes of 
instances that could easily be cited of married bishops and presby- 
ters in the first three or four centuries. 

§ 14. — Valens, presbyter of Philippi, mentioned by Poly carp, was 
a married man.* 

Choeremon, bishop of Nilus, an exceedingly old man, was mar- 
ried. He fled with his wife to Arabia, in time of persecution, under 
Maximums the tyrant, where they both perished together, as Euse- 
bius informs us.f 

Cyprian himself was also a married man, as Pagi, the annotator 
and corrector of Baronius, confesses. J 

Caecilius, the presbyter, through whose instrumentality Cyprian 
was converted to Christianity, was a married man.§ 

So also was Numidicus, another presbyter of Carthage, of whom 
Cyprian tells us the following remarkable story in his thirty-fifth 
epistle, or, as some number it, the fortieth : " That in the Decian 
persecution he saw his own wife, with many other martyrs, burned 
by his side ; while he himself lying half-burned, and covered with 

ought not to be worshipped, nor their fasts and vigils to be observed — and, finally, 
that the signs and wonders said to be wrought by their relics, and at their sepul- 
chres, served to no good end or purpose of religion." 

These were the sacrilegious tenets, as Jerome terms them, which lie could not 
hear with patience, or without the utmost grief, and for which he declares Vigi- 
lantius " a detestable heretic, venting his foul-mouthed blasphemies against the 
relics of the martyrs, which were working daily signs and wonders." He tells 
him to " go into the churches of those martyrs, and he would be cleansed from the 
evil spirit which possessed him, and feel himself burnt, not by those wax candles 
which so much offended him, but by invisible flames, which would force that 
demon that talked within him to confess himself to be the same who had per- 
sonated a Mercury, perhaps, or a Bacchus, or some other of the heathen deities." 
(See Introductory discourse to Dr. Conyers Middletonh free inquiry into the mira- 
culous powers of the early ages, page 132.) This is a long note, but it is worthy 
of the room it occupies, as an evidence that in very early ages there were not 
wanting faithful men to protest against the growing corruptions, and as a speci- 
men of the doctrine as well as the spirit of some of the boasted fathers of the 
church, and consequently the danger of trusting to them as guides in relation to 
spiritual matters. 

* Polycarp, Kp. ad Philip., n. 11. 

f Euseb. Eccl. Hist. b. vi. c. 42. 

\ Pagi. Crit. in Baron, ad ann. p. 248, n. 4. 

j Pontius, Vit. Cypr. 

G 



80 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

Gregory, bisLc; of Nazicjizura, a husband and a iV.r.er. :' the Virgin Maiy. 

stones, and left for dead, was found expiring by his daughter, who 
drew him out of the rubbish, and brought him to life again/'* 

Gregory of X azianzurn, a notable bishop, was father of the other 
Gregory who succeeded him. as appears from the oration which the 
latter made in his favor. He says. " That a good and diligent 
bishop serves in the ministry nothing the worse for being married, 
but rather the better, and with more ability to do good." Of his 
mother he says. " That she was given to his father of God, and be- 
came not only his helper, but also his leader both by word and by 
deeds, training him to the best things : and though in other things 
it was best for her to be subject to him, on account of the right of 
marriage, yet in religion and godliness she doubted not to become 
his leader and teacher."f 

From the above well-authenticated instances of the marriage of 
the clergy in the earliest ages of the church, it is evident that 
Romanists are no more sustained by the example of primitive 
times than by the New Testament, in their antiscriptural and un- 
natural prohibition of marriage to the clergy.} 



CHAPTER III. 

ORIGIN OF ROMISH ERRORS CONTINUED. WOESHTP OF TUE VIRGIN MARY. 

§ 15. — We have already seen the extravagant opinions that were 
entertained in the fourth century, as to the merit of virginity. 
Before exhibiting the natural result of such unscriptural notions in 
the almost deification of the Virgin Mary, we shall present yet 
another specimen of the manner in which the graces of rhetoric and 
the charms of eloquence were employed in that age to exalt to the 
very skies, those who had devoted themselves to a virgin life. It is 
from a tract of the eloquent Chrysostom or golden mouth. u The 
virgin, when she goes abroad, should present herself as the bright 
specimen of all philosophy : and strike all with amazement, as if 
now an angel had descended from heaven ; or just as if one of the 
cherubim had appeared upon earth, and were turning the eyes of all 

* Xumidicus. presbyter uxorem adhgerentem latere sno, concrematam sinral 
cum cseteris. vel conservatam maaris dixerim. laetns aspex::. — Oypr . epist 35 or 
40. 

f A.V-a kul apx^Y ! yitsrai tpy.j tc >:ai >>:■/.. -;;;--••; a-.' r~- — c',' .'avrrj aycwo r« 
i.r;-;.i>. ;•.< uie-jfTnmpsw* rmfejpu ix.rr\: im Uim n mkmr. — Sfojg Nazi arizen, in E- 
PatrU. 

: .See Elliott on Romanism, ii. 427. In addition to the above. Dr. Elliott citea 

a large number of similar instances. 



chap, m.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 81 

Chrysostom's description of the sanctity of a professed virgin. Singular notions about the Virgin Mary 

men upon himself. So should all those who look upon the virgin 
be thrown into admiration, and stupor, at the sight of her sanctity. 
And when she advances, she moves as through a desert ; or when 
she sits at church, it is with the profoundest silence, her eye catches 
nothing of the objects around her ; she sees neither women nor men, 
but her spouse only ; and who shall not marvel at her ? who shall 
not be in ecstacy, in thus beholding the angelic life, embodied in a 
female form ? And who is it that shall dare approach her ? Where 
is the man who shall venture to touch this flaming spirit ? Nay 
rather, all stand aloof, willing or unwilling ; all are fixed in amaze- 
ment, as if there were before their eyes a mass of incandescent and 
sparkling gold ! Gold hath indeed by nature its splendor ; but 
when saturate with fire, how admirable, nay even fearful is it ! 
And thus, when a soul such as this occupies the body, not only shall 
the spectacle be wondered at by men, but even by angels." While 
such were the opinions entertained and expressed of the " angelic 
virtue " of virginity, we are not surprised to learn that it was 
regarded as the very height of presumption and impiety to doubt 
whether the Virgin Mary — asmaqdevog — ever parted with this pre- 
cious jewel. 

§ 16. — About the middle of the fourth century, as appears from cer- 
tain expressions in Epiphanius, Gregory Nyssen, and Augustine, an 
opinion arose that there were in the temple at Jerusalem, virgins 
consecrated to God, among whom Mary grew up in vows of per- 
petual virginity. Her marriage with Joseph, the first named of 
these writers speaks of as only formal, and Jerome describes him 
as an ascetic from his youth.* The opinion was strenuously main- 
tained by them, and most of their cotemporaries, that Mary con- 
tinued a virgin till her death. Others, however, adopting the more 
natural interpretation of Matt, i., 25, and xiii., 55, 56, contended that 
she had afterward lived in a state of honorable matrimony with her 
husband, and that she had borne other children. Those who held 
this opinion, were enumerated among the heretics, and were called 
anti-dico-marianites, or opposers of the purity of Mary. It would 
be amusing, if it were not painful, to notice the fanciful and puerile 
conceits of the writers of this age, when endeavoring to establish 
the notion of the perpetual virginity of Mary. They even employed 
arguments to prove that in some wonderful way she gave birth to 
the Saviour, without losing her virginity, and some ol them under- 
took to show in what way this was accomplished. Thus, says 
Ambrose, commenting on Isaiah vii., 14, " Hsec est virgo quce in 
utero concepit," &c, " This is the virgin who hath conceived, and the 
virgin who hath brought forth a son. For the prophet not only 
saith that a virgin shall conceive, but also that a virgin shall bring 
forth." Then in the fanciful manner of applying Scripture current 
in that age, he makes a reference to Ezekiel xliv., 1, 2, and asks " but 

* See Gieseler, vol. i., page 273, note 13, for references and original quota- 
tions from the fathers named. 



82 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

The Collyridians or early worshippers of the Virgin. Papists all such now. 

what is that gate of the sanctuary, that outward gate toward the 
East, through which no one shall enter, but the Lord God of Israel ? 
Is not Mary this gate, through whom the Redeemer hath entered 
into the world I concerning whom it is written, quia Dominus per- 
transibit per earn, et erit clausa post partum, because a virgin hath 
conceived and brought forth." A similar fanciful allusion to this 
passage in Ezekiel, by Jerome, may be found in the note which I 
must be spared the task of translating.* 

§ 17. — When we observe, on the one hand, the earnest manner 
in which these fathers contend for the perpetual virginity of Mary, 
and on the other the extravagant honors attached to the virgin state, 
we need not be surprised that the notion soon became prevalent 
among some that " the mother of God," as she was now frequently 
denominated, was herself worthy of the honors of divine worship. 
Accordingly, about tins time, we find that a sect sprang up, whose 
peculiar tenet it was, that the Virgin Mary should be adored in 
worship, and that religious honors should be paid to her. They 
were called Collyridians, from collyridce, the cakes which they 
offered to the Virgin. However naturally this error might spring 
from the notions maintained by those who were regarded as the 
orthodox fathers of the church in this age, yet it is a proof that the 
Popery of the present day would even in that corrupt age have 
been regarded as heresy, that the members of this sect were branded 
by Epiphanius and others of the Nicene fathers as heretics. If one 
of them were now to arise from his grave, and pass through any of 
the Catholic countries of Europe, he would soon discover a wide- 
spread system of idolatrous worship of the Virgin, far more debas- 
ing than that which they condemned, because accompanied with 
the idolatrous use of images, a flagrant impiety with which these 
ancient heretics were not charged. 

§ 18. — In proof of this last assertion, I would refer to the fact, 
noticed by almost every modern traveller, that in Italy, Spain, 
Austria, and other popish countries of Europe, it is common to see 
images of the Virgin and child, not only in the churches, but also 
affixed in conspicuous places by the road-side, to receive the hom- 
age and adoration of the passer-by. Some of these Romish idols 
are regarded with greater reverence than others, and are conse- 
quently visited by a greater number of votaries. Thus in England, 
the land of our fathers, previous to the glorious reformation from 

* Gieseler. vol. i., page 287, note 25. — " Ambrosius Ep. 42, ad Siricium P. 
Haec est virgo qua in utero concepit: virgo quas peperit filmm. Sic enira 
scriptum est: Ecce xirgo in utero accipiet, et pariet filium ; non enim concep- 
turam tantummodo virginem, sed et parituram virginem dixit. Qua? autem est 
ilia porta sanctuarii. porta ilia exterior ad Orientem, quae manet ckusa ; et nemo, 
inquit, pertransibit per earn, nisi solus Deus Israel (Ezech. xliv. 2)? Nonne haec 
porta quia Dominus pertransibit per earn, et erit clausa post partum; quia virgo 
concepit et genuit. Hieronymus adv. Pelagianos, lib. ii. {Opp. ed. Martian. T. 
IV. P. II. p. 512): Solus enim Christus clausas portas vulvas virginalis aperuit, 
quae tamen clauses jugiter permanserunt. Haec est porta orientalis clausa, per 
quam solus Pontifex ingreditur et egreditur et nihilominus semper clausa est" 







w 



Wayside Shrine of the Virgin. Oalabrian Minstrels playing in her honor. 



MM 



'/:',. 




Worship of the Image of the Virgin m a Churcli. 



chap, m.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 85 

Minstrels playing tunes to the Virgin and child as though the idols were conscious. 



Popery, there was a famous image of the Virgin at Walsingham, 
in the county of Norfolk, which was visited by thousands of devo- 
tees, from the most distant parts of the island, notwithstanding they 
had similar idols in their own neighborhoods, and perhaps in their 
own dwellings, occupying the same place as the penates, or house- 
hold gods of the ancient pagans of Greece and Rome. In Italy, 
where Popery is seen without disguise, each of these images is, by 
the common people, regarded as a distinct object of worship, and it 
is a very common sight to see a company of the Calabrese minstrels 
performing their national devotional airs before them, especially 
about the time of Christmas, and pleasing themselves with the idea 
that the tunes are the same that were played by the shepherds at the 
incarnation of the Saviour, on the plains of Bethlehem. 

A recent traveller in Italy relates a fact which shows that images 
are looked upon as real objects of worship, and treated as though 
they were really conscious of the idolatrous honors paid to them, 
notwithstanding, in the expressive language of Scripture, " they 
have eyes but they see not, they have ears but they hear not. 
They that make them are like unto them ; so is every one that 
trusteth in them." (Psalm cxv., 5, &c.) In Rome, according to 
this traveller,* " it is a popular opinion that the Virgin Mary is very 
fond and an excellent judge of music. I received this information," 
says he, " on a Christmas morning, when I was looking at two poor 
Calabrian pipers doing their utmost to please her and the infant in 
her arms. They played for a full hour to one of her images 
which stands at the corner of a street. All the other statues of 
the Virgin which are placed in the streets are serenaded in the 
same manner every Christmas morning. On my inquiring into the 
meaning of that ceremony, I was told the above-mentioned circum- 
stance of her character. My informer was a pilgrim, who stood 
listening with great devotion to the pipers. He told me at the same 
time, that the Virgin's taste was too refined to have much satisfac- 
tion in the performance of these poor Calabrians, which was chiefly 
intended for the infant ; and he desired me to remark, that the tunes 
were plain and simple, and such as might naturally be supposed 
agreeable to the ear of a child of his time of life." The accompa- 
nying engraving is a beautiful representation of such a scene as is 
described in the foregoing interesting extract from the work of Dr. 
Moore. (See Engraving.) 

§ 19. — Though many centuries elapsed before an idolatry so gross 
as this was practised, even in apostate Rome, yet as early as the 
fifth century, many circumstances were tending toward this idola- 
trous reverence of the Virgin Mary. In the fifth century, a contro- 
versy arose relative to the title which it was proper to apply to her, 
which in its result tended, probably, more than anything else, to 
increase the superstitious veneration with which she had long been 
regarded. The occasion of this controversy was furnished by the 

* Dr. Moore, in his View of Society and Manners in Italy. 



86 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookh. 

Nestorian controversy on the title " mother of God." Feasts in honor of the Virgin^ 

presbyter Anastasius, a friend of Nestorius. This presbyter, in a 
public discourse, delivered, A. D. 428, declaimed warmly against 
the title of Geotoxo;, or mother of God, which was now frequently 
attributed to the Virgin Mary. He at the same time gave it as his 
opinion that she should rather be called XgiaroToxog, i. e.. mother of 
Christ, since the Deity can neither be born nor die, and of conse- 
quence the son of man alone could derive his birth from an earthly 
parent. Nestorius applauded these sentiments, and explained and 
defended them in several discourses. 

The result of the Nestorian controversy, as it was called, was that 
at the third general council, which was held at Ephesus, in 431, and at 
which Cyril, the powerful and imperious antagonist of Nestorius, 
presided, the doctrine was condemned, and its defender branded as 
another Judas, deposed from his episcopal dignity, and sent into 
exile, where he finished his days in the deserts of Thebais in Egypt.* 
This dispute, as is truly remarked by Gieseler, first led men to set 
the Virgin Mary above all other saints as " the mother of God." 
To those who reflect upon the natural tendency of an exciting con- 
troversy to drive men to extremes, it will not be matter of wonder 
that henceforward much more was said and done in honor of the 
" blessed Virgin," " mother of God," and " ever a Virgin," than at 
any previous period. Among the images with which the magnifi- 
cent churches began now to be adorned, that of the Virgin Mary 
holding the child Jesus in her arms, in consequence of the Nesto- 
rian controversy, obtained the first and principal place. 

§ 20. — In the following century, two festivals were established in 
her honor, the festum purifications, or festival of the " purification 
of the Blessed Virgin Mary," on the second of February (Candlemas 
day), and the festum annunciationis, the festival of the annunciation 
on the twenty-fifth day of March, which has been popularly called 
Lady Day.f Mosheim says, with appearance of reason, that the 
former festival was established with a design " to remedy the unea- 
siness of heathen converts, on account of the loss of their lupercalia, 
or feasts of the god Pan, which had formerly been observed in the 

* An amusing anecdote is related concerning the Emperor Constantine Copro- 
nymus. who lived more than three hundred years after Nestorius. which well illus- 
trates the unreasonable importance which was attached for ages to these vain dis- 
putes about mere words. It must be remembered that in this dispute both sides 
were strictly orthodox in the modern sense of the word. Both sides admitted that 
Jesus Christ is God as well as man ; that his human nature was born of the Virgin, 
and that his divine nature existed from eternity ; both sides admitted the distinction 
between the two natures, and their union in the person of Christ. Where then lay 
the difference ? It could be nowhere but in phraseology. Yet this notable ques- 
tion raised a conflagration in the church, and proved, in the East, the source of 
infinite mischief, hatred, violence, and persecution. The Emperor happened one 
day to ask the patriarch of Constantinople, " What harm would there be in calling 
the Virgin Mary the mother of Christ ?" "God preserve your majesty" answered 
the patriarch hastily, with great emotion, "from entertaining such a thought ! Do 
you not see how Nestorius is anathematized for this by the ichole church V " I only 
asked for my own information," replied the Emperor, evidently with some alarm, 
" but let it go no farther.''' 

f Bingham's Antiquities, vol. ix., page 170. 



chap, iv.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 87 

Egypt the birth-place of Monkery, whether heathen or Christian. 

month of February."* The latter served equally well as a substi- 
tute for the festival of the ancient heathen goddess. Cybele, to whom 
the 25th of March, or Lady Day, was formerly dedicated. There 
is indeed a strong resemblance, in many points, between the pagan 
worship of Cybele, and the popish worship of the Virgin. The same 
appellation of "queen of heaven," which is frequently applied by 
papists to Mary, was generally applied by the ancient Romans to 
Cybele. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ORIGIN OF ROMISH ERRORS CONTINUED MONKERY. 

§ 21. — Monkery, like most of the characteristic marks of Anti- 
christ, bears the most indubitable evidences of its heathen origin. 
Egypt, the rank soil in which it sprang up, had long been the fruit- 
ful parent of a race of gloomy and misanthropic eremites. It was 
in that country that this morose discipline had its rise ; and it is 
observable, that Egypt has, in all times, as it were by an immu- 
table law, or disposition of nature, abounded with persons of a 
melancholy complexion, and produced, in proportion to its extent, 
more gloomy spirits than any other part of the world. It was 
here that the Essenes and the Therapeutas, those dismal and gloomy 
sects, dwelt principally, long before the coming of Christ ; as also 
many others of the Ascetic tribe, who, led by a certain melancholy 
turn of mind, and a delusive notion of rendering themselves more 
acceptable to the Deity by their austerities, withdrew themselves 
from human society, and from all the innocent pleasures and com- 
forts of life. Strabo, Arrian, Diodorus Siculus, Porphyry, as well 
as several of the fathers, especially Clement of Alexandria, and 
Augustine, have handed down incidental notices of the philosophy 
and manners of the Indian and Egyptian gymnosophists, such as 
are amply sufficient for the purpose of identifying the ancient, and 
the more recent — the Buddhist, and the Christian ascetic institute. 
These professors of a divine philosophy, like their Christian imita- 
tors, went nearly naked ; they occupied caverns or chinks in the 
rocks ; they abstained entirely from animal food ; they professed 
inviolable virginity ; they practised penance ; they passed the 
greater part of their time in mute meditation ; they imposed silence 
and absolute submission upon their disciples ; they professed the 
doctrine, that the perfection of human nature consists in an annihi- 

* See Mosheim, cent, vi., part 2, chapter iv. 



88 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

Resemblance between the pagan and Christian gymnosophists. Paul the hermit, Anthony, Hilarion. 

lation of the passions, and every affection which nature has im- 
planted, whether in the animal or the mental constitution : abnega- 
tion was, with them, the one point of wisdom and virtue, and a re- 
absorption of the human soul into the abyss of the divine mind, 
was the happy end of the present system, to the pure and wise. 

§ 22. — Now, one might reasonably have supposed and expected, 
that a system of doctrine and practice such as this, if it were to 
come at all under the powerful influence of Christianity, must have 
admitted some extensive modifications ; but it was not so in fact : — 
a few phrases and another dialect, or slang, adopted, make almost 
all the difference which serves to distinguish the ancient gymno- 
sophist from the Christian anchoret. The more rigid and he- 
roic of the Christian anchorets dispensed with all clothing except 
a rug, or a few palm-leaves round the loins. Most of them ab- 
stained from the use of water for ablution ; nor did they usually 
wash or change the garments they had once put on ; thus St. An- 
thony bequeathed to Athanasius a skin in which his sacred person 
had been wrapped for half a century. They also allowed their 
beards and nails to grow, and sometimes became so hirsute, as to 
be actually mistaken for hyaenas or bears. It need not be said that 
celibacy was the first law of this institute, and that an abstinence 
the most rigid was its second law. 

At what time precisely, the wilderness exchanged its pagan for a 
Christian tenantry, it is not easy to ascertain. In some instances, 
no doubt, the very individuals who had begun their course as hea- 
then gymnosophists, ended it as Christian anchorets. But oftener, 
probably, the deserted cell or cavern of the savage philosopher was 
taken possession of by one who, having, in the neighboring cities, 
received the knowledge of the gospel, betook himself to the angelic 
life in consequence of persecutions, or of disappointments in love 
or in business.* 

§ 23. — The most remarkable early instances of this gloomy 
fanaticism on record are those of Paul the hermit, who, during the 
persecution under Decius, about A. D. 250, betook himself to the 
solitary deserts of Egypt, where, for a space of more than ninety 
years, he lived a life more worthy of a savage animal than a human 
being. Anthony, an Egyptian, regarded as the founder of the 
monastic institution (because he first formed monks into organized 
bodies), who fixed his abode in the deserts of Egypt twenty or 
thirty years later than Paul, and died in the year 356, at the age of 
105 ; and Hilarion, a Syrian youth, who took up his abode on a 
sandy beach, between the sea and a morass, about eight miles from 
Gaza, in Palestine, where he persisted in a course of the most aus- 
tere penance for about forty-eight years. 

Influenced by these eminent examples, immense multitudes be- 
took themselves to the desert, and innumerable monasteries were 

* See Taylor's Ancient Christianity, page 426, &c, with references to ancient 
authorities. 



chap, iv.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 89 

Vast number of the monks in Egypt, &c. St. Symeon, the celebrated pillar saint. 

fixed in Egypt, Ethiopia, Lybia, and Syria. Some of the Egyptian 
abbots are spoken of as having had five, seven, or even ten thousand 
monks under their personal direction ; and the Thebais, as well as 
certain spots in Arabia, are reported to have been literally crowded 
with solitaries. Nearly a hundred thousand of all classes, it is 
said, were at one time to be found in Egypt. The western church 
probably could boast of no such swarms. This however is certain, 
that, although the enthusiasm might be at a lower ebb in one coun- 
try than in another, it actually affected the church universal, so far 
as the extant materials of ecclesiastical history enable us to trace 
its rise and progress. In the west, Martin of Tours founded a 
monastery at Poictiers. and thus introduced monastic institutions 
into France. His monks were mostly of noble families, and sub- 
mitted to the greatest austerities both in food and raiment ; and 
such was the rapidity of their increase, that 2000 of them attended 
his funeral. In other countries, they appear to have increased in 
equal proportion, and the progress of monkery has been said to 
have equalled the rapidity and universality of Christianity itself. 
Every province, and, in process of time, every city of the empire, 
was filled with their increasing multitudes. 

§ 24. — We may learn the character of this fanaticism from a 
eulogy on the monastic life, composed about the middle of the 
fourth century by Gregory Nazianzen. There were some of these 
men, he tells us, " who loaded themselves with iron chains in order 
to bear down their bodies — others who shut themselves up in cabins 
and appeared to nobody — some continued twenty days and twenty 
nights without eating, often . practising the half of the fast of our 
Lord — one individual is said to have abstained entirely from speak- 
ing, not praising God except in thought — and another passed whole 
years in a church, with extended hands, like an animated statue, 
yet never allowing himself to sleep."* 

One of the most renowned instances of monkish penance that is 
upon record is that of St. Symeon, as the papists are pleased to 
call him. He was a native of Syria, and devoted himself to the 
monkish life, in the virtues of which he is thought to have outstrip- 
ped all that preceded him. We are told that he lived six-and-thirty 
years on a pillar erected on the summit of a high mountain in Syria, 
from which he obtained the name of Symeon Stylites (from aivlog, 
a pillar). From this pillar, it is said, he never descended except to 
take possession of another, which he did four times, having in the 
whole occupied five of them. On his last pillar, which was loftier 
than any of the former, being sixty feet high and three broad, he 
remained, according to report, fifteen years without intermission, 
summer and winter, day and night, exposed to all the inclemencies 
of the weather, in a climate subject to great and sudden changes, 
from the most sultry heat to piercing cold. It is said that he always 
stood ; the breadth of his pillar not permitting him to lie down. He 

* See Fleury's Eccles. Hist, book xvi. chap. 51. 



90 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ii. 

A strange method of serving God. 1244 bows. Spacious monasteries erected- 

spent the day till three in the afternoon in meditation and prayer ; 
from that time till sunset he harangued the people "who flocked to 
him from all countries, whom he then dismissed with his benedic- 
tion. He would on no account suffer females to come within his 
precincts — frot even his own mother, who is said, through mortifi- 
cation and grief at being refused admittance, to have died on the 
third day after her arrival. To show how indefatigable he was in 
whatever conduced to the glory of God, and the good of mankind; 
he spent much time daily in the exemplary exercise of bowing so 
low as to make his forehead strike his toes, and so frequently, that 
one who went to see him, as Theodoret, the ancient ecclesiastical 
historian, relates, counted no fewer than 1244 times — when, being 
more wearied in numbering than the saint was in bowing, he gave 
over the task of counting.* 

For such senseless and disgusting practices as these has this 
poor victim of superstition been enrolled among the calendar of 
saints, and down to the present day, whenever Romish writers 
refer to this famous pillar saint, they speak of him with the great- 
est reverence as Saint Symeon. 

§ 25. — Up to nearly the close of the fifth century, the monks had 
generally lived only in solitary retreats, and, regarded as they were 
as laymen, they had entertained no thoughts of assuming any rank 
among the sacerdotal order. Now, however, they found them- 
selves in a condition to claim an eminent station among the pillars 
of the Christian community. The mistaken piety of many led 
them to erect spacious and commodious edifices for the accommo- 
dation of the monks and holy virgins, more resembling the palaces 
of princes than the rude cells of the primitive monks, and at the 
epoch of the papal supremacy, these monasteries were numerous 
and powerful, especially in the neighborhood of large cities. The 
monks who dwelt in these convents were called Coenobites, from two 
Greek words, signifying to live in common. 

When these spacious edifices were supplied with a numerous 
fraternity, governed by an abbot of eminence and character, so 
called from a Syriac word signifying father, there often arose a 
jealousy between the abbot on the one hand, and the bishop on the 
other, in whose diocese the abbey was situated, and to whom, as 
things stood at first, the abbot and the friars owed spiritual subjection. 
Out of their mutual jealousies sprang umbrages ; and these some- 
times terminated in quarrels and injuries. In such cases, the abbots 
had the humiliating disadvantage to be under the obligation of 
canonical obedience to him, as the ordinary of the place, with whom 
they were at variance. That they might deliver themselves from 
these inconveniences, real or pretended, and might be independent 

* Those who wish to peruse a fuller account of these miserable euthusiasts, 
and the absurd legends of their wonderful miracles, may consult Theodoret's Ec- 
clesiastical History ; Jerom. Vita Pauli Erem. ; Middleton's Free Inquiry into the 
miraculous powers, &c, p. 164-168 ; and Taylor's Ancient Christianity, p. 461, 
&c. 



chap, iv.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606 91 

Monks and abbots become the tools of the pope. Gregory's inhuman severity to a poor monk 

of their rivals, they applied to Rome, one after another, for a release 
from this slavery, as they called it, by being taken under the pro- 
tection of St. Peter. The proposal was with avidity accepted at 
Rome. That politic court saw immediately that nothing could be 
better calculated for supporting papal power. Whoever obtains 
privileges is obliged, in order to secure his privileges, to maintain 
the authority of the grantor. 

§ 26. — Very quickly all the monasteries, great and small, abbeys, 
priories, and nunneries, were exempted from the jurisdiction of the 
bishops. The two last were inferior sorts of monasteries, and often 
subordinate to some abbey. Even the chapters of cathedrals, con- 
sisting mostly of regulars, on the like pretexts, obtained exemption. 
Finally, whole orders, such as the Benedictines, who were estab- 
lished m the sixth century, and others, were exempted. This effec- 
tually procured a prodigious augmentation to the pontifical author- 
ity, which now came to have a sort of disciplined troops in every 
place, defended and protected by the papacy, who, in return, were 
its defenders and protectors, serving as spies on the bishops as well 
as on the secular powers.* They made the cause of the pope their 
own, and represented him as a sort of god, to the ignorant multi- 
tude, over whom they had gained a prodigious ascendant by the 
notion that generally prevailed, of the sanctity of the monastic 
order. It is at the same time to be observed that this immunity of 
the monks was a fruitful source of licentiousness and disorder, and 
occasioned the greatest part of the vices with which they were 
afterward so justly charged. 

Previous to the elevation of Gregory I. to the See of Rome, he 
was himself abbot of a monastery, and exacted of the monks the 
strictest observance of the rules of poverty, chastity, and implicit 
obedience. An instance of superstitious, and, as it appears to us, 
inhuman severity toward one of them, is related by Gregory him- 
self, f and is worth recording as an illustration of the character of 
Gregory, and of the spirit of that superstitious age. The monk's 
name was Justus ; he had practised physic before entering the 
monastery, and had attended Gregory night and day during his 
long illness. Being himself taken ill, he discovered, at the point of 
death, to his brother, a layman, that he had three pieces of gold coin 
concealed in his cell. Some monks overheard him, and thereupon 
rummaging his cell, found, after a long search, which nothing could 
escape, the three pieces concealed in a medicament, and brought 
them to Gregory. As, by the laws of the monastery, no monk was 
to possess anything whatever in private, the abbot, to bring the 
dying monk to a due sense of his crime, and, at the same time, to 
deter the rest, by his punishment, from following his example, 
strictly forbade the other monks to afford him any kind of comfort 
or relief in the agonies of death, or even to approach him. Not 

* See Campbell's Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, page 325. 
+ Gregory's Dialogues, lib. iv., c. 65. 



92 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookii* 

Monasteries fertile in pretended saints. 

satisfied with that inhuman severity, he required the brother of the 
unhappy monk to let him know that he died avoided, detested, and 
abhorred, by all his brethren. He did not even stop here, but 
exceeding all bounds, ordered the body of the deceased, as soon as 
he expired, to be thrown on a dunghill, and with it the three pieces 
of gold, all the monks crying out, aloud, " Thy money perish with 
thee !" 

§ 27. — In an age so dark as that which gave birth to Popery, it 
might be expected that the newly established monastic institutions 
would produce hundreds of gloomy religionists, whom the credulous 
devotion of an ignorant and superstitious multitude would enshrine 
as saints. Such we find was actually the fact. In the sixth century, 
according to Mosheim, such as wished to enforce the duties of Chris- 
tianity, by exhibiting examples of piety and virtue to those for 
whom their instructions were designed, wrote for this purpose the 
Lives of the saints ; and there was a considerable number of biogra- 
phers, both among the Greeks and Latins. Ennodius, Eugippius, 
Cyril of Scythopolis, Dionysius the Little, Cogitosus, and others, 
are to be ranked in this class. But however pious the intentions of 
these biographers may have been, it must be acknowledged that 
they executed it in a most contemptible manner. No models of 
rational piety are to be found among those pretended worthies, 
whom they propose to Christians as objects of imitation. They 
amuse their readers with gigantic fables and trifling romances ; the 
examples they exhibit are those of certain delirious fanatics, whom 
they call saints, men of corrupt and perverted judgment, who 
offered violence to reason and nature, by the horrors of an extrava- 
gant austerity in their own conduct, and by the severity of those 
singular and inhuman rules which they prescribed to others. For 
by what means were these men sainted ? By starving themselves 
with a frantic obstinacy, and bearing the useless hardships of hunger, 
thirst, and inclement seasons, with steadfastness and perseverance ; 
by running about the country like madmen, in tattered garments, 
and sometimes half naked, or shutting themselves up in a narrow 
space, where they continued motionless ; by standing for a long 
time in certain postures, with their eyes closed, in the enthusiastic 
expectation of divine light. All this was saintlike and glorious ; 
and the more that any ambitious fanatic departed from the dictates 
of reason and common sense, and counterfeited the wild gestures 
and the incoherent conduct of an idiot or a lunatic, the surer was 
his prospect of obtaining an eminent rank among the heroes and 
demigods of a corrupt and degenerate church.* 

* See Mosheim, century vi., part 2, chap. iii. 



93 



CHAPTER V., 

ORIGIN OF ROMISH ERRORS CONTINUED WORSHIP OF SAINTS AND 

RELICS, ETC. 

§ 28. — The invocation of saints is another of the unscriptural 
practices of Popery, which boasts of an origin anterior to the papal 
supremacy. In modern times this idolatrous worship of created 
beings has grown to such a height in the Romish church, as well 
nigh to exclude altogether the worship of the Creator ; and who- 
ever will take the trouble to examine a popish book of devotion 
will see that there are many petitions offered to the saints for every 
one that is offered to the Deity. 

In all probability this practice grew up, by degrees, from the 
honors which, in the early ages, were paid to the martyrs ; and 
those who, in the third or fourth century, thus laid the foundation 
of this system of idolatry, little imagined the huge fabric of super- 
stition that would be erected thereon. Perhaps it would be too 
severe to pronounce an indiscriminate censure upon those early 
Christians, who, prompted by respect for the virtues of their mar- 
tyred brethren, were accustomed to assemble around their graves, 
to mourn over their loss, and to send up their supplications to the 
common God and Father of the martyred dead and the suffering 
living. In process of time, however, the due reverence with which 
these witnesses for Jesus had been regarded, increased to a kind of 
idolatrous veneration, and religious services performed over their 
sepulchres were regarded as possessing a peculiar sanctity and vir- 
tue. The growth of this idea was so rapid, that in the age of 
Constantine we find that stately churches were, in some instances, 
erected over their graves, and where this was impracticable, some 
relic, real or imaginary, of one of these saints was enshrined, with 
all due solemnity, in the magnificent buildings erected to their 
honor.* 

§ 29. — Fleury, the celebrated Roman Catholic ecclesiastical his- 
torian, relatesf that on one occasion, in the year 386, St. Ambrose, 
being about to consecrate a church at Milan, was prevented by the 
fact that he had no relics of martyrs to deposit in the altars, when 
" immediately his heart burned within him, in presage, as he felt, of 
what was to happen." The historian proceeds to tell us that God 
revealed to him, in a dream, the place where the bodies of St. Ger- 
vasius and St. Protasius were to be found. " Having discovered 
their sepulchres, two skeletons were discovered of more than or- 
dinary size, all their bones entire, a quantity of blood about, and 
their heads separated from their bodies. They arranged the bodies, 
putting every bone into its proper place, and they covered them 

* Eusebius — de vita Constant., iii. 48. 

f Fleury's Eccles. Hist., book xviii., chap. 48. 



94 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

Discovery of bodies of Saints. Ceremony of depositing relics in the altars of churches 

with cloths and laid them on litters. In this manner were they 
carried towards evening to the Basilica of St. Fausta, where vigils 
were celebrated all night, and several that were possessed received 
imposition of hands. That day and the next, there was a great 
concourse of people, and then the old men recollected that they 
had formerly heard the names of these martyrs, and had read the 
inscription on their tomb. The next day the relics were transferred 
to the Basilica Ambrosiana," or church of St. Ambrose at Milan.* 
So general had the notion become that a church could not be con- 
secrated without relics, that it was decreed by a council at Con- 
stantinople, that those altars under which no relics were found 
should be demolished. 

The same necessity of relics to be deposited in the altar of 
Romish churches, in order to their due consecration, is contended 
for down to the present day. No matter how minute the particle 
of supposed holy dust of the saint to whom the church is to be dedi- 
cated ; — a tooth, a toe-nail, a hair, a drop of the blood, or a pre- 
served tear from the eye ; anything will do, so that it has been 
christened or declared genuine by his infallible holiness, the Pope. 
Upon the arrival of the duly authenticated relic, it is borne in so- 
lemn procession by priests in their robes to the altar in which it is 
to be deposited, and when arrived at its destination, it is placed by 
the hands of the bishop himself in the place prepared for its recep- 
tion. The first of the adjoining plates represents the procession of 
relics to the church, and the other the bishop in the act of closing 
up the sacred deposit within the altar. Before he does this he 
marks the sepulchre on the four sides with the sign of the cross. 
This is the consecration of the sepulchre. He then deposits the relic 
box with all possible veneration, which must be done bare-headed, 
the better to testify to the congregation the reverence attached to 
the ceremony. After this an anthem is repeated, during which, the 
celebrant, still without his mitre on, incenses the relics, and after- 
wards puts it on, takes the stone which is to be laid over the sepul- 
chre with his right hand, dips the thumb of the other in chrism, and 
makes the sign of the cross in the middle of the stone on the side 
that is to be towards the relics, in order to consecrate it on that 
side. Anthems and the Oremus immediately follow according to 
custom. After this the celebrant fixes the stone upon the sepul- 
chre, the masons make an end of the work, and the celebrant sanc- 
tifies it by the sign of the cross which is reverently to De made on 
the stone. (See Engraving.) 

§ 30. — To return to the origin of these superstitions. In Egypt, 
about the fourth and fifth centuries, another method was adopted of 
showing the reverence of Christians for the mortal relics of de- 
parted saints. In that country, according to Gieseler, the Christians 
began to embalm the bodies of reputed saints, and keep them in 
their houses. The communion with the martyrs being thus asso- 

* Fleury's Eccles. Hist., book xviii., chap. 46. 




Relics carried in procession to a church to be consecrated. 




Lniiiiiii 



Tho Bishop closing up tho Relics in the Altar. 
7 



chap, v.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 97 

Invocation of Saints. Gregory Nazianzen's address to his departed father and to Cyprian. 

ciated with the presence of their material remains, these were dug 
up from the graves and placed in the churches, especially under the 
altars ; and the popular feeling having now a visible object to ex- 
cite it, became more extravagant and superstitious than ever. The 
opinion of the efficacy of the intercession of those who had died a 
martyr's death, was now united with the belief that it was possible 
to communicate with them directly ; a belief founded partly on the 
popular heathen notion that departed souls always lingered around 
the bodies they had once inhabited, and partly on the views enter- 
tained of the glorified state of the martyrs, a sort of omnipresence 
being ascribed to them. These notions may be traced to Origen, 
and his followers were the first who apostrophized the martyrs in 
their sermons, and besought their intercession. But though the 
orators were somewhat extravagant in this respect, they were far 
outdone by the poets, who soon took up this theme, and could find 
no expressions strong enough to describe the power and the glory 
of the martyrs. Christians were now but seldom called upon to 
address their prayers to God ; the usual mode being to pray only 
to some saint for his intercession. With this worship of the saints 
were joined many of the customs of the heathen. Men chose their 
patron saints, and dedicated churches to their worship. The hea- 
then, whom the Christians used to reproach with worshipping dead 
men, found now ample opportunity of retort.* In proportion as 
men felt the need of such intercession, they strove to increase the 
number of the intercessors. Martyrs, before unknown, according 
to the legends of those times, announced themselves in visions, 
others revealed the place of their burial, and the populace were 
disposed to regard every obscure grave as the burial-place of a 
martyr. | 

§ 31. — As specimens of the kind of invocations addressed to the 
saints in the latter part of the fourth century, we may refer to the 
funeral orations of the eloquent Gregory Nazianzen upon the mar- 
tyr Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, and upon his own father. At the 
close of the former, he addresses a prayer to St. Cyprian, in which 
he implores the assistance and protection of the glorified martyr 
" to aid him in the government of his flock." In the latter he says, 
I do not doubt that my departed father, " being now much nearer 
to God, does a great deal more for his flock by his intercession than 
he did on earth by his teaching." The celebrated Roman Catholic 
historian, Dupin, commenting upon this oration, which was de- 
livered about A. D. 381, remarks that, " the church, in the time of 
St. Gregory Nazianzen, believed that the martyrs and saints en- 
joyed already eternal happiness and the vision of God ; that they 
took care of men upon earth ; that they interceded for them, and 
that it was very profitable to pray to them for the obtaining of 
spiritual and temporal favors."J 

* See Gieseler, vol. i., p. 283, with citations of ancient authorities. 

t Sulpkius Severus, de vita Martini., cap. xi. 

j; Dupin's lives and writings of the primitive fathers, vol. ii., p. 167. 



98 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. Tbook ii. 

Epiphanius in the fourth century opposes images in the churches as contrary to Scripture. 

It should be observed, however, that in that age this idolatrous 
custom of the Romish church was but in its incipient state. There 
is a vast difference between the impassioned addresses of orators 
and poets to the spirits of the departed martyrs in the age of 
Gregory and Basil, and the regular liturgical prayers to the saints 
incorporated into the set forms of devotion in a later generation, 
and perpetuated in their worst forms of idolatry and creature wor- 
ship, down to the present time. 

§ 32. — It is to be remembered too, that as yet the anti-Christian 
abomination of the worship of images had not yet arisen. " In the 
fourth century," says Gieseler, " the worship of images was still 
abominated as a heathen practice." A proof of this is furnished by 
a singular letter of Epiphanius to John of Jerusalem, written near 
the close of the century in which he writes as follows : " Having 
entered into a church in a village of Palestine, named Anablatha, I 
found there a veil which was suspended at the door, and paintecfwith 
a representation, whether of Jesus Christ or of some saint, for I do not 
recollect whose image it was, but seeing that in opposition to the 
authority of Scripture, there ivas a human image in the church of 
Jesus Christ, I tore it in pieces, and gave order to those who had 
care of that church, to bury the corpse with the veil. And as they 
grumbled out some answer, that * since he has chosen to tear the 
veil, he might as well find another,' I promised them one, and I 
now discharge that promise." 

From this letter we learn, not only that the worship, but the use 
of images in the churches was altogether condemned at this time. 
As the account given by Mosheim, of the progress of this and kindred 
degrading superstitions, from the age of the Nicene fathers, to the 
establishment of the papal supremacy, is so graphic, and so true, 1 
shall present the reader with a condensation of his remarks. An 
enormous train of different superstitions, says he, were gradually 
substituted in the place of true religion and genuine piety. This 
odious revolution was owing to a variety of causes. A ridiculous 
precipitation in receiving new opinions, a preposterous desire of 
imitating the pagan rites, and of blending them with the Christian 
worship, and that idle propensity which the generality of man- 
kind have toward a gaudy and ostentatious religion, all contributed 
to establish the reign of superstition upon the ruins of Christianity. 
Accordingly, frequent pilgrimages were undertaken to Palestine, 
and to the tombs of the martyrs, as if there alone the sacred princi- 
ples of virtue, and the certain hope of salvation, were to be acquired. 
The reins being once let loose to superstition, which knows no 
bounds, absurd notions and idle ceremonies multiplied every day. 
Quantities of dust and earth brought from Palestine, and other places 
remarkable for their supposed sanctity, were handed about as the 
most powerful remedies against the violence of wicked spirits, and 
were sold and bought at enormous prices. 

§ 33. — The public processions and supplications, by which the pa- 
gans endeavored to appease their gods, were now adopted into the 



chap, v.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 99 

Shameful impositions and lying wonders. Forged relics and miracles. 

Christian worship, and celebrated with great pomp and magnificence 
in several places. The virtues that had formerly been ascribed to the 
heathen temples, to their lustrations, to the statues of their gods and 
heroes, were now attributed to Christian churches, to holy water, 
consecrated by certain forms of prayer, and to the images of holy 
men. And the same privileges that the former enjoyed under the 
darkness of Paganism, were conferred upon the latter under the 
light of the gospel, or rather under that cloud of superstition that 
was obscuring its glory. It is true that as yet images were not 
very common ; nor were there any statues at all. But it is at the 
same time as undoubtedly certain, as it is extravagant and mon- 
strous, that the worship of the martyrs was modelled, by degrees, 
according to the religious services that were paid to the gods before 
the coming of Christ. 

§ 34. — Among other unhappy effects, these superstitious notions 
opened a wide door to the endless frauds of those odious impostors, 
who were so far destitute of all principle, as to enrich themselves by 
the ignorance and errors of the people. Rumors were artfully spread 
abroad of prodigies and miracles to be seen in certain places, a trick 
often practised by the heathen priests, and the design of these 
reports was to draw the populace, in multitudes, to these places, 
and to impose upon their credulity. These stratagems were gene- 
rally successful ; for the ignorance and slowness of apprehension of 
the people, to whom everything that is new and singular appears 
miraculous, rendered them easily the dupes of this abominable arti- 
fice. Nor was this all ; certain tombs were falsely given out for 
the sepulchres of saints and confessors ; the list of these saints was 
augmented with fictitious names, and even robbers were converted 
into martyrs. Some buried the bones of dead men in certain retired 
places, and then affirmed that they were divinely admonished by a 
dream, that the body of some friend of God lay there. Many, 
especially of the monks, travelled through the different provinces ; 
and not only sold, with the most frontless impudence, their fictitious 
relics, but also deceived the eyes of the multitude with ludicrous 
combats with evil spirits or genii. 

These shameful impostures and frauds have indeed been char- 
acteristic of Popery in all ages. One feature in the inspired descrip- 
tion of the man of sin, is that his coming should be with " signs and 
lying wonders, and all deceivableness of unrighteousness " (2 Thess., 
ii., 9, 10), and all history shows the fidelity of the picture. The 
popish writers themselves are forced to allow, that many both of 
their relics and their miracles have been forged by the craft of 
priests, for the sake of money and lucre. Durantus, a zealous 
defender of all their ceremonies, gives several instances of the 
former ; particularly of the bones of a common thief, which had for 
some time been honored with an altar, and worshipped under the 
title of a saint.* And for the latter, Lyra, in his comment on Bel 

* S. Martinus Altare, quod in honorem Martyrib exstructum ftierat cum ossa et 
rcliquias cujusdam latronis esse deprehendisset, submoveri jussit. (Durant de 
Ritib., 1. :., c. 25.> 



100 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

Dr. Middleton's account of fictitious saints. Saint Mount-Oracle 

and the Dragon, observes that sometimes also in the church, very 
great cheats are put upon the people, by false miracles, contrived 
or countenanced at least, by their priests, for some gain and tempo- 
ral advantage.* And what their own authors confess of some of 
their miracles, we may venture, without any breach of charity, to 
believe of them all ; nay, we cannot indeed believe anything else 
without impiety, and without supposing God to concur in an extra- 
ordinary manner, to the establishment of fraud, error, and supersti- 
tion in the world. 

§ 35. — Several ludicrous, but well authenticated instances of these 
fictitious saints are mentioned by the learned Dr. Conyers Middleton. 
in his letters from Rome. In one of these cases a mountain has 
been converted into a saint, by the corruption of the name of mount 
Soracte, near Rome, into S. Oracte, then S. Oreste, or Saint 
Oreste. This is mentioned also by Addison, f who adds that a 
monastery has been founded in honor of this imaginary saint. This 
mistake is the less to be wondered at, because the Italians usually 
write the title of saint with the single letter S. (as S. Gregory), and 
thus in ages of darkness and ignorance, it was easy to transform 
mount Soracte, into Saint Orestes. Thus this holy mountain stands 
now under the protection of a patron, whose being and power is 
just as imaginary as that of the old guardian Apollo. 

Sancti custos Soractis Apollo — Vir. Mxi. 9. 

No suspicion of this kind will appear extravagant to those who 
are at all acquainted with the history of Popery, which abounds 
with instances of the grossest forgeries, both of saints and relics, 
which, to the scandal of many even among themselves, have been 
imposed for genuine on the poor ignorant people. Even the learned 
Mabillon, himself a Roman Catholic writer, speaks of some who 
promulgated the feigned histories of new found saints, and who even 
sometimes published the inscriptions of pagans for Christians.J In 
the earlier ages of Christianity, the Christians often made free with 
the sepulchral stones of heathen monuments, which being ready cut 
to their hands, they converted to their own use ; and turning down- 
wards the side on which the old epitaph was engraved, used either 
to inscribe a new one on the other side, or leave it perhaps without 
any inscription at all, as they are often found in the catacombs of 
Rome. Now, this one custom has frequently been the occasion of 
ascribing martyrdom and saintship to persons and names of mere 
pagans. 

* Aliquando fit in Ecclesia maxima deceptio populi in miraculis fictis a sacer- 
dotibus, vel eis adhaerentibus propter lucrum temporale, &c. (Nic. Lyr. in 
Dan. c. 14.) 

f Travels from Pesaro, &c, to Rome. 

j * * qui sanctorum recens absque certis nominibus inventorum fictas historias 
comminiscuntur ad confusionem verarum historiarum imo et qui paganorum 
inscriptiones aliquando pro Christianis vulgant, &c. (Mabill. Iter. ItaL, 
page 225.) 



chap, v.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 101 

More fictitious saints. Saint Julia Evodia, Saint Viar. Saint cloak-Amphibolus. 

§ 36. — Mabillon gives a remarkable instance of it in an old stone, 
found on the grave of a Christian with this inscription : 

D. M. 

IVLIA EVODIA 

FILIA FECIT. 

MATRI. 

And because in the same grave there was found likewise a glass 
vial, or lacrymatory vessel, tinged with a reddish color, which they 
called blood, they regarded this circumstance as a certain proof of 
martyrdom, and Julia Evodia, though undoubtedly a heathen, was 
presently adopted both for saint and martyr, on the authority of an 
inscription that appears evidently to have been one of those above- 
mentioned, and borrowed from a heathen sepulchre. But whatever 
the party there buried might have been, whether heathen or Chris- 
tian : it is certain that it could not be Evodia herself, but her mother 
only, as the meaning of the Latin inscription is, that the daughter 
Julia Evodia raised this stone to her mother. 

The same author mentions some original papers which he found 
in the Barbarine library, giving a pleasant account of a negotiation 
between the Spaniards and pope Urban VIIL, in relation to a cer- 
tain Saint Viar. The Spaniards, it seems, have a saint, held in 
great reverence in some parts of Spain, called Viar ; for the farther 
encouragement of whose worship they solicited the pope to grant 
some special indulgences to his altars ; and upon the Pope's desir- 
ing to be better acquainted first with his character, and the proofs 
which they had of his saintship, they produced a stone with these 
antique letters, S. VIAR, which the antiquaries readily saw to be a 
fragment of some Roman inscription, in memory of one who had 
been PrcefectuS YlARum, or overseer over all the highways. 

But we have in England an instance still more ridiculous, of a 
fictitious saintship, in the case of a certain saint called Amphibolus ; 
who, according to our monkish historians, was bishop of the Isle of 
Man, and fell martyr and disciple of Saint Alban. Yet the learned 
archbishop Usher* has given us good reasons to convince us that 
he owes the honor of his saintship to a mistaken passage in the old 
acts or legends of St. Alban, where the Amphibolus mentioned, 
and since reverenced as a saint and martyr, was nothing more than 
the cloak which Alban happened to have at the time of his execution ; 
being a word derived from the Greek, and signifying a rough, shag- 
gy cloak, such as was worn by the monks in that age. Thus we 
see that Romanists can boast not only of a Saint Mount Oracte, but 
also of a Saint Cloak Amphibolus. But this is not the climax of 
Rome's worse than pagan idolatry. They have not only a Saint 
Cloak, but also a Saint Handkerchief, to which they actually ad- 
dress prayers. 

They pretend to show at Rome, says Dr. Middlcton, two original 

* Usser. de Britan. Ecclos. primord., c. 14, p. 639. 



102 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book h. 

Saint true-image Veronica. Blasphemous prayer to the holy handkerchief. 

impressions of our Saviour's face, on two different handkerchiefs ; the 
one, sent a present by himself to Agbarus, prince of Edessa, who 
by letter had desired a picture of him ; the other given by him at 
the time of his execution to a saint or holy woman, Veronica, upon 
a handkerchief, which she had lent him to wipe, his face on thai 
occasion ; both which handkerchiefs are preserved, as they affirm, 
and now kept with the utmost reverence ; the first in St. Sylves- 
ter's church, the second in St. Peter's, where in honor of this sacred 
relic, there is a fine altar built by pope Urban VIII., with the statue 
of Veronica herself, with the following inscription : 

SALVATORIS IMAGINEM VERONICA 

SVDARIO EXCEPTAM 

VT LOCI MA1ESTAS DECENTER 

CVSTODIRET URBANVS VIII. 

PONT. MAX. 

MARMORKVM SIGNVM 

ET ALTARE ADDIDIT CONDITORIVM 

EXTRVXIT ET ORNAVIT. 

But notwithstanding the authority of pope Urban, and his inscrip- 
tion, this veronica (as M^ibillon, one of their own best authors, 
has shown), like Amphibolus, before-mentioned, was not any real 
person, but the name given to the picture itself by old writers, who 
mention it ; being formed by blundering and confounding the words 
vera icon, Latin for true image, the title inscribed perhaps, or 
given originally to the handkerchief by the first contrivers of the 
imposture. 

It is related by Bower, upon the authority of Mabillon, that pope 
Innocent III. composed a prayer in honor of this image, and 
granted a ten days' indulgence to all who should visit it, and that 
pope John XXII., more generous than Innocent, vouchsafed no less 
than ten thousand days' indulgence to every repetition of the fol- 
lowing blasphemous prayer : " Hail, holy face of our Redeemer, 
printed upon a cloth as white as snow ; purge us from all spot 
of vice, and join us to the company of the blessed. bring us to 
our country, o happy figure, there to see the pure face 
of Christ."* 

Is it possible for impious idolatry to go beyond this ? and yet this 
prayer to the holy handkerchief, says Middleton, is inserted in the 
popish book of offices, and ordered by the rubric to be addressed to 
it, and this absurd legend, and others like it, fabulous and childish 
as they appear to men of sense, are urged by grave authors in 
defence of their image worship, as certain proofs of its divine origin, 
and sufficient to confound all the impious opposers of it.f 

§ 37. — To return to the origin of these lying wonders, Mosheim re- 
marks (vol. i., p. 371), that "the interests of virtue and true religion 

* Bower's Lives of the Popes. In vita Innoc. III. 

f Aring. Rom. subt. Tom. ii., lib. v., c. iv. Conformity ol Ancient and Modern 
Ceremonies, page 1 58, referred to by Middleton, ut supra. 




^iH 



chap, v.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 105 

Pious frauds and persecution declared lawful. Praying at the sepulchres of saints. 

suffered grievously by two monstrous errors which were almost 
universally adopted in the fourth century, and became a source of 
innumerable calamities and mischiefs in the succeeding ages. The 
first of these maxims was, that it was an act of virtue to deceive and 
lie, when by that means the interests of the church might be promoted; 
and the second equally horrible, though in another point of view, 
was that errors in religion, when maintained and adhered to, after 
proper admonition, were punishable with civil penalties and corporal 
tortures. The former of these erroneous maxims was now of a 
long standing ; it had been adopted for some ages past, and had 
produced an incredible number of ridiculous fables, fictitious prodi- 
gies, and pious frauds, to the unspeakable detriment of that glorious 
cause in which they were employed. The other maxim, relating to 
the justice and expediency of punishing error, was introduced with 
those serene and peaceful times which the accession of Constantine 
to the imperial throne procured to the church. It was from that 
period approved by many, enforced by several examples during the 
contests that arose with the priscillianists and donatists, confirmed 
and established by the authority of Augustine, and thus transmitted 
to the following ages." 

§ 38. — In relation to the fifth century, the same historian remarks : 
If before this time, the lustre of religion was clouded with super- 
stition, and its divine precepts adulterated with a mixture of human 
inventions, this evil, instead of diminishing, increased daily. The 
happy souls of departed Christians were invoked by numbers, and 
their aid implored by assiduous and fervent prayers ; while none 
stood up to censure or oppose this preposterous worship. The 
question, how the prayers of mortals ascended to the celestial 
spirits, a question which afterward produced much wrangling and 
many idle fancies, did not as yet occasion any difficulty. For the 
Christians of this century did not imagine that the souls of the 
saints were so entirely confined to the celestial mansions, as to be 
deprived of the privilege of visiting mortals, and travelling, when 
they pleased, through various countries. They were further of 
opinion, that the places most frequented by departed spirits were 
those where the bodies they had formerly animated were interred ; 
and this opinion, which the Christians borrowed from the Greeks 
and Romans, rendered the sepulchres of the saints the general ren- 
dezvous of suppliant multitudes. (See Engraving.) 

A singular and irresistible efficacy was also attributed to the 
bones of martyrs, and to the figure of the c?~oss, in defeating the 
attempts of Satan, removing all sorts of calamities, and in healing 
not only the diseases of the body, but also those of the mind. We 
shall not enter here into a particular account of the public suppli- 
cations, the holy pilgrimages, the superstitious services paid to de- 
parted souls, the multiplication of temples, altars, penitential gar- 
ments, and a multitude of other circumstances, that showed the de- 
cline of genuine piety, and the corrupt darkness that was eclipsing 



106 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book il. 

Increasing corruptions in the sixth century. Superstition of Gregory the Great. 

the lustre of primitive Christianity. As there were none in these 
times to hinder the Christians from retaining the opinions of their 
pagan ancestors concerning departed souls, heroes, demons, tem- 
ples, and such like matters, and even transferring them into their 
religious services ; and as, instead of entirely abolishing the rites 
and institutions of ancient times, these institutions were still ob- 
served with only some slight alterations ; all this swelled of ne- 
cessity the torrent of superstition, and deformed the beauty of the 
Christian religion and worship with those corrupt remains of Pa- 
ganism, which still subsist in the Romish church. 

§ 39. — In the sixth century, the public teachers seemed to aim at 
nothing else than to sink the multitude into the most opprobrious ignor- 
ance and superstition, to efface in their minds all sense of the beauty 
and excellence of genuine piety, and to substitute, in the place of re- 
ligious principles, a blind veneration for the clergy, and a stupid 
zeal for a senseless round of ridiculous rites and ceremonies. This, 
perhaps, will appear less surprising, when we consider that the 
blind led the blind ; for the public ministers and teachers of religion 
were for the most part grossly ignorant ; nay, almost as much so 
as the multitude whom they were appointed to instruct. To be 
convinced of the truth of the dismal representation we have here 
given of the state of religion at this time, nothing more is necessary 
than to cast an eye upon the doctrines now taught concerning the 
worship of images and saints, the fire of purgatory, the efficacy of 
good works ; i. e., the observance of human rites and institutions, 
toward the attainment of salvation, the power of relics to heal the 
diseases of body and mind; and such like sordid and miserable 
fancies, which are inculcated in many of the superstitious produc- 
tions of this century, and particularly in the epistles and other 
writings of Gregory the Great. Nothing more ridiculous on the 
one hand, than the solemnity and liberality with which this super- 
stitious pontiff distributed the wonderworking relics ; and nothing 
more lamentable on the other, than the stupid eagerness and devo- 
tion with which the deluded multitude received them, and suffered 
themselves to be persuaded, that a portion of stinking oil, taken 
from the lamps which burned at the tombs of the martyrs, or the 
filings of a chain supposed to have been worn by a saint, had a 
supernatural efficacy to sanctify their possessors, and to defend 
them from all dangers both of a temporal and spiritual nature. 

There was an incredible number of temples erected in honor of 
the saints, during the sixth century, both in the eastern and western 
provinces. The places set apart for public worship were already 
very numerous ; but it was now that Christians first began to con- 
sider these sacred edifices, as the means of purchasing the favor 
and protection of the saints, and to be persuaded that these de- 
parted spirits defended and guarded, against evils and calamities of 
every kind, the provinces, lands, cities, and villages, in which they 
were honored with temples. The number of these temples was 



chap, v.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 107 

The Empress writes to Gregory for a portion of the body of St. Paul. His singular letter in reply 

almost equalled by that of the festivals, which were now observed 
in the Christian church, and many of which seemed to have been 
instituted upon a pagan model.* 

§ 40. — In order to show that the charge above referred to in re- 
lation to Gregory's superstitious regard to relics is not made with- 
out sufficient reason, I will present the reader with a translation of 
an epistle which he wrote to the empress Constantina, who was 
building a church at Constantinople in honor of St. Paul, and had 
written to Gregory to grant her either the head or some other part 
of the body of that Apostle, which was said to be at Rome, for 
the purpose of enshrining it in the church when completed. After 
a respectful allusion to the request of the empress, Gregory pro- 
ceeds — " Major mcestitia tenuit, Cyc. Great sadness hath possessed 
me, because you have enjoined upon me those things which I neither 
can or dare do ; for the bodies of the holy Apostles, Peter and 
Paul, are so resplendent with miracles and terrific prodigies in their 
own churches, that no one can approach them without great awe, 
even for the purpose of adoring them. When my predecessor, of 
happy memory, wished to change some silver ornament which was 
placed over the most holy body of St. Peter, though at the distance 
of almost fifteen feet, a warning of no small terror appeared to 
him. Even I myself wished to make some alteration near the most 
holy body of St. Paul, and it was necessary to dig rather deeply 
near his tomb. The Superior of the place found some bones which 
were not at all connected with that tomb ; and, having presumed 
to disturb and remove them to some other place, he was visited by 
certain fearful apparitions, and died suddenly. My predecessor, of 
holy memory, also undertook to make some repairs near the tomb 
of St. Lawrence : as they were digging, without knowing pre- 
cisely where the venerable body was placed, they happened to 
open his sepulchre. The monks and guardians who were at the 
work, only because they had seen the body of that martyr, though 
they did not presume so much as to touch it, all died within ten 
days ; to the end that no man might remain in life who had beheld 
the body of that just man. 

" Be it then known to you, that it is the custom of the Romans, 
when they give any relics, not to venture to touch any portion of 
the body ; only they put into a box a piece of linen (called bran- 
deum), which is placed near the holy bodies ; then it is withdrawn, 
and shut up with due veneration in the church which is to be dedi- 
cated, and as many prodigies are then wrought by it as if the bodies 
themselves had been carried thither ; whence it happened, that in 
the time of St. Leo (as we learn from our ancestors), when some 
Greeks doubted the virtue of such relics, that Pope called for a pair 
of scissors, and cut the linen, and blood flowed from the incision. 
And not at Rome only, but throughout the whole of the West, it is 
held sacrilegious to touch the bodies of the saints, nor docs such 

* See Mosheim, Centuries iv., v., vi., passim. 



108 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookil 

Gregory consents to send the Empress some holy filings. Promotes pilgrimages, purgatory, &c 

temerity ever remain unpunished. For which reason we are much 
astonished at the custom of the Greeks to take away the bones of 
the saints, and we scarcely gave credit to it. But what shall I say 
respecting the bodies of the holy Apostles, when it is a known fact, 
that at the time of their martyrdom, a number of the faithful came 
from the East to claim them ? But when they had carried them 
out of the city, to the second milestone, to a place called the Cata- 
combs, the whole multitude was unable to move them farther, — 
such a tempest of thunder and lightning terrified and dispersed 
them. The napkin, too, which you wished to be sent at the same 
time, is with the body and cannot be touched more than the body 
can be approached. 

" But that your religious desire may not be wholly frustrated, I 
will hasten to send to you some part of those chains which St. Paul 
wore on his neck and hands, if indeed I shall succeed in getting off 
any filings from them. For since many continually solicit as a bless- 
ing that they may carry off from those chains some small portion 
of their filings, a priest stands by with a file ; and sometimes it hap- 
pens that some portions fall off from the chains instantly, and with- 
out delay ; while, at other times, the file is long drawn over the 
chains, and yet nothing is at last scraped off from them."* 

§ 41. — Besides the superstitious and idolatrous reverence of Gre- 
gory for relics, he labored hard in exalting the merit of pil- 
grimages to holy places ; encouraged the use, though he condemned 
the worship, of images in the churches ; introduced a more impos- 
ing method of administering the communion, with a magnificent 
assemblage of pompous ceremonies, which institution was called 
the Canon of the mass, and which, without doubt, tended a century 
or two later to the conception of the absurd doctrine of transub- 
stantiation ; he also seriously inculcated a belief in the pagan doctrine 
concerning the purification of departed souls by a certain kind of fire, 
which he called Purgatory, and which doctrine, as Gieseler asserts, 
was first suggested by Augustine, the bishop of Hippo, towards 
the close of the fourth century, f A doctrine this which, conjoined 
with the opinion afterwards invented of the efficacy of masses in 
delivering tormented souls from these fires, and the power of the 
Pope to grant indulgences, exempting the purchasers from a portion 
or from the whole of their merited period of suffering in ihem, was 
the origin of an almost inexhaustible source of wealth to the Pope 

* The original of this letter may be found in Gregory's epistles, Lib. iv., epist. 
SO. The larger part of it is quoted in Latin by Gieseler, vol. i. 5 p. 350, note 5. 
It is worthy of remark also, that Cardinal Baronius. the great Roman Catholic 
annalist, cites this reply of Gregory to the Empress with considerable admiration, 
as though he really believed the extravagant stories related by Gregory of the 
pretended wonders wrought by these holy bones. Baronius attributes the request 
of the Empress to ecclesiastical ambition, as though she wished to elevate the See 
of Constantinople to a level with that of Rome, by obtaining for her church the 
head of so great an apostle. 

f See Gieseler, vol. i.,page 352, note 14, with quotations from Augustine. 



chap, vi.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 109 

With few exceptions, Popery at its birth and Popery in its dotage, identical. 

and the clergy, extorted from the credulity and the fears alike of 
the rich and the poor through long ages of superstition and night. 

§ 42. — From the review which we have thus taken of the origin 
and progress of these various corruptions of Christianity, it appears 
that, with the exceptions of the belief in transubstantiation, the 
general worship of images, the practice of auricular confession, 
the performance of worship in an unknown tongue, and a few 
minor particulars, there is but little difference between the cha- 
racteristic features of Popery at its birth in the seventh century, 
and Popery in its dotage in the nineteenth. 

It is true that, as age after age rolled away, as old corruptions 
were strengthened and new ones added to the list, as " the man of 
sin," in the course of a few centuries, trampled upon the thrones of 
monarchs, unsheathed the sword of persecution against the suffer- 
ing martyrs of Jesus, and reeled onward in the career of ages, 
" drunk with the blood of the saints," the title of anti-Christ be- 
came more deeply branded on his shameless front : — and yet it is 
equally true that Popery, at its birth in 606, was characterized by 
every one of the predicted marks of the great Apostasy, as truly 
as it bears those marks at the present day. 

Then, as now, the apostate church of Rome had departed from 
the faith, " giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils ; 
speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a 
hot iron ; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from 
meats." (1 Tim. iv., 1, 2.) Then, as now, that "man of sin" was 
revealed, even " the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth 
himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped ; so that 
he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he 
is God ;" and his " coming was after the working of Satan, with 
all power, and signs and lying wonders." (2 Thess. ii., 3, 4, 9, 10.) 







M^y^ 



CHAPTER VI. 

ESEMBLANCE BETWEEN PAGAN AND PAPAL CEREMONIES 

THE LATTER DERIVED FROM THE FORMER. 

§ 43.-£In tracing the origin of the corrupt doctrines and practices 
of the Kbmish church, we have had frequent occasion, in the pre- 
ceding chapters, to allude to the fact, that most of its anti-scriptural 
rites and ceremonies were adopted from the pagan worship of 
Greece, Rome, and other heathen nations. The scholar, familiar as 
he is with the classic descriptions of ancient mythology, when he 
directs his attention to the ceremonies of papal worship, cannot avoid 



HO HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

Popish and pagan ceremonies. Their close and striking resemblance. 

recognizing their close resemblance, if not their absolute identity. The 
temples of Jupiter, Diana, Venus,or Apollo, their " altars smoking with 
incense " (** thure calent Aros." Virgil), their boys in sacred habits, 
holding the incense box, and attending upon the priests ("Da mihi 
Thura, Puer." Ovid.), their holy water at the entrance of the temples 
(" Spar gens rore levi." Virgil.), with their aspergilla or sprinkling 
brushes, their thuribula, or vessels of incense, their ever-burning 
lamps before the statues of their deities (" vigilemque sacraverat 
igncm." Virgil.), are irresistibly brought before his mind, whenever 
he visits a Roman Catholic place of worship, and witnesses pre- 
cisely the same thingsy ^ *" .•—- , .. _ *~* 

If a Roman scholarof the age of the Caesars, who, previous to his 
death, had formed some acquaintance with the religion of the 
despised Nazarenes, had in the seventh or eighth century arisen 
from his grave in the Campus Martius, and wandered into the spa- 
cious church of Constantine at Rome, which then stood on the spot 
now occupied by Saint Peter's, if he had there witnessed these 
institutions of Paganism, which were then and ever since have been 
incorporated with the worship of Rome, would he not have come 
to the conclusion that he had found his way into some temple dedi- 
cated to Diana, Venus, or Apollo, rather than into a Christian place 
of worship, where the successors of Peter the fisherman, or Paul the 
tentmaker, had met for the worship of Jesus of Nazareth ? It is 
impossible to conceive of a greater contrast than that which is pre- 
sented between the plain and simple rites of primitive apostolic 
Christian worship in the first century, and the pompous and impos- 
ing spectacle of papal worship, performed in some stately cathedral, 
adorned with its altars, pictures, images, and burning wax-lights, 
with all the array of holy water, smoking incense, tinkling bells, 
and priests and boys arrayed in gaudy colored vestments, as they 
were seen in the time of pope Boniface, of the seventh century, and 
as they are still seen, with but little change, after the lapse of twelve 
hundred years. 

§ 44. — The practice of thus accommodating the forms of Chris- 
tian worship to the prejudices of the heathen nations, was introduced 
in various places long before the establishment of Popery in 606 ; 
though, of course, as there was then no acknowledged earthly 
sovereign and head of the church, the observance of these heathen 
rites was not regarded as obligatory upon all, till enjoined by the 
newly established papal authority, in the seventh century. It is not 
unlikely that, this policy, in its incipient stage, commenced by a mis- 
taken, but well-intended desire of some good men, like the apostle 
Paul, to " become all things to all men," that they might " by all 
means save some." Yet this apology can by no means be admitted 
as an excuse for the almost entire subversion of Christianity in the 
Romish communion, by the adoption of these heathen rites, ceremo- 
nies, and superstitions. The ancient heathen nations had always 
been accustomed to a variety of imposing ceremonies in their reli- 
gious services, hence they looked with contempt upon the simplicity 



chap, vi.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH— A. D. 606. Ill 

Reasons for the admission of pagan ceremonies dictated by worldly policy. 

of Christian worship, destitute as it was of these pompous and mag- 
nificent rites, and it was a step pregnant with disaster to the cause 
of genuine Christianity, when, as early as the third century some 
advocated the necessity of admitting a portion of the ancient cere- 
monies to which the people had been accustomed, for the purpose 
of rendering Christian worship more striking and captivating to the 
outavard senses. 
/As a proof that Christianity began thus early to be corrupted, it 
ty,is related in the life of Gregory, bishop of New Cesarea, surnamed 
/ Thaumaturgus, or wonder-worker, that when he perceived that 
the ignorant multitude persisted in their idolatry, on account of the 
pleasures and sensual gratifications which they enjoyed at the 
pagan festivals, he granted them a permission to indulge themselves 
in the like pleasures, in celebrating the memory of the holy martyrs, 
hoping, that, in process of time, they would return, of their own 
accord, to a more virtuous and regular course of life." 

" This addition of external rites," says Mosheim, " was also de- 
signed to remove the opprobrious calumnies which the Jewish and 
pagan priests cast upon the Christians, on account of the simplicity 
of their worship, esteeming them little better than atheists, because 
they had no temples, altars, victims, priests, nor anything of that 
external pomp in which the vulgar are so prone to place the essence 
of religion. The rulers of the church adopted, therefore, certain 
external ceremonies, that thus they might captivate the senses of 
the vulgar, and be able to refute the reproaches of their adversaries, 
thus obscuring the native lustre of the gospel, in order to extend its 
influence, and making it lose, in point of real excellence, what it 
gained in point of popular esteem."* 

§ 45. — After the conversion of Constantine in the fourth century, 
when Christianity was taken under the protection of the state, this 
sinful conformity to the practices of Paganism increased to such a 
degree, that the beauty and simplicity of Christian worship were 
almost entirely obscured, and by the time these corruptions were 
ripe for the establishment of the Popedom, Christianity — the Chris- 
tianity of the state — to judge from the institutions of its public 
worship — seemed but little else than a system of Christianized 
Paganism!) 

Here we may apply that well known saying of Augustine, 
that the yoke under which the Jews formerly groaned, was more 
tolerable than that imposed upon many Christians in his time. fThe 
rites and institutions, by which the Greeks, Romans, and other na- 
tions, had formerly testified their religious veneration for fictitious 
deities, were now adopted, with some slight alterations, by Chris- 
tian bishops, and employed in the service of the true Gotfj Wq__ \ 
have already mentioned the reasons alleged for this imitation, so 
proper to disgust all who have a just sense of the native beauty of 
genuine Christianity These fervent heralds of the gospel, whose 

* Moslieim's Ecclesiastical History, vol. i., page 197, 

8 



112 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book it 

Waddington quoted. Christianity paganized. Dr. Conyers Middleton's visit to Rome. 

zeal outran their candor and ingenuity, imagined that the nations 
would receive Christianity with more facility, when they saw the 
rites and ceremonies to which they were accustomed, adopted in 
the church, and the same worship paid to Christ and his martyrs, 
which they had formerly offered to their idol deities. Hence it 
happened, that in these times, the religion of the Greeks and 
Romans differed very little, in its external appearance, from that of 
the Christians. They had both a most pompous and splendid ritual. 
Gorgeous robes, mitres, tiaras, wax tapers, crosiers, processions, 
lustrations, images, gold and silver vases, and many such circum- 
stances of pageantry, were equally to be seen in the heathen tem- 
ples and the Christian churches.* 

fin the words of a distinguished member of the establishment 
\ * m Great Britain, Dean Waddington, " the copious transfusion of 

heathen ceremonies into Christian worship, w T hich had taken place 
before the end of the fourth century, had, to a certain extent, 
paganized (if w T e may so express it) the outw T ard form and aspect 
of religion, and these ceremonies became more general and more 
numerous, and, so far as the calamities of the times would permit, 
more splendid in the age which followed. To console the convert 
for the loss of his favorite festival, others of a different name, but 
similar description, were introduced ; and the simple and serious 
occupation of spiritual devotion was beginning to degenerate into a 
worship of parade and demonstration, or a mere scene of riotous 
festivity."fl 

When ^ope Boniface was invested, by the emperor Phocas, 
with supreme authority over all the churches of the empire, in 
the way we have seen, he not only adopted all the pagan ceremo- 
nies that had previously, in various places, been incorporated into 
Christian worship, but speedily issued his sovereign decrees, enjoin- 
ing uniformity of worship, and thus rendered these heathen rites 
binding upon all who were desirous of continuing in fellowship with 
the Romish church, or, as it now was called, the Holy Catholic 
church. Thus incorporated, they became a constituent element of 
the anti-Christian Apostasy, and have so continued to the present 
day. + 

§ 46.+-In the year 1729, a distinguished scholar and divine of 
the Episcopal church of England, the Rev. Conyers Middleton, 
D.D., visited the city of Rome, and has so skilfully traced " the 
exact conformity of Popery and Paganism " in Ins celebrated " let- 
ter from Rome," to w T hich I have already had occasion to refer, 
that I shall avail myself, in the present chapter, somewhat at length 
of that learned publication, in tracing, the ceremonies of papal 
worship to their heathen originals i\ 'p. < \\V\- YVvw -y^ 

It is worthy of remark, that Dr. Mitidleton visited Rome not 
as a theologian, but as a classical scholar ; not so much for the 

* Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, cent, iv., part 2, chap. 4. 
f Waddington's History of the Church, page 118. 



chap, vi.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 113 

Lying wonders of Rome The leaping head and the fountains of miik. 

purpose of studying the Roman Catholic religion and worship, as 
for the sake of studying the remains of ancient classic antiquity, 
and thus gratifying the taste which he had acquired at the English 
universities, for the study of the poets, historians, and orators of 
ancient Rome ; — but that when he reached Rome, so exact did he 
find the resemblance between the temples, the images, and ceremo- 
nies of Popery, and those of Paganism, that he came to the just 
conclusion that he could in no way more effectually increase his 
familiarity with the latter than by directing his attention to the 
former. But let us hear the doctor himself. 

" As for my own journey to this place," says he, " it was not any 
motive of devotion, which draws so many others hither, that oc- 
casioned it. My zeal was not bent on visiting the holy thresholds 
of the apostles, and kissing the feet of their successor. I knew 
that their ecclesiastical antiquities were mostly fabulous and legend- 
ary ; supported by fictions and impostures, too gross to employ the 
attention of a man of sense. For should we allow that Peter had 
been at Rome, of which many learned men however have doubted, 
yet they had not any authentic monuments remaining of him ; any 
visible footsteps subsisting to demonstrate his residence among 
them : and should we ask them for any evidence of that kind, they 
would refer to the impression of his face on the wall of the dungeon 
in which he was confined, or to a fountain in the bottom of it, raised 
miraculously by him out of the rock, in order to baptize his fellow 
prisoners ; or to the mark of our Saviour 's feet in a stone, on which 
he appeared to him and stopped him as he was flying out of the 
city, from a persecution then raging. In memory of which, there 
was a church built on the spot called St. Mary delle Piante, or of 
the marks of the feet ; which falling into decay, was supplied by a 
chapel, at the expense of Cardinal Pole. But the stone itself, more 
valuable, as the writers say, than any of the precious ones, being 
a perpetual monument and proof of the Christian religion (!) is 
preserved with all due reverence in St. Sebastian's church ; where 
I purchased a print of it, with several others of the same kind. Or 
they would appeal perhaps to the evidence of some miracle wrought 
at his execution ; as they do in the case of St. Paul in a church 
called * at the three Fountains ;' the place where he was beheaded : 
on which occasion, ' instead of blood there issued only milk from his 
veins ; and his head when separated from his body, having made 
three jumps upon the ground, raised at each place a spring of living 
water, which retains still, as they would persuade us, the plain taste 
of milk ;' of all of which facts we have an account in Baronius, Ma- 
billon, and all their gravest authors ; and may see printed figures 
of them in the description of modern Rome ! ! 

" It was no part of my design to spend my time abroad in 
attending to ridiculous fictions of this kind ; the chief pleasure 
which I proposed to myself, was to visit the genuine remains and 
venerable relics of Pagan Rome ; the authentic monuments of an- 



114 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

Dr. Middleton's reason for visiting Rome. Pagan antiquities best studied through popish ceremonies. 

tiquity, that demonstrate the truth of those histories, which are the 
entertainment as well as the instruction of our younger years. 

"As therefore my general studies had furnished me with a com- 
petent knowledge of Roman history, as well as an inclination to 
search more particularly into some branches of its antiquities, so I 
had resolved to employ myself in inquiries of this sort; and to 
lose as little time as possible in taking notice of the fopperies and 
ridiculous ceremonies of the present religion of the place. But I 
soon found myself mistaken ; for the whole form and outward 
dress of their worship seem so grossly idolatrous and extravagant, 
beyond what I had imagined, and made so strong an impression on 
me, that I could not help considering it with a peculiar regard : espe- 
cially when the very reason, which I thought would have hindered 
me from any notice of it at all, was the chief cause that engaged 
me to pay so much attention to it ; for nothing, I found, concurred 
so much with my original intention of conversing with the ancients : 
or so much helped my imagination, to find myself wandering about 
in old Heathen Rome, as to observe and attend to their religious 
worship ; all whose ceremonies appear plainly to have been copied 
from the rituals of primitive Paganism ; as if handed down by an 
uninterrupted succession from the priests of old, to the priests of 
new Rome ; whilst each of them readily explained, and called to 
mind some passages of a classic author, where the same ceremony 
was described, as transacted in the same form and manner, and in 
the same place where I now saw it executed before my eyes : so 
that as oft as I was present at any religious exercise in the churches, 
it was more natural to fancy myself looking on at some solemn act 
of idolatry in old Rome, than assisting at a worship instituted on 
the principles, and founded upon the plan of Christianity." 

§ 47. — As a proof that these assertions are founded in truth, the 
following are presented as a few instances of the way in which 
heathen ceremonies and superstitions were transferred from Pagan 
to professedly Christian worship. The first is given upon the 
authority of Mosheim, the others upon that of Dr. Middleton, who 
refers to various classical authors among the ancients, and to M ont- 
faucon, Polydore, Virgil, Platina, Hospmian, Mabillon, &c, among 
the moderns, for his authorities ; but those who wish to consult the 
original authorities, I must refer to the work of Dr. Middleton.* 
fjl.) Worshipping toward the East. — Before the coming of Christ, 
afr the eastern nations performed divine worship with their faces 
turned to that part of the heavens where the sun displays his rising 
beams. This custom was founded upon a general opinion that God, 
whose essence they looked upon to be light, and whom they consid- 
ered as circumscribed within certain limits, dwelt in that part of the 
firmament, from whence he sends forth the sun, the bright image of his 

* Dr. Conyers Middleton's Letter from Rome, on the exact conformity between 
Popery and Paganism, London, 1761 — passim. 



chap, vi.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 115 

Burning ol incense a heathen ceremony. 

benignity and glory. They who embraced the Christian religion, 
rejected, indeed, this gross error, but they retained the ancient and 
universal custom of worshipping toward the East, which sprung 
from it?) Nor is that custom abolished even in our times, but still 
prevails in a great number of Christian churches.* 

(2.) The burning of iacense. — Many of our divines, says Dr. 
Middleton, have with much learning and solid reasoning, charged 
and effectually proved the crime of idolatry on the church of Rome; but 
these controversies where the charge is denied, and with much sub- 
tlety evaded, are not capable of giving that conviction which I imme- 
diately received from my senses ; the surest witness of the fact in all 
cases, and which no man can fail to be furnished with, who sees 
Popery as it is exercised in Italy, in the full pomp and display of 
its pageantry ; and practising all its arts and powers without caution 
or reserve. This similitude of the popish and pagan religion, 
seemed so evident and clear, and struck my imagination so forcibly, 
that I soon resolved to give myself the trouble of searching it to the 
bottom : and to explain and demonstrate the certainty of it, by com- 
paring together the principal and most obvious part of each worship, 
which, as it was my first employment after I came to Rome, shall 
be the subject of my letter ; showing the source and origin of the 
popish ceremonies, and the exact conformity of them with those of 
their pagan ancestors. 

The very first thing that a stranger must necessarily take notice 
of, as soon as he enters their churches, is the use of incense or per- 
fumes in their religious offices ; the first step which he takes within 
the door, will be sure to make him sensible of it, by the offence that 
he will immediately receive from the smell as well as the smoke of 
this incense, with which the whole church continues filled for some 
time after every solemn service. A custom received directly from 
paganism ; and which presently caited to my mind the old descrip- 
tions of the heathen temples and altars, which are never mentioned 
by the ancients, without the epithet of perfumed or incensed. 

Thuricremis cum dona imponerit Aris. — Virg., Mn. iv., 453, 486. 

Seepe Jovem vidi cum jam sua mittere vellet 
Fulmina, thurc dato sustinuisse manum. — Ovid. 

In some of their principal churches, where you have before you in 
one view, a great number of altars, and all of them smoking at once 
with streams of "license, how natural it is to imagine one's self trans- 
ported into the temple of some heathen deity, or that of the Paphian 
Venus described by Virgil : 

Her hundred altars there with garlands crovvn'd, 
* \ And richest incense smoking, breathe around 

\A Sweet odors, &c. — .'En. i., 420. 

f Under the pagan emperors, the use of incense for any purpose of 
religion was thought so contrary to the obligations of Christianity, 

* Mosheim, cent, ii., part 2, chap. iv. 



116 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

Use of holy water derived from Paganism. The Jesuit La Cerda acknowledges it, 

that in their persecutions, the very method of trying and convicting 
a Christian, was by requiring him only to throw the least grain of 
it into the censer, or on the altar. Under the Christian emperors, 
on the other hand, it was looked upon as a rite so peculiarly heathen- 
ish, that the very places or houses where it could be proved to have 
been done, were, by a law of Theodosius, confiscated to the govern- 
ment. 

In the old bas-reliefs, or pieces of sculpture, where any heathen 
sacrifice is represented, we never fail to see a boy in a sacred habit, 
which was always white, attending on the priest, with a little chest 
or box in his hands, in which this incense was kept for the use of the 
altar. And in the same manner still in the church of Rome, there 
is always a boy in surplice waiting on the priest at the altar, with 
the sacred utensils ; among the rest the Thuribulum or vessel of 
incense, which the priest, with many ridiculous motions and cross- 
ings, waves several times, as it is smoking, around and over the 
altar, in different parts of the service. 

(3.) The use of holy water. — The next thing in the Roman 
worship, that will, of course, strike the imagination, is the use the 
papists make of the holy water, for nobody ever goes in or out of a 
church, but is either sprinkled by the priest, who attends for that 
purpose on solemn days, or else serves himself with it from a vessel, 
usually of marble, placed just at the door, not unlike to one of our 
baptismal fonts. Now this ceremony is so notoriously and directly 
transmitted to them from Paganism, that their own writers make not 
the least scruple to own it. The Jesuit La Cerda, in his notes on a 
passage of Virgil, where this practice is mentioned, says, " Hence 
was derived the custom of the holy church, to provide purifying of 
holy water at the entrance of their churches." 

Aquaminarium or Amula, says the learned Montfaucon, was a 
vase of holy water, placed by the heathens at the entrance of their 
temples, to sprinkle themselves with. The same vessel was by the 
Greeks called Perrirranterion ; two of which, the one of gold, the 
other of silver, were given by Crcesus to the temple of Apollo at 
Delphi ; and the custom of sprinkling themselves was so necessary 
a part of their religious offices, that the method of excommunication 
seems to have been by prohibiting to offenders the approach and use of 
the holy water pot. The very composition of this holy water was 
the same also among the heathens, as it is now among the papists^ 
being nothing more than a mixture of salt with common wate*< 
* Porro singulis diebus Dominicis sacerdos missse sacrum facturus, 
aquam sale adspersam, benedicendo revocare debej eaque populum 
adspergere' (Durant. de Rit., 1. 1, c. 21); andQhe form of the 
sprinkling-brush, called by the ancients aspersorium or aspergillum, 
which is much the same with what the priests now make use of, 
may be seen in the bas-reliefs, or ancient coins, wherever the insig- 
nia, or emblems of the pagan priesthooc, are described, of which 
it is generally one. 

Platina, in his lives of the popes, and other authors, ascribe the 



chap, vi.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 117 

Justin Martyr says that it was invented by daemons. Festival of St. Anthony. 

institution of holy water to pope Alexander I., who is said to have 
lived about the year of Christ 113 : but it could not have been intro- 
duced so early, since for some ages after, we find the primitive 
fathers speaking of it as a custom purely heathenish, condemning it 
as impious and detestable. Justin Martyr says, " That it was in- 
vented by daemons in imitation of the true baptism signified by the 
prophets, that their votaries might also have their pretended purifi- 
cations by water" (Apol. 1, p. 91); and the emperor Julian, out of 
spite to the Christians, used to order their victuals in the markets to 
be sprinkled with holy water, on purpose either to starve, or force 
them to eat, what by their own principles they esteemed polluted. 
Thus we see what contrary notions the primitive and Romish 
church have of this ceremony ; the first condemns it as superstition, 
abominable and irreconcilable with Christianity ; the latter adopts 
it as highly edifying and applicable to the improvement of Christian 
piety ; the one looks upon it as the contrivance of the devil to delude 
mankind ; the other as the security of mankind against the delusions 
of the devil ! ! 

One of the most senseless and extraordinary uses to which the 
papists apply this holy water, is the sprinkling and blessing of horses, 
mules, asses, fyc, on the festival of St. Anthony, observed annually 
on the 17th of January. On that day the inhabitants of the city of 
Rome and vicinity send their horses, &c, decked with ribands, to 
the convent of St. Anthony, which is situated near the church of 
St. Mary the Great. The priest, in his sacerdotal garments, stands 
at the church door, with a large sprinkling-brush in his hand, and as 
each animal is presented to him, he takes off his skull cap, mutters a 
few words, in Latin, intimating that through the merits of the blessed 
St. Anthony, they are to be preserved for the coming year from sick- 
ness and death, famine and danger, then dips his brush in a huge bucket 
of holy water, that stands by him, and sprinkles them in the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.* The priest 

* In the preface to his letter from Rome, Dr. Middleton gives the following story 
from St. Jerome, as the most probable origin of this absurd custom. " A citizen 
of Gaza, a Christian, who kept a stable of running horses for the Circensian games, 
was always beaten by his antagonist, an idolator, the master of the rival stable. 
For the idolator, by the help of certain charms, and diabolical imprecations, con- 
stantly damped the spirits of the Christian's horses, and added courage to his own. 
The Christian, therefore, in despair, applied himself to St. Hilarion, and implored 
his assistance ; but the saint was unwilling to enter into an affair so frivolous and 
profane, till the Christian urged it as a necessary defence against these adversaries 
of God, whose insults were levelled not so much at him, as the Church of Christ. 
And his entreaties being seconded by the monks who were present, the saint ordered 
his earthen jug, out of which he used to drink, to be filled with water and delivered 
to the man, who presently sprinkled his stable, his horses, his charioteers, his 
chariot, and the very boundaries of the course with it. Upon this the whole city 
was in wondrous expectation. The idolaters derided whattlie Christian was doing", 
while the Christians took courage, and assured themselves of victory ; till the 
signal being given for the race, the Christian's horses seemed to fly, whilst the 
idolator's were laboring behind and left quite out oi sight! so that the pagans 
themselves were obliged to cry out that their god Manias was conquered at last 
by Christ."— Page 17. 



118 HISTORY OF ROMAMSM. [book jl 

Ludicrous annual ceremony at Rome. Sprinkling of horses, asses, &£., whh bohr water. 

receives a fee for sprinkling each animal, and Dr. Middleton re- 
marks that amongst the rest he had his own horses blessed at the 
expense of about eighteen pence " as well to satisfy his own curi- 
osity, as to humor the coachman ; who was persuaded, as the com- 
mon people generally are. that some mischance would befall them 
within the year, if they wanted the benefit of this benediction." He 
adds, a revenue is thus provided, sufficient for the maintenance oi 
forty or fifty of the lazy drones called monks.) 

Sometimes the visitor at Rome will see^a splendid equipage 
drive up. attended by outriders., in elegant livery, to have the horses 
thus sprinkled with holy water, all the people remaining uncov- 
ered till the absurd and disgusting ceremony is over. On one occa- 
sion a traveller observed a countryman, whose beast having re- 
ceived the holy water, set off from the church door at a gallop, but 
had scarcely gone a hundred yards before the ungainly animal 
tumbled down with him, and over its head he rolled into the dust. 
He soon, however, arose, and so did the horse, without either seem- 
ing to have sustained much injury. The priest looked on, and 
though his blessing ha-d failed, he was not out of countenance ; 
while some of the bystanders said that but for it, the horse and 
hk, nder might have broken their necks. (See Engraving.) 
fX recent writer, formerly a Romish priest, and who, therefore, 
knows whereof he affirms, writes as follows, in relation to this cere- 
mony. - If I could lead my readers on the 17th of January, to the 
church of St. Antoin in Rome, I am convinced they would not know 
whether they should laugh at the ridiculous religious performances, 
or weep over the heathenish practices of the church of Rome. He 
would see a priest in his sacerdotal garments, with a stole over his 
neck, a brush in his right hand, and sprinkling the mules, asses, and 
horses, with holy water, and praying for them and with them, and 
blessing them in order to be preserved the whole year from sick- 
ness and death, famine and danger, for the sake and merits of the 
holy Antony. All this is a grotesque scene, so grotesque that no 
American can have any idea of it, and heathen priests would never 
have thought of it. Add to that, the great mass of people, the 
kickings of the mules, the meetings of the lovers, the neighings of 
the horses, the melodious voices of the asses, the shoutings of the 
multitude, and rnockings of the protestants, who reside in Rome, 
and you have a spectacle, which would be new, entirely new, not 
only foi American protestants. but for4.be heathen themselves, and 
must be abominable in the eye of GodTl But enough ; the subject 
is too serious : it is a religious exerciscrf'practised by the priests of 
Rome, in the so-called metropolis of the Christian world, sanctioned 
by the self-styled infallible head of the church of Rome. AH we can 
say is : • Ichabod, thy glory is departed/ The priests of heathen 
Rome would be ashamed of such a religious display in the nine- 
teenth century/'* 

* See Papal Rome as it Is, by Rev. L. Gustiniani. D. D., formerly a Roman 
priest. 




Sprinkling and Blessing of Horses at Rome, on St. Anthony's Day. 



chap, vi.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.—A. D. 606. 121 



Lighting up candles in the day time a heathen custom. 



M4.) Burning wax candles in the day time. — No sooner is a man 
advanced a little forward into their churches, and begins to look 
about him, but he will find his eyes and attention attracted by a 
number of lamps and wax candles, which are kept constantly burn 
ing before the shrines and images of their samts. In the great 
churches of Italy, says Mabillon, they hang up lamps at every altar ; 
a sight which not only surprises a stranger by the novelty of it, but 
will furnish him with another proof and example of the conformity 
of the Romish with the pagan worship ; by recalling to his memory 
many passages of the heathen writers, where their perpetual lamps 
and candles are describecj^as continually burning before the altars 
and statues of their deities^ ' Centum aras posuit vigilemque sacra- 
vexat ignem.' Virg. 9 Mn. iv., 200. 

(Herodotus tells us of the Egyptians who first introduced the use 
oflamps into their temples. That they had a famous yearly festival, 
called from the principal ceremony of it, the lighting up of candles, 
but there is scarcely a single festival at Rome, which might not for 
the same reason be called by the same name. The primitive 
writers frequently expose the folly and absurdity of this heathenish 
custom. " They light up candles to God," says Lactantius, " as if he 
lived in the dark ; and do they not deserve to pass for madmen, who 
offer lamps to the author and giver of light ?" 

In the collections of old inscriptions, we may find instances of 
presents and donations from private persons, of lamps and candle- 
sticks to the temples and altars of their gods. A piece of zeal which 
continues still the same in modern Rome, where each church 
abounds with lamps of massive silver, and sometimes even of gold ; 
the gifts of princes, and other persons of distinction^ and it is sur- 
prising to see how great a number of this kind are perpetually 
before the altars of their principal saints, or miraculous images ; as 
St. Anthony of Padua, or the lady of Loretto ; as well as the vast 
profusion of wax candles, with which their churches are illuminated 
on every great festival when the high altar covered with gold and 
silver plate, brought out of their treasuries, and stuck full of wax 
lights, disposed in beautiful figures, looks more like the rich side- 
board of some great prince, dressed out for a feast, than an altar to 
pay divine worship at. 

(5.) Votive gifts and offerings. — But a stranger will not. be more 
surprised at the number of lamps or wax-lights, burning before their 
altars, than at the number of offerings or votive gifts, which are 
hanging all around them, in consequence of vows made in the time 
of danger, and in gratitude for deliverance and cures wrought in 
sickness or distress; a practice so common among the heathens, 
that no one custom of antiquity is so frequently mentioned by all 
their writers ; and many of their original donaria, or votive offer- 
ings, are preserved to this day in the cabinets of the curious ; images 
of metal, stone, or clay, as well as legs, arms, and other parts of 
the body, which had formerly been hung up in their temples in tes- 
timony of some divine favor or cure effected by their titular deity 



122 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

Votive offerings. Hands, feet, &.C., in wax. Copies of heathen originals. 

in that particular member. But the most common of all offerings 
were pictures rep 1 esenting the history of the miraculous cure or 
deliverance, vouc ? *safed upon the vow of the donor!*} 

Nud ; dea, nunc succurre mihi ; nam posse* 

Picia docet templis multa tabella tuis. — Tibul., El. i. } 3. 

Now, goddess, help, for thou canst help bestow ; 
As all these pictures round thy altars show. 

A friend of Diagoras, the philosopher, called the atheist, having 
found him once in a temple, as the story is told by Cicero, " You," 
says he, " who think the gods take no notice of human affairs, do 
you not see here by this number of pictures, how many people, for 
the sake of their vows, have been saved in storms at sea, and got 
safe into harbor ?" " Yes," says Diagoras, " I see how it is, for 
those are never painted who happen to be drowned." The temples 
of Esculapius were more especially rich in those offerings, which 
Livy says were the price and pay for the cures he had wrought for 
the sick ; where they used always to hang up and expose to com- 
mon view, in tables of brass or marble, a catalogue of all the 
miraculous cures which he had performed for his votaries. A re- 
markable fragment of one of these tables is still remaining and pub- 
lished in Gruter's Collections, having been found in the ruins of a 
temple of that god, in the island of the Tiber at Rome : upon which 
the learned Roman Catholic writer, Montfaucon, makes this reflec- 
tion : that in it are either seen the wiles of the devil, to deceive the cre- 
dulous ; or else the tricks of pagan priests suborning men to coun- 
terfeit diseases and miraculous cures. Why is not this as true of 
Popery as Paganism ? 

Now this piece of superstition had been found of old so beneficial 
to the priesthood, that it could not fail of being taken into the scheme 
of the Romish worship ; where it reigns at this day in its full height 
and vigor, as in the ages of pagan idolatry ; and in so gross a man- 
ner, as to give scandal and offence even to some of their own com- 
munion. Polydore Virgil, after having described this practice of the 
ancients, " in the same manner,''* says he, " do we now offer up in 
our churches little images of wax ; and as oft as any part of the 
body is hurt, as the hand or foot, &c, we presently make a vow to 
God, or one of his saints, to whom, upon our recovery, we make an 
offering of that hand or foot in wax ; which custom is now come to 
that extravagance, that we do the same for our cattle which we do 
for ourselves, and make offerings on account of bur oxen, horses, 
sheep : where a scrupulous man will question, in this we imitate 
the religion or the superstition of our ancestors." As oft as I have 
had the curiosity to look over those Donaria, or votive offerings, 
hanging round the shrines of their images, and consider the several 
stories of each, as they are either expressed in painting or related 
in writing, I have always found them to be mere copies, or verbal 
translations of the originals of heathenism ; for the vow is often said 
to have been divinely inspired, or expressly commanded ; and the 



chap. vi.J POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 123 

Revival of old Pagan impostures. Worship of idols or images. 

cure and deliverance to have been wrought either by the visible 
apparition, and immediate hand of the titular saint, or by the notice 
of a dream, or some other miraculous admonition from heaven. 
" There can be no doubt," say their writers, " but that images of our 
saints often work signal miracles, by procuring health to the infirm, 
and appearing to us often in dreams, to suggest something of great 
moment for our service." 

And what is all this but a revival of the old impostures, and a re- 
petition of the same old stories of which the ancient inscriptions 
aVe full, with no difference than what the pagans ascribe to the 
imaginary help of their deities, the papists as foolishly impute to the 
favor of their saints ? Whether the reflection of Father Montfau- 
con on the pagan priests, mentioned above, be not, in the very same 
case, as justly applicable to the Roman priests, I must leave to the 
judgment of my reader. 

f(6.) Adoration of idols or images. — When a man is once en- 
gaged in reflections of this kind, imagining himself in some heathen 
temple, and expecting, as it were, some sacrifice or other piece of 
Paganism to ensue, he will not be long in suspense, before he sees 
the finishing act and last scene of genuine idolatry, in crowds of 
bigot votaries, prostrating themselves before some image of wood 
or stone, and paying divine honors to an idol of their own erecting. 
Should they squabble with us here, about the meaning of the word 
idol. Jerome has determined it to the very case in question, telling 
us, that by idols are to be understood the images of the dead : ' Idola 
intelligimus Imagines mortuorum.' (Hier Com. in Isa., c. xxxvii.) 
And the worshippers of such images are used always in the style 
of the fathers, as terms synonymous and equivalent to heathens 
and pagans. As to the practice itself, it was condemned by many 
of the wisest heathens, and for several ages, even in pagan Rome, 
was thought impious and detestable : for Numa, we find, prohibited 
it to the old Romans, nor would suffer any images in their temples ; 
which constitution they observed religiously, says Plutarch, for the 
first hundred and seventy years of the city. But as image wor- 
ship was thought abominable even by some pagan princes, so by 
some of the Christian emperors it was forbidden on pain of death ; 
not because those images were the representations of demons or 
false gods, but because they were vain, senseless idols, the work 
of men's hands, and for that reason unworthy of any honor : and 
all the instances and overt acts of such worship, described and 
condemned by them, are exactly the same with what the papisls 
practise at this day ; lighting up candles, burning incense, hanging 
up garlands, &c, as may be seen in the law of Thcodosius before 
mentioned, which confiscates that house or laniwhcre any such 
act of Gentile superstition had been committed^ Those princes 
who were influenced, we may suppose, in their constitutions of 
this sort, by the advice of their bishops, did not think Paganism 
abolished, till the adoration of images was utterly extirpated ; 
which was reckoned always the principal of those Gentile rites, 



124 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

Pagan heroes and demigods with Christian names. The Pantheon dedicated to Mary and all the saints 

that agreeably to the sense of the purest ages of Christianity, are 
never mentioned in the imperial laws without the epithets of pro- 
fane, damnable, impious, &c. 
. fWhat opinion then can we have of the present practice of the 
church of Rome, but that by a change only of name, they have 
found means to retain the thing ; and by substituting their saints in 
the place of the old demigods, have Jmt set up idols of their own, 
instead of those of their forefathers fj In which it is hard to say 
whether their assurance or their adaress is more to be admired, 
who have the face to make that the principal part of Christian 
worship, which the first Christians looked upon as the most criminal 
part even of Paganism, and have found means to extract gain and 
great revenues out of a practice which in primitive times would 
have cost a man both his life and estate. MBut our notion of the 
idolatry of modern Rome will be much heightened still and con- 
firmed, as oft as we follow them into those temples, and to those 
very altars which were built originally by their heathen ancestors, 
the old Romans, to the honor of their pagan deities, where we 
shall hardly see any other alteration than the shrine of some old 
hero filled by the meaner statue of some modern saint. Nay, they 
have not always, as I am well informed, given themselves the 
trouble of making even this change, but have been content sometimes 
to take up with the old image, just as they found it; after baptizing 
it only, as it were, or consecrating it anew 7 by the imposition of a 
Christian name. This their antiquaries do not scruple to put 
strangers in mind of in showing their churches ; and it was, I 
think, in that of St. Agnes w T here they showed me an antique of a 
young Bacchus, which, with a new name and a little change of 
drapery, stands now worshipped under the title of a female saint. 

(7.) The Gods of the Pantheon turned into popish saints. — The 
noblest heathen temple now remaining in the world, is the Pantheon, 
or Rotunda ; which, as the inscription over the portico informs us, 
having been piously dedicated of old by Agrippa to Jove and all 
the gods, was impiously reconsecrated by Pope Boniface IV., about 

A. D. 610, TO THE BLESSED VlEGIN AND ALL THE SAINTS. 

PANTHEON, &c. 

AB AGRIPPA AUGUSTI GENERO, 

IMPIE JOVI, C^TERISQ ; MENDACIBUS DIIS, 

A. BONIFACIO IIIL PONTIFICE, 

DEIPAR^ & S. S. CHRISTI MARTYRIBUS PIO 

D1CATUM, &c. 

With this single alteration, it serves as exactly for all the pur- 
poses of the popish as it did for the pagan worship, for which it 
was built. For as in the old temple, every one might find the God 
of his country, and address himself to that deity, whose religion he 
was most devoted to ; so it is the same thing now ; every one 
chooses the patron whom he likes best ; and one may see here 
different services going on at the same time at different altars, with 



chap, vi.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 125 

Heathen idols changed into Christian saints. Road gods. 

distinct congregations round them, just as the inclinations of the 
people lead them to the worship of this or that particular SaintJ 

And what better title can the new demigods show, to^the 
adoration now paid them, than the old ones, whose shrines they 
have usurped ? Or how comes it to be less criminal to worship 
images, erected by the Pope, than those which Agrippa, or that 
which Nebuchadnezzar set up ? If there be any real difference, 
most people will, I dare say, be apt to determine in favor of the 
old possessors. For those heroes of antiquity were raised up into 
gods, and received divine honors, for some signal benefits, of which 
they had been the authors to mankind ; as the invention of arts 
and sciences ; or of something highly useful and necessary to life 
Whereas of the Romish saints, it is certain that many of them 
were never heard of, but in their own legends or fabulous histories ; 
and many more, instead of services done to mankind, owe all the 
honors now paid to them, to their vices or their errors ; whose 
merit, like that of Demetrius, (Acts xix., 23), was their skill of raising 
rebellions in defence of an idol, and throwing kingdoms into con- 
vulsions, for the sake of some gainful imposture. 

And as it is in the Pantheon, it is just the same in all the other 
heathen temples, that still remain in Rome ; they have only pulled 
down one idol to set up another ; and changed rather the name 
than the object of their worship. Thus the little temple of Vesta, 
near the Tiber, mentioned by Horace, is now possessed by Madonna 
of the Sun ; that of Fortuna Virilis, by Mary the Egyptian ; that 
of Saturn, where the public treasure was anciently kept, by St. 
Adrian ; that of Romulus and Remus in the Via Sacra, by two 
other brothers, Cosmas and Damianus ; that of Antoninus Pius, by 
Laurence the saint ; but for my part, adds Dr. Middleton, I should 
sooner be tempted to prostrate myself before the statue of a Romu- 
lus or an Antonine, than that of a Laurence or a Damian ; and 
give divine honors rather with pagan Rome, to the founders of 
empires, than with popish Rome, to the founders of monasteries. 

In reply to these observations of Dr. Middleton, some may 
inquire whether there is anything wrong in the change of a hea- 
then temple to a Christian place of worship, any more than in the 
change of theatres into churches, which is frequently done in the 
present day. To this objection we answer, that it is not to the 
change of the Pantheon into a Christian temple we object, but to 
the adoption of the pagan ceremonies into Christian worship, and 
the adoring the same images of heathen deities, under the names 
of£hristian saints. 

n8.) Road gods and saints. — But their temples are not the only 
places where we see the proofs and overt acts of their superstition : 
the whole face of the country has the visible characters of Paganism 
upon it ; and wherever we look about us, we cannot but find, as 
Paul did in Athens (Acts xvii. 1G), clear evidence of its being pos- 
sessed by a superstitious and idolatrous people. 

The old Romans, we know, had their gods, who presided pecu- 



126 HISTORY 


F ROMANISM. 


[book n 


Reverence of the papists for these road gods. 




Kissing the Pope's toe. 



liarly over the roads, streets, and highways, called Viales, Semitales, 
Compitales : whose little temples or altars are decked with flowers, 
or whose statues at least, coarsely carved of wood or stone, were 
placed at convenient distances in the public ways, for the benefit 
of travellers, who used to step aside to pay their devotions to those 
rural shrines, and beg a prosperous journey and safety in their 
travels. 

Now this custom prevails still so generally in all popish coun- 
tries, but especially in Italy, that one can see no other difference 
between the old and present superstition, than that of changing the 
name of the Deity, and christening as it were the old Hecate in 
triviis, by the new name of Maria in trivio ; by which title I have 
observed one of their churches dedicated in this city : and as the 
heathens used to paint over the ordinary statues of their gods with 
red or some such gay color, so I have oft observed the coarse 
images of those saints so daubed over with a gaudy red, as to 
resejmble exactly the description of the god Pan in Virgil (Eclogue 
^0)7j In passing along the road, it is common to see travellers on 
thefr knees before these rustic altars ; which none ever presume 
to approach without some act of reverence ; and those who are 
most in haste, or at a distance, are sure to pull off their hats, at 
least, in token of respect : and I took notice that our postillion used 
to look back upon us to see how we behaved on such occasions, 
and seemed surprised at our passing so negligently before places 
esteemed so sacred. 

/ (9.) The Pope and the Pontifex Maximus and kissing the Pope's 
tot. — In their very priesthood, they have contrived to keep up as 
near a resemblance as they could to that of pagan Rome : and the 
sovereign pontiff, instead of deriving his succession from Peter, 
who, if ever he was at Rome, did not reside there at least in any 
worldly pomp or splendor, may with more reason and much better 
plea style himself the successor of the Pontifex Maximus, or chief 
priest of old RomeTj whose authority and dignity was the greatest 
in the republic ; tm& who was looked upon as the arbiter or judge 
of all things, civil as well as sacred, human as well as divine : 
whose power established almost with the foundation of the city, 
" was an omen," says Polydore Virgil, " and sure presage of priestly 
majesty, by which Rome was once again to reign as universally, as 
it had done before by the force of its arms." - 

But of all the sovereign pontiffs of pagan Rome, it is very re- 
markable that Caligula was the first who ever offered his foot to be 
kissed by any who approached him : which raised a general indig- 
nation through the city, to see themselves reduced to suffer so great 
an indignity. Those who endeavored to excuse it, said that it 
was not done out of insolence, but vanity ; and for the sake of 
showing his golden slipper, set with jewels. Seneca declaims upon 
it as the last affront to liberty, and the introduction of a Persian 
slavery into the manners of Rome. Yet, this servile act, unworthy 
either to be imposed or complied with by man, is now the standing 



chap, vl] FOPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 127 

Pagan and popish processions. The flagellantes, or self-whippera. 

ceremonial of Christian Rome, and a necessary condition of access 
to the reigning Popes, though derived from no better origin than 
the. frantic pride of a brutal pagan tyrant. 

C(\0.) Processions of worshippers and self-whippers. — The de- 
scriptions of the religious pomps and processions of the heathens 
come so near to what we see on every festival of the Virgin or 
other Romish saint, that one can hardly help thinking those popish 
ones to be still regulated by the old ceremonial of pagan Rome. 
At these solemnities the chief magistrates used frequently to assist 
in robes of ceremony, attended by the priests in surplices, with 
wax candles in their hands, carrying upon a pageant or thensa the 
images of their gods, dressed out in their best clothes. These 
were usually followed by the principal youth of the place in white 
linen vestments or surplices, singing hymns in honor of the god 
whose festival they were celebrating, accompanied by crowds of 
all sorts, that were initiated in the same religion, all with flambeaux 
or wax candles in their hands. This is the account which Apuleius 
and other authors give us of a pagan procession ; and I may ap- 
peal to all who have been abroad, whether i^might not pass quite 
as well for the description of a popish one ,\ Tournefort, in his 
travels through Greece, reflects upon the Gr^ek church for having 
retained and taken into their present worship many of the old rites 
of heathenism, and particularly that of carrying and dancing about 
the images of the saints in their processions to singing and music. 
The reflection is full as applicable to his own, as it is to the Greek 
church, and the practice itself is so far from giving scandal in Italy, 
that the learned publisher of the Florentine Inscriptions takes occa- 
sion to show the conformity between them and the heathens, from 
this very instance of carrying about the pictures of their saints, as 
the pagans did those of their gods, in their sacred processions. 
(Infcrip. Antiq. Flor., 377.) 
(in one of those processions made lately to St. Peter's in the 
time of Lent, I saw that ridiculous penance of the flagellantes or 
self-whippers, who march with whips in their hands, and lash them- 
selves as they go along on the bare back till it is all covered with 
blood ; in the same manner as the fanatical priests of Bellona or 
the Syrian Goddess, as well as the votaries of Isis, used to slash 
and cut themselves of old, in order to please the goddess by the 
sacrifice of their own blood, which mad piece of discipline we find 
frequently mentioned and as oft ridiculed by the ancient writers. 

But they have another exercise of the same kind and in the same 
season of Lent, which, under the notion of penance, is still a more 
absurd mockery of all religion. When on a certain day appointed 
annually for this discipline, men of all conditions assemble them- 
selves towards the evening in one of the churches of the city, 
where the whips or lashes made of oords are provided and dis- 
tributed to every person present, and after they are :ill served, and 
a short office of devotion performed, the candles being put out, 
upon the warning of a little bell, the whole company begin to strip 
y 



128 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 

Seneca's opinion of the self-whippers. Pagan and papal mendicant monks 

and try the force of these whips on their own backs, for the space 
of near an hour ; during all which time the church becomes, as it 
were, the proper image of hell ; where nothing is heard but the 
noise of lashes and chains, mixed with the groans of those self-tor- 
mentors ; till satiated with their exercise they are content to put 
on their clothes, and the candles being lighted again, upon the tink- 
ling of a second bell, they all appear in their proper dress. 

Seneca, alluding to the very same effects of fanaticism in pagan 
Rome, says, " So great is the force of it on disordered minds, that 
they try to appease the gods by such methods as an enraged man 
would hardly take to revenge himself. But, if there be any gods 
who desire to be worshiped after this manner, they do not deserve 
to be worshipped at all j since the very worst of tyrants, though 
they have sometimes tflrn and tortured people's limbs, yet have 
neyer commanded men to torture themselves." 
^(11.) Religious orders of monks, nuns, fyc. — The great variety 
or their religious orders and societies of priests seems to have been 
formed upon the plan of the old colleges or fraternities of the Au- 
gurs, Pontifices, Selli, Fratres Arvales, &c. The vestal virgins 
might furnish the hint for the foundation of nunneries ; and I have 
observed something very like to the rules and austerities of the 
monastic life, in the character and manner of several priests of the 
heathens, who used to live by themselves retired from the world, 
near to the temple or oracle of the deity to whose particular ser- 
vice they were devoted ; as the Selli, the priests of Dodonasan Jove, 
or self -mortifying raceS From the character of those Selli, or as 
others call them Elli, me monks of the pagan world, seated in the 
fruitful soil of Dodona, abounding, as Hesiod describes it, with 
everything that could make life easy and happy, and whither no 
man ever approached them without an offering in his hands, we 
may learn whence their successors of modern times have derived 
their peculiar skill or prescriptive right of choosing the richest part 
of every country for the place of their settlement. 



priei 



Whose groves the Selli, race austere, surround ; 

Their feet unwash'd, their slumbers on the ground. — Pope, II. xvii., 324. 



But above all, in the old descriptions of the lazy mendicant 
pViests among the heathens, who used to travel from house to house, 
with sacks on their backs, and, from an opinion of their sanctity, 
raise large contributions of money, bread, wine, and all kinds of 
victuals for the support of their fraternity, we see the very picture 
of the begging friars, who are always about the streets in the same 
habit and on the same errand, and never fail to carry home with 
them a good sack full of provisions for the use of their convent. 

Cicero, in his book of laws, restrains this practice of begging or 
gathering alms to one particular order of priests, and that only on 
certain days ; because, as he says, it propagates superstition and 
impoverishes familiesTj Which may let us see the policy of the 
church of Rome, in the great care that they have taken to multiply 



chap, vi.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 129 

This conformity between Popery and Paganism acknowledged and defended by a Romanist author 

their begging orders. ' Stipem sustulimus, usi earn quam ad paucos 
dies propriam Idasas matris excepimus. Implet enim superstitione 
animos, exhaurit domos.' (Cic. de Legib., 1, 2, 9, 16.) 

§ 48. — After carrying out the comparison between Paganism 
and Popery, in relation to their pretended miracles, lying signs and 
wonders, &c, Dr. Middleton concludes his learned and most con- 
clusive letter as follows:—! could easily carry on this parallel, 
through many more instances of the pagan and popish ceremonies, 
to show from what spring all that superstition flows, which we so 
justly charge them with, and how vain an attempt it must be to 
justify by the principles of Christianity, a worship formed upon 
the plan and after the very pattern of pure heathenism. I shall 
not trouble myself with inquiring at what time and in what manner 
those several corruptions were introduced into the church ; whether 
they were contrived by the intrigues and avarice of priests, who 
found their advantage in reviving and propagating impostures, 
which had been of old so profitable to their predecessors ; or 
whether the genius of Rome was so strongly turned to fanaticism 
and superstition that they were forced, in condescension to the 
humor of the people, to dress up their new religion to the modes 
and fopperies of the old. This, I know, is the principle by which 
their own writers defend themselves as oft as they are attacked on 
this, head. 

jAringhus, a Roman Catholic writer, in his account of subter- 
raneous Rome, acknowledges this conformity between the pagan 
and popish rites, and defends the admission of the ceremonies of 
heathenism into the service of the church by the authority of their 
wisest popes and governors ; " who found it necessary," he says, 
" in the conversion of the Gentiles, to dissemble and wink at many 
things and yield to the times, and not to use force against customs 
which the people are so obstinately fond of, nor to think of extir- 
pating at once everything that had the appearance of profane." ) It 
is by the same principles that the Jesuits defend the concessions 
which they make at this day to their proselytes in China ; who, 
where pure Christianity will not go down, never scruple to com- 
pound the matter between Jesus and Confucius, and prudently 
allow what the stiff old prophets so impoliticly condemned, a part- 
nership between God and Baal ; of which, though they have often 
been accused at the court of Rome, yet I have never heard that 
their conduct has been censured. But this kind of reasoning, how 
plausible soever it may be, with regard to the first ages of Chris- 
tianity, or to nations just converted from Paganism, is so far from 
excusing the present heathenism of the church of Rome, that it 
is a direct condemnation of it ; since the necessity alleged for the 
practice, if ever it had any real force, has not, at least for many 
ag$s past, at all subsisted; and their toleration of such practices 
seems now to be the readiest way to drive Christians back again 
to heathenism. 

#1 have sufficiently made good what I first undertook to prove ; 



130 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book il 

This policy of conciliating the heathen adopted by Gregory the Great 



an exact conformity, or rather uniformity, of worship between 
Popery and Paganism. For since we see the present people of 
Rome worshipping in the same temples, at the same altars, 
sometimes the same images, and always with the same cere- 
monies as the old Romans, who can absolve them from the same 
superstition and idolatry of which we condemn their pagan 
ancestors ?} 

Those wno would wish to see this striking parallel between 
Popery and Paganism carried out yet farther, must consult the valu- 
able and masterly work to which I am indebted for most of these 
interesting particulars, with the full references and original quota- 
tions from various authorities, ancient as well as modern, Roman 
Catholic as well as protestant. 

§ 49. — That this policy of conciliating the heathen nations by 
adopting their pagan ceremonies into Christian worship, had been 
adopted previous to the epoch of the papal supremacy, A. D. 606. is 
abundantly evident from the instructions given by Gregory tne 
Great, to Augustin, his missionary in Britain, and to Serenus, the 
bishop of Marseilles, in France, both of whom had written to the 
pontiff for advice. 

fThe account of Gregory's instructions to Augustin, as related by 
Bower, is as follows : " Not satisfied with directing Austin not to 
destroy, but to reserve for the worship of God, the profane places 
where the pagan Saxons had worshipped their idols, Gregory 
would have him treat the more profane usages, rites, and ceremo- 
nies of the pagans in the same manner, that is, not to abolish, but to 
sanctify them, by changing the end for which they were instituted, 
and introduce them, thus sanctified, into the Christian worship. 
This he specifies in a particular ceremony. ' Whereas it is a custom/ 
says he, ' among the Saxons to slay abundance of oxen, and sacri- 
fice them to the devil, you must not abolish that custom, but ap- 
point a new festival to be kept either on the day of the consecration 
of the churches, or the birth-day of the saints, whose relics are 
deposited there, and on these days the Saxons may be allowed to 
make arbors round the temples changed into churches, to kill their 
oxen, and to feast, as they did while they were still pagans, only 
they shall offer their thanks and praises, not to the devil, but to God/ 
This advice, absolutely irreconcilable with the purity of the gospel- 
worship, the Pope founds on a pretended impossibility of wean- 
ing men at once from rites and ceremonies to which they have been 
long accustomed, and on the hopes of bringing the converts, in due 
time, by such an indulgence, to a better sense of their duty to God. 
Thus was the religion of the Saxons, our ancestors, so disfigured 
and corrupted with all the superstitions of Paganism, at its first 
being planted among them, that it scarce deserved the name of 
Christianity, but was rather a mixture of Christianity and Pagan- 
ism, or Christianity and Paganism moulded, as it were, into a third 
religion." j 

The ofner instance was as follows : " The Franks, who had settled 



chap, vi.] POPERY AT ITS BIRTH.— A. D. 606. 131 

He commands Serenus to restore the images to the churches, for the sake of gratifying the pagans. 

in the south of Gaul, now France, had been indulged, at the time 
of their conversion, in the use of images, and that indulgence 
had insensibly brought them back to idolatry, for turning the images 
of Christ into idols, they paid them the same kind of worship or 
adoration, after their conversion, which they had paid to their idols 
before their conversion. This Serenus could not bear, and, there- 
fore, to show his abhorrence of such abominations, and at the same 
time to prevent them in time to come, he caused all the images 
throughout his diocese to be pulled down, and to be cast out of the 
churches, and destroyed. That wise and zealous prelate was, it 
seems, even then, when the dangerous practice of setting up images 
was yet in its infancy, apprised of a truth, which all have now 
learned by the experience of many ages, — all, at least, who care to 
learn it, viz. : that images cannot be allowed, and idolatry pre- 
vented. However, this instance of his zeal for the purity of the 
Christian worship, was very ill received at Rome. And, indeed. 
Gregory acted therein consistently with himself, for, having directed 
Austin, this very year, to introduce the pagan rites and usages into 
the church, he could not but blame Serenus for thus excluding them, 
and he wrote to him accordingly, commending indeed his zeal in not 
suffering to be worshipped that which was made with hands, but at 
the same time blaming him for breaking them, * to prevent their being 
worshipped, since they served the ignorant in the room of books, 
and instructed, by being seen, those who could not read.' But the 
reason on which the pope seems to have laid his chief stress, in 
censuring the conduct of Serenus, was, that, by breaking the images, 
and banishing them from the churches, he would prejudice the bar- 
barians (that is, the Franks), among whom he lived, against the 
Christian religion ; so that it was chiefly to gratify the pagans, who 
were converted, to facilitate the conversion of the others, and to 
adapt the Christian religion to their ideas and notions, that the use 
of images, and many other rites of the pagan worship, were allowed 
in the church. But how different was this method of converting 
the pagans from that which the apostles pursued, and their immedi- 
ate successors, nay, and all apostolic men for the three first centu- 
ries after Christ ? With them it was a principle not to sanctify, but 
utterly to abolish all pagan rites, all superstitious practices what- 
ever, and introduce, in their room, a plainness and simplicity suited 
to the worship of God, in spirit and truth. Upon that principle 
images of no kind were suffered in the churches during the three 
first centuries, as is allowed by several Roman Catholic writers ; 
nay, it was not till the latter end of the fourth century, that the 
pagan temples began to be converted into Christian churches. They 
had all, till then, been either shut up, or pulled down, the bishops of 
those times thinking it a great profanation to worship God even in 
the places where worship had been paid to the devil."* 

The above remarkable instances of papal conformity to Pagan- 

* Bower's History of the Popes, in vita Gregory I. 



132 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book n. 



This time-serving conformity to Paganism, as early as the papal supremacy. 

ism, related upon the unquestionable authority of Gregory's own 
epistles,* are a proof that this wicked policy had been thus early 
adopted, and though it is not perhaps absolutely certain that all the pa- 
gan ceremonies, above enumerated, were introduced into the Romish 
worship so early as 606, yet, without doubt, most of them were in use 
in the time of Boniface, and the others, not long after. The Pantheon, 
as we have seen, was consecrated to " the virgin axd all the saixts," 
within four or five years of the establishment of the papal supre- 
macy ; and on that occasion pope Boniface IV. employed the newly 
acquired papal authority, in enjoining upon all the faithful the 
observance of a festival in commemoration of that event, which is 
still celebrated with great ceremony in all popish countries, on the 
first of November, called the Feast of All Saints. Image worship, as 
we shall see, was not finally and fully established till about the 
middle of the ninth century, after a long contest between different 
emperors, popes, and councils. The history and origin of these 
pagan innovations upon Christian worship, has been given at con- 
siderable length, because it. is believed that the most satisfactory 
mode is thereby suggested of answering the question which so fre- 
quently presents itself to the candid and inquiring mind, when con- 
templating the heathen mummeries of papal worship. Can it be 
possible that this is Christianity 1 that this is the religion of the Xew 
Testament ? of Jesus Christ and his apostles ? and if it is called by 
the name, whence did it become so corrupted 1 so like the religion 
of pagan Greece and Rome ? The answer is xo, this is xot Chris- 
tiaxity, it is Paganism, under that venerated name, and the trans- 
formation was effected by borrowing the temples, the idols, and the 
ceremonies of heathenism, to silence the scruples, and to win the 
suffrages of those who had no taste for a religion so pure, so spirit 

UAL, AXD SO HOLY AS THE RELIGIOX OF CHRIST. 

* See Epist. Greg., lib. ix., epist. 71, and lib. vii., epist 110, 






133 

BOOK III. 
POPERY ADVANCING— A. D.606— 800. 



FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY, A. D. 606, 

TO THE POPES' TEMPORAL SOVEREIGNTY, 756, AND TO THE 

CROWNING OF THE EMPEROR CHARLEMAGNE, 800 



CHAPTER I. 

GRADUAL INCREASE OF THE PAPAL POWER. DARKNESS, SUPERSTITION, 
AND IGNORANCE OF THIS PERIOD. 

§ 1. — That part of the above-named period extending from 
the establishment of the papal supremacy in 606 to the epoch 
of the Popes' temporal sovereignty, 756, possesses peculiar interest 
to the student of history. These two dates are those upon which 
writers on the prophecies, relative to Popery, have been chiefly 
divided as to the proper commencement of its existence as the 
little horn of Daniel (ch. vii. 8). The most judicious writers, how- 
ever, have generally preferred the latter date, or some other noting 
the increase or confirmation of the Popes' temporal power, as 
Popery could not properly be called a horn till it was, like the 
other horns, a temporal sovereignty. 

It is not to be supposed that the various churches of the West, 
much less of the East, gave up without a struggle their ancient 
liberty and independence as soon as the decree of a tyrant consti- 
tuted the Roman prelate Universal Bishop and supreme head of the 
church. The Popes, it is true, used all sorts of means to maintain 
and enlarge the authority and pre-eminence which they had ac- 
quired by a grant from the most odious tyrant that ever disgraced 
the annals of history. We find, however, in the most authentic ac- 
counts of the transactions of this century, that not only several 
emperors and princes, but also whole nations, opposed the ambitious 
views of the bishops of Rome. Besides all this, multitudes of pri- 
vate persons expressed publicly, and without the least hesitation, 
their abhorrence of the vices, and particularly of the lordly am- 
bition of the Roman pontiffs; and it is highly probable,. that i ho 
Waldenses or Vaudois had already, in this century, retired into the 
valleys of Piedmont, that they might be more at their liberty to 
oppose the tyranny of those imperious prelates.* 

* See Antoine Leger's Elistoiro ties Egliaea Vaudoises, livr. i., p, 15. 



134 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ni. 

Election of popes confirmed by the Emperor. Popish morality No faith with heretics 

§ 2. — The popes were still the subjects of the Roman emperors, 
and their election to the Popedom gave them no official authority 
till confirmed either by the Emperor himself or his viceroy in Italy, 
the exarch of Ravenna. This, of course, was nothing more than 
natural and just, that since this spiritual sovereignty was created 
by the Emperor it should be confirmed by the same authority. 
Sometimes when the popes elect were suspected of being opposed 
to the views of the Emperor, considerable difficulty was ex- 
perienced in obtaining the imperial confirmation of their election. 
Thus, upon the election of pope Severinus in 640, we learn from a 
letter of the monk Maximus, that the emperor HeracMus, at the 
instigation of the clergy of Constantinople, refused to confirm his 
election to the popedom till his legates had promised the Emperor 
to persuade the newly-elected pope to sign the Echthesis, a decree 
of which we shall hear more in a future chapter ; but, adds the 
monk, though they complied with the Emperor's demand, they 
never intended to perform so sinful a promise. So that, as Bower 
remarks, " they did not, it seems, think it sinful to make a promise 
which they thought it sinful to perform."* A characteristic illus- 
tration of genuine popish morality ! But why complain ? Hera- 
clius, in the estimation of the Pope and his legates, was a heretic, 
and the votaries of Rome had already learned to act upon the prin- 
ciple, so shamelessly avowed seven or eight centuries later, in the 
council of Constance, that no faith is to be kept with heretics. 
The consequence of this delay was, that pope Severinus was not 
ordained till about a year and a half after his election. 

§ 3. — In 685, pope Benedict II., according to the account of the 
Romish historian Anastasius, had sufficient influence with the 
emperor Constantine IV. to obtain from him a decree permitting 
the ordination of popes in future, immediately upon their election, 
without waiting for the confirmation of the Emperor or his deputy 
in Italy ; but in less than two years, Justinian, who had succeeded 
his father in the empire, conceiving this to be a dangerous conces- 
sion, revoked the decree, and vested the power of confirming the 
election of future popes in the exarch of Italy, commonly called, 
from the place of his residence, the exarch of Ravenna. Two or 
three years later the Exarch made a profitable use of this privilege 
by unjustly extorting an enormous sum from pope Sergius, before 
consenting to confirm his election.! It had ever been the custom, 
at least since the decree of Phocas, to pay a certain sum into the im- 
perial treasury, when the election of a pope was confirmed, but in 
this case the Exarch demanded a much larger sum than usual. 
The circumstances were these : In the year 687, two candidates 
for the popedom, Theodore and Pascal, had been elected by rival 

* History of the Popes, vol. iii., p. 21. 
_ f Anastasius in vita Sergius. This historian, generally called Anastasius Bib- 
liothecarius, lived in the ninth century. He was the librarian of the church of 
Rome and abbot of St. Mary beyond the Tiber. He wrote Liber Pontificalis, in 
four volumes, folio, containing the lives of some of the popes. 



chap, r.] POPERY ADVANCING— A.D. 606—800. 135 

Price of a seat in the chair of St. Peter. The Pope appoints Theodore archbishop of Canterbury 



parties. A violent and disgraceful tumult ensued between the re- 
spective friends of each. The judges and magistrates of Rome in 
vain sought to bring the two ambitious priests to an agreement, 
and to induce one to yield to the other. Failing in this attempt, 
they formed a new party, and proceeded to elect a third candidate 
named Sergius, and carrying him in triumph to the Lateran, forced 
the gates and put him in possession of the place. Upon this Theo- 
dore yielded his claim and joined the party of Sergius. The other 
competitor, pascal, obstinately persisted in his claim. He had 
made a private agreement with the Exarch to reward him with a 
bribe of thirty pounds of gold, upon condition that he should be 
chosen and confirmed as pope. Instead, therefore, of yielding to 
Sergius, he despatched a messenger in all haste to Ravenna, for the 
Exarch immediately to repair to Rome and consummate his agree- 
ment. Upon the arrival of the latter in the city, learning the dis- 
couraging situation of Paschal's affairs, and concluding that he 
could make a better bargain with Sergius, he immediately acknow- 
ledged him as pope, but demanded the enormous sum of one hun- 
dred pounds of gold before he would consent to confirm his elec- 
tion. In the end, though much against his will, Sergius was under 
the necessity of submitting to the exorbitant demand, though he 
had to pawn the very ornaments of the tomb of St. Peter before 
he could raise the sum necessary to secure the imperial signature 
to the decree confirming his election. The above is named, upon 
the authority of Anastasius, only as a specimen of the means fre- 
quently resorted to in order to supply the links in this boasted un- 
broken chain of holy apostolical succession ! It serves also as 
an illustration of the fact that the popes had not yet attained tem- 
poral sovereignty, but were still dependent for the spiritual powei 
they wielded upon the emperors. 

§ 4. — The popes, however, were restless, under this odious re- 
straint ; they had reached, by means of the emperors, the height of 
spiritual supremacy, and now they were anxious to knock away the 
ladder by which they had attained this eminence, render themselves 
independent of all earthly governments, and assume a rank among 
the temporal sovereigns of the earth, and they watched with eagle 
gaze for every opportunity of confirming and enlarging their power. 
One remarkable instance of this occurred in the appointment, by the 
sole authority of the Pope, in 667, of Theodore, as archbishop of 
Canterbury, in consequence of the death of the prelate that had been 
appointed in England, while waiting at Rome for his ordination. 
To reconcile king Oswy to his assumption, he, the Pope, sent him a 
flattering letter, with a choice collection of his trumpery relics, and 
to his " spiritual daughter," the queen, he sent a cross and golden 
key, enriched with a portion of the filings of Peter's noted chain. 
Theodore, after having his head shaved according to the Roman law, 
was despatched to England, and forthwith acknowledged, in conse- 
quence of his having been chosen and ordained by the successor of 
St. Peter, as the primate of all England. From that time to the 



136 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m. 

Import ant matters of dispute. Ecclesiastical tonsure. Different ways of shaving head ?. 

present, the archbishop of Canterbury has enjoyed a degree of power 
and authority in Great Britain, superior to that of any other eccle- 
siastic in the realm. 

§ 5. — As a specimen of the important matters of disputation 
which in this age were regarded as of sufficient importance to 
divide the ignorant priests and monks into opposite and contending 
parties, may be mentioned, the famous dispute in England, relative 
to what was called the ecclesiastical tonsure. In plain English, the 
manner in which the priests should shave their heads ! When the 
missionaries who came over to Britain from Rome, about the mid- 
dle of the seventh century, encountered the Scottish and Irish priests, 
they were horrified at the terrible discovery that the British clergy, 
instead of a circular tonsure on the occiput, were distinguished by 
a tonsure on the forehead, in the shape of a crescent ! And this was 
the momentous cause of the fierce controversy that ensued between 
the two parties. " The grand question was," says Bower, " whether 
the hair of the priests and monks should be clipped or shaved on 
the fore part of the head, from ear to ear, in the form of a semicir- 
cle, or on the top of the head, in form of a circle, to imitate the 
crown of thorns which our Saviour wore, and of which it was 
thought to be an emblem. The Scots shaved the fore part of their 
heads, and the missionaries from Rome the top, calling that the ton- 
sure of St. Peter, as if it had been derived from that apostle. When, 
by whom, or on what occasion, the ecclesiastical tonsure, that is, 
the clipping or shaving the hair of the ecclesiastics, was first intro- 
duced, is not well known. But certain it is, that in the time of St. 
Jerome, who flourished in the end of the fourth, and beginning of the 
fifth century, a Romish priest, with his shaven crown, would have 
been taken for a priest of Isis or Serapis ; a shaven crown being 
then, as that father informs us, the characteristic or badge of those 
priests. As for the Christian priests, they were neither to shave their 
heads, as we learn of the same father, lest they should look too like the 
priests and votaries of Isis and Serapis ; nor to suffer their hair to 
grow long, after the luxurious manner of the barbarians and soldiers, 
but to observe a decent mean between the two extremes ; that is, as he 
explains it, to let the hair grow long enough to cover their skin. It 
was therefore probably the custom to cut their hair to a moderate 
degree, at their ordination, not by way of a religious mystery, but 
merely for the sake of decency, and that nothing else was originally 
meant by the ecclesiastical tonsure. However that be, the cutting 
of the hair was, in process of time, improved into a mystery, and the 
heathenish ceremony of shaving the head not only adopted by the 
church, but looked upon as important enough to divide it." (See 
Engraving.) 

§ 6. — A curious illustration of the importance attached to this 
foolish custom of shaving the head in a particular manner, is con- 
nected with the ordination of Theodore above referred to, and is 
related upon the authority of the venerable Bede. In the year 667, 
Oswy and Egbert, the kings of Northumberland and Kent in Eng- 




U3SSINQ, 

Romish. 



Scottish. Eastekn. 

Olfl'erent forms of Priestly Tonsure, or Shaving Heads 



luff/ "'I ',;/:' 




Consecration of an Abbot by Imposition of Han* 



chap, i.] POPERY ADVANCING.— A. D. 606—800. 139 

An archbishop waiting to have his head shaved The Pope encourages appeals to Rome* 

land, despatched Wighard, a newly elected archbishop of Canter- 
bury to receive his ordination from the hands of the Pope, with a 
present to St. Peter, of several valuable articles of silver and gold. 
Wighard, dying of the plague, which then raged at Rome, the Pope 
resolved to embrace the favorable opportunity of advancing his 
power, by choosing an archbishop himself, instead of sending to the 
two kings, to request them, according to the previous custom, to 
elect a successor to Wighard. The Pope soon after nominated an 
Eastern monk, named Theodore, and informed the two kings that 
he would proceed to his consecration, and despatch him to England. 
Notwithstanding they were impatiently expecting his arrival, three 
months were permitted to elapse before his consecration, and what 
does the reader suppose was the all-important cause of this delay. 
Risum teneatis, amici I The historian gravely informs us that he 
was tarrying at Rome till his hair was grown ! Theodore being 
an Eastern monk, had his head shaved all over, according to the 
custom of the East, and this was called the tonsure of St. Paul. 
The Pope deemed it necessary, therefore, to delay the consecration 
till his hair was grown all over, so that he might be shaven only on 
the top of his head, in the form of a crown. This was called the 
Roman tonsure, or the tonsure of St. Peter. It would hardly be 
deemed credible that so much importance should be attached to 
such puerile trifles, were not the fact confirmed by the continuance 
of this absurd and senseless heathen practice of shaving the top of 
the head among the priests of Rome, down to the present day. 

§ 7. — Another most effectual way which the popes took to in- 
crease their power and influence, in this period, was to encourage 
appeals from the decisions of other ecclesiastical courts to the apos- 
tolic See, by almost invariably deciding in favor of the appellant, 
whatever might be the just merits of the case. Thus in the very 
next year after the appointment of Theodore to Canterbury, the 
same pope Vitalianus reversed the judgment of a synod consisting 
of all the bishops of the island of Crete, against one John, bishop of 
Lappa in that island, who had been found guilty of certain crimes, 
absolved the criminal, and imperiously commanded Paul, the pri- 
mate of Crete, to restore the deposed bishop to his office. 

The same thing happened a few years later, in the case of Wil- 
frid, bishop of York, who, according to the biographer of queen 
Etheldreda, the wife of Ecgfrid, king of Northumberland, had en- 
couraged that queen in a resolution she had formed, to refuse to the 
king the rights of a husband, and to take a vow of chastity, and 
retire into a monastery. Persisting in this resolution, in express 
opposition to the wishes of her husband, the king requested Wilfrid 
to use his influence with the queen, to bring her to a sense of her 
duty. Instead of this, however, he only confirmed her in her reso- 
lution, and the queen retired to a monastery in Scotland, where she 
received the veil at the hands of Wilfrid himself. The king, who 
loved his wife with the greatest tcndernoss, took a journey to Scot- 
land, to try and persuade her to return, but failing in this, he vented 



140 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m. 

Wilfrid, an English bishop, appeals with success to pope Agatho. First form of a bishop's oath. 

his indignation against Wilfrid, caused him to be deposed from his 
bishopric, by Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, and banished 
him from the kingdom of Northumberland. Wilfrid appealed to the 
Pope, and was received by Agatho with the greatest respect and 
honor. The merit of appealing to the apostolic See, especially as 
he was the first British ecclesiastic who had, in this way, acknow- 
ledged the supremacy of the successor of St. Peter, was, in the eyes 
of the Pope, sufficient to cover a multitude of sins. Wilfrid was 
declared innocent and unjustly deposed, and ordered to be restored 
to his See, and the clergy, as well as the laity of England, were 
required to pay implicit obedience to this decision, the former, on 
pain of being deposed, and the latter of being for ever excluded from 
the Eucharist.* 

§ 8. — During the pontificate of pope Gregory II., the first 
instance was exhibited of a Roman pontiff requiring a solemn oath 
of allegiance and submission from his legates and bishops. It was 
in the case of the celebrated Winfrid or Boniface, who has been called 
the apostle of Germany. Boniface was a native of England,f and 
in the year 716, voluntarily went on a mission among the pagans of 
Germany, and after laboring with zeal and success for several years ; 
repairing to Rome at the command of the Pope, he was ordained a 
bishop, and appointed by Gregory, his legate to all the inhabitants 
of Germany. Upon this occasion, the Pope required him to take 
the following oath at the tomb of St. Peter : 

" In the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in the sev- 
enth year of our most pious emperor Leo, in the fourth of his son 
Constantine, and in the seventh indiction, I, Boniface, by the grace 
of God, bishop, promise to you, blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, 
to blessed Gregory your vicar, and to his successors, by the undi- 
vided trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and by this your most 
sacred body, to maintain to the last, with the help of God, the 
purity and unity of the holy Catholic faith ; to consent to nothing 
contrary to either ; to consult in all things the interest of your 
church, and in all things to concur with you, to whom power has 
been given of binding and loosing, with the above-mentioned vicar, 
and with his successors. If I shall hear of any bishops acting 
contrary to the canons, I shall not communicate, nor entertain any 
commerce with them, but reprove and retrieve them, if I can ; if I 
cannot, I shall acquaint therewith my lord the Pope. If I do not 
faithfully perform what I now promise, may I be found guilty at the 
tribunal of the eternal Judge, and incur the punishment inflicted by 
you on Ananias and Sapphira, who presumed to deceive and de- 
fraud you." 

When Boniface had taken this oath, he laid it written with his 
own hand on the pretended body of St. Peter, and said, " This is 

* Eddius' Life of Wilfrid, chap, li., quoted by Bower, vol. iii., page 59. 
f See Fleury's Ecclesiastical History, book xli., 35, &c, and Dupin, 8th cen- 
tury, Boniface. 



chap, l] POPERY ADVANCING.— A. D. 606—800. 141 

Horrid cruelties of the Pope and the Emperor, on the refractory bishop of Ravenna. 

the oath which I have taken, and which I promise to keep." How 
painful to think that so holy and self-denying a man as Boniface, 
both from his life and death, appears to have been, should have been 
thus blinded by superstitious reverence for the holy See, and espe- 
cially for the artful, unworthy, and ambitious Gregory, who exacted 
from him this oath ! We shall perceive that in future ages the 
popes improved upon this oath, though all who read it must admit 
that it was a pretty fair specimen for a beginning. 

§ 9. — The popes of this age also strove to establish and confirm 
their power, by punishing to the utmost of their ability, all who 
should presume to rebel against the authority of the apostolic See. 
An instance of this is given in the case of the cruel vengeance in- 
flicted by the Emperor, through the persuasions of pope Constantine, 
upon Felix and his associates. In the early part of the eighth cen- 
tury, Felix, archbishop elect of Ravenna, came to Rome to receive 
ordination from the Pope, having first, according to Anastasius, 
promised obedience and subjection to the Roman See. Upon his 
return to Ravenna, being encouraged by the people, Felix withdrew 
himself from all subjection to Rome, and asserted the independence 
of his See. Of his motives for this step we are not informed. Per- 
haps, like Luther in after times, he had seen during his visit too 
much of the pretended successors of St. Peter, to be willing longer 
to acknowledge their lofty assumptions. Be this as it may, the 
Pope was no sooner informed of the conduct of Felix, than trans- 
ported with rage, he immediately wrote to the Emperor Justinian, 
entreating him to espouse the cause of the prince of the apostles, 
and demanding vengeance on the rebels against St. Peter. The 
Emperor, who at this time was desirous to oblige the Pope, imme- 
diately ordered one of his generals to repair to Ravenna, to seize on 
the archbishop, and the other rebels against St. Peter, and send 
them in chains to Constantinople, where all except the archbishop 
were soon after put to death, and the latter, after having his eyes 
cruelly dug out of their sockets, was banished to Pontus. The 
popish historian, Anastasius, has the audacity to ascribe those 
horrid cruelties of the Pope and the Emperor, to God and St. Peter. 
" And thus," says he, " by a just judgment of God, and by the sen- 
tence of St. Peter, all were, in the end, deservedly cut off, who re- 
fused to pay the obedience that was due to the apostolic See." 

§ 10. — In addition to these various ways adopted by the popes of 
extending their power and influence, and of inspiring with terror 
of their authority, all who should presume to oppose them, they 
made the most extravagant claims to the reverence and homage of 
the people. About the commencement of the eighth century, the 
debasing custom originated, which has continued ever since, of 
kissing the pope's foot. The emperor Justinian is thought thus to 
have degraded himself upon the occasion of a visit of pope Con- 
stantino, to the East, the very next year after he had been guilty of 
the cruelties just named, to the unfortunate bishop of Ravenna. As 
this visit of Constantine well illustrates the extravagant honors paid 



14-2 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 


[boos m. 


The- emperor Justinian kisses the Pope's fooL 


Character of thi 5 



to the popes of this age. it may be well to give a brief account of it 
In the year 710. the Pope received an order from Justin* to 
repair to Constantinople as soon as convenient, and e:v- barked on 
the 5: jber, for that city, accompanied by two bishops and a 

large number of the inferior clergy. The Emperor addressed an 
order to ail governors, judges, and magistrates of the places through 
which he should pass, to pay to hirn precisely the same honors as 
they would if he were the Emperor himself. At every place he 
touched at. he was received in a kind oi triumph, amidst the joyful 
acclamations and homage >f the people. On approaching Constan- 
tinople, he was met seven miles from the city, by Tiberias, the 
Emperor's son. the senate, the :.: biiity, the chief citizens, and the 
patriarch Cyrus at the head of his clergy. Thus attended, and 
mounted, together with the chief persons of his retinue, on the Em- 
peror's own horses, richly caparisoned, he arrived at the palace 
assigned for his habitation. The Emperor, who was absent at the 
time of his arrival, as - n as he received the intelligence, appointed 
to meet the Pope at N :. and it was there that Anastashtt 

informs us. ■■ the most Christian Emperor" prostrated himself on 
the ground, with the crown on his head, kissed his feet, and then 
cord-ally embraced him. On the following Sunday Justinian re- 
ceived the sacrament at the hands of the Pope, begged his Holiness 
to intercede for him that God might forgive his sins, and ren: 
and confirmed all the privileges that had ever been granted to the 
Roman See.* 

§ 11. — I: is unfortunate for the credit of the Romish church, that 
this "most Christian Emperor," as the popish historian calls him. 
like the other two sovereigns to whom that apostate church was 
indebted for her most valuable favors, Phoeas and Irene, was one 
of the most bloodthirsty of tyrants, and the most abandoned of the 
human family. He delighted in nothing so much as in cruelty and 
revenge, in bloodshed and slaughter. After returning from Cher- 
sonesus. where, in consequence of his tyranny, he had been driven 
into banishment \ "m lence jf supposing his dignity insulted by 

the inhabitants of Chersunesus, he despatched a fleet and army 
against them, with express orders to spare neither man, woman, nor 
child alive, whether guilty or innocent, and in consequence of this 
inhuman command, multitudes of people miserably perished by the 
flames, the rack, or the sea. On his return from banishment, when 
sailing on the Euxine. says Gibl an, " his vessel was assaulted by a 
violent tempests ''■--- r -'-~-~ '-'- his companions advised him to deserve 
the mercy of God, by a vow of eternal forgiveness, if he should be 
restored to the throne. ' Of forgiveness ! (replied the intrepid tyrant), 
may I perish this instant — may the Almighty whelm me in the 
waves — if I consent to spare a single head oi my enemies f But 
never was vow more religiously performed than the sacred oath 
of revenge that he had sworn amidst the storm of the Euxine. The 

* Amstasns, in vita Constantin, 



chap, i.] POPERY ADVANCING.— A. D. 606—800. 143 

Gibbon's account of the cruelty and tyranny of this worshipper of the Pope. 



two usurpers, who had in turn occupied his throne during his ban* 
ishment, were dragged into the hippodrome, the one from his prison, 
the other from the palace. Before their execution, Leontius and 
Apsimar were cast prostrate in chains beneath the throne of the 
Emperor, and Justinian, planting a foot on each of their necks, con- 
templated above an hour the chariot race, while the innocent people 
shouted, in the words of the psalmist, * Thou shalt trample on the 
asp and basilisk, and on the lion and dragon shalt thou set thy foot !' 
The universal defection which he had once experienced might pro- 
voke him to repeat the wish of Caligula, that the Roman people had 
but one head. Yet I shall presume to observe, that such a wish 
is unworthy of an ingenious tyrant, since his revenge and cruelty 
would have been extinguished by a single blow, instead of the slow 
variety of tortures which Justinian inflicted on the victims of his 
anger. His pleasures were inexhaustible : neither private virtue 
nor public service could expiate the guilt of active, or even passive 
obedience to an established government ; and, during the six years 
of his new reign, he considered the axe, the cord, and the rack, as 
the only instruments of royalty."* Such was the man whom Ro- 
mish historians do not blush to call " the most Christian and ortho- 
dox Emperor" merely because he cruelly tortured, blinded, and 
murdered those who would not succumb to the papal anti-Christ, 
bowed down and kissed the feet of the haughty pontiff, and loaded 
with his imperial favors, the apostate church of which he was the 
head. 

§ 12. — It might be expected that an age which could yield itself so 
far to the extravagant claims of the newly created spiritual monarch 
of the world must be one of the grossest ignorance and darkness. 
Such, we find, was the fact. " Nothing," says Mosheim, speaking 
of the century in which the Pope established his supremacy, " can 
equal the ignorance and darkness that reigned in this century ; the 
most impartial and accurate account of which will appear incredi- 
ble to those who are unacquainted with the productions of this bar- 
barous period. The greatest part of those who were looked upon 
as learned men, threw away their time in reading the marvellous 
lives of a parcel of fanatical saints, instead of employing it in the 
perusal of well chosen and excellent authors. The bishops in 
general were so illiterate, that few of that body were capable of 
composing the discourses which they delivered to the people. Such 
of them as were not totally destitute of genius, composed out of 
the writings of Augustine and Gregory a certain number of insipid 
homilies, which they divided between themselves and their stupid 
colleagues, that they might not be obliged, through incapacity, to 
discontinue preaching the doctrines of Christianity to their people." 
The want even of an acquaintance with the first rudiments of 
literature was so general among the higher ecclesiastics of those 
times, that it was scarcely deemed disgraceful to acknowledge it. 



* Decline and Fall, vol. iii., page 242. 
10 



144 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book hi. 

Gross ignorance of the bishops of this period. Specimens of their reasoning and doctrine. 

In the acts of the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, many ex- 
amples occur where subscriptions are to be found in this form : 
" I, N, have subscribed by the hand of M, because I cannot write. 9 * 
And " such a bishop having said that he could not write, I whose 
name is underwritten have subscribed for him"* 

§ 13. — As a specimen of the reasoning of this dark age, I would 
refer to a writing which Holstenius, the librarian of the Vatican, 
where it was found, ascribed to pope Boniface IV. It is an attempt 
to show that monks are suitable for ministers, in opposition to some 
who maintained that they should be incapable of the sacerdotal 
office. Monks are there declared to be angels, and consequently 
proper ministers of the word. This is proved in the following 
way : — The cherubim had each six wings. Monks have also six 
wings ; the arms of their cassock two, its extremities two more, 
and the cowl forming the other two. Therefore monks are cheru- 
bim or angels, and suitable for ministers of the word ! Whether 
this curious specimen of reasoning proceeded, as the learned Roman 
Catholic Holstenius supposes, from the infallible pope Boniface, or 
whether, as others believe, it was the production of some monk of 
that age, it may be equally appropriate as a specimen of early 
popish logic, f As one instance and proof of the superstition of 
the age may be mentioned the object (according to the opinion of 
the learned popish annalist Baronius), of a visit to Rome paid by 
Mellitus, first bishop of London, in 610, to the Pope. Bede informs 
us that he went to settle with the Pope some particular affairs of 
the English church. Baronius conjectures that he came to Rome 
to inquire of Boniface whether the consecration of the church of 
Westminster, performed by St. Peter in person, was to be regarded 
as valid. For St. Peter was said to have come down from heaven 
for that very purpose, and who will dare dispute with Cardinal 
Baronius the truth of the wonderful prodigy, since it is actually 
attested by the very waterman who conveyed the apostle over the 
river Thames on his way from heaven to Westminster ? and upon 
his testimony was believed by the abbot Ealred, whom the Cardinal 
calls " a very credible historian ! ! "J 

§ 14. — As a specimen of the doctrine of this age, we may refer to a 
description of a good Christian from the pen of St. Eligius, as he 
is called, bishop of Noyon, in which, though there are some good 
exhortations, there is not the slightest mention of repentance for 
sin or faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ; and the principal stress is 
laid upon the lighting of candles in consecrated places, praying to 
the saints, and saying the creed and Lord's prayer. Let a man 
only abound in these services, and he could come to God, accord- 
ing to this saint, not as a suppliant to beg, but as a creditor to de- 
mand. " Da, domine, quia dedi." Give, Lord, because I have 

* White's Bampton Lectures, sermon ii. and notes, p. 6. 
t Holstein Collect Rom., p. 42. quoted and referred to by Bower — Vita Boniface 
IV. 

$ Baronius, ad annum 610. 



chap. I.] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 145 

Relic-hunting. Unkennelling dead bodies. Mahomet, the false prophet of Mecca. 

given /* Such was Popery then ; such is Popery still. We are 
not surprised to learn from his biographer, that this saint was a 
most zealous and persevering hunter for relics, and that " many 
bodies of holy martyrs, concealed from human knowledge for ages, 
were discovered by him and brought to light !" ' Sanctorum mar- 

tyrum corpora, qua? per tot ssecula abdita patefacta proderen- 

tur.' This zealous, relic-hunting merit-monger was successful, if 
we may credit his biographer, in smelling out and unkennelling, 
among other bodies, the carcasses of St. Quintin, St. Crispin, St. 
Lucian, &c. In those days of darkness and superstition it was an 
easy way, and one of which the bishops often availed themselves 
of filling their coffers by providing a supply of relics for sale, by 
pretending to a miraculous power in discovering the bodies of saints 
and martyrs. 

§ 15. — It was in the seventh century that the false prophet of 
Mecca commenced his career of conquest. Fired by the spectacle 
which everywhere met his observation of the worship of idols in 
a thousand forms, not only on heathen but Christian ground, he 
avowed himself as the enemy of idolatry, and the champion of the 
divine unity. The limits as well as the design of this work will 
not permit a sketch of his remarkable history. After perusing the 
recital we have already given of the superstition, ignorance, and 
idolatry of popish Christianity at the era of the Popedom, the 

* The extract, or rather collection of sentences, from this discourse of St. Eligius. 
quoted by Mosheim, Jortin, Robertson, Jones, &c, is as follows : — 

" Bonus Christianus est, qui ad eccle- " He is a good Christian who goes 
siam frequenter venit, et oblationem, quae frequently to church, and makes his ob- 
in altari Deo offeratur, exhibit ; qui de lations at God's altar ; who never tastes 
fructibus suis non gustat, nisi prius of his own fruit until he has presented 
Deo aliquid offerat ; qui, quoties sanctae some to God ; who, for many days be- 
solemnitates adveniunt, ante dies plures fore the solemn festivals observes strict 
castitatem etiam cum propria uxore chastity, though he be married, that he 
custodit, ut secura conscientia Domini may approach the altar with a safe con- 
altare accedere possit ; qui postremo science ; lastly, who can repeat the 
symbolum vel orationem Dominicam me- Creed and the Lord's Prayer. Redeem 
moriter tenet. Redimite animas vestras your souls from punishment whilst you 
de poena, dum habetis in potestate reme- have it in your power ; offer your free 
dia ; oblationes et decimas ecclesiis of- gifts and tithes ; contribute towards the 
ferte, luminaria Sanctis locis, juxta quod luminaries in holy places ; repair fre- 
habetis, exhibite ; ad ecclesiam quoque quently to church, and humbly implore 
frec|uentius convenite, sanctorum patro- the protection of the saints. If you ob- 
cinia humiliter expetite ; quod si obser- serve these things, you may appear 
vaveritis, securi in die judicii ante tri- boldly at God's tribunal in the day of 
bunal aeterni judicis venientes dicetis ; judgment, and say — Give, Lord, accord- 
Da, Domine, quia dedimus. ing as we have given.'''' 

By quoting, at large, from the discourse of Eligius, from various parts of which 
these sentences are extracted, I think that Waddington has shown (though all 
these sentences are found in the discourse), that Kligius has hardly been treated 
with fairness. Still, the flagrant contradiction of the doctrine of salvation by grace 
and not of debt, with which the extract closes, is sufficient to show that, in that 
dark age, the doctrines of grace were most sadly perverted or obscured. See 
Waddington's Church History, p. 251, Mosheim, ii., 173, &c. The original of 
the discourse is found in Dacherii Spicilegium vetcr. Scriptor., Tom v. 



146 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book in. 



Origin of the Monothelite, or one-will controversy. 



reader will be prepared to admit the truth of the following state- 
ment of Mr. Taylor in his Ancient Christianity (page 365). " What 
Mahomet and his caliphs found in all directions, whither their cime- 
ters cut a path for them, was a superstition so abject, an idolatry so 
gross and shameless, church doctrines so arrogant, church practices 
so dissolute and so puerile, that the strong-minded Arabians felt 
themselves inspired anew as God's messengers to reprove the 
errors of the world, and authorized as God's avengers to punish 
apostate Christendom." 



CHAPTER II. 

HISTORY OF THE MONOTHELITE CONTROVERSY POPE HONORIUS CON- 
DEMNED AS A HERETIC BY THE SIXTH GENERAL COUNCIL, A.D. 680. 

§ 16. — The early part of the seventh century was signalized by 
the commencement of a remarkable controversy between those 
who maintained with the emperor Heraclius, and Sergius, patri- 
arch of Constantinople, the doctrine of one will and one operation 
in the nature of Christ ; and those who believed in two wills, the 
human and the divine, and two operations or distinct kinds of voli- 
tion, the one proceeding from his human, and the other from his 
divine will. This was called the Monothelite controversy, from two 
Greek words signifying one will. Upon this abstruse metaphysical 
point did this famous dispute arise, which threatened to rend into 
fragments the whole Christian world, and that notwithstanding 
both parties were confessedly orthodox in relation to their belief 
both of the proper deity and humanity of the second person in the 
glorious Trinity. Our reason for introducing the history of this con- 
troversy in the present work is not because we attach any great 
importance to the opinion of either party, so long as both believed 
that Jesus Christ was properly divine, coequal and coeternal with 
the Father ; but on account of the part that was taken in it by the 
popes of Rome, and the light which is thus thrown upon the history 
of Romanism, and especially upon the infallibility (so much vaunted 
by Baronius, Bellarmine and other popish writers) of the boasted 
successors of St. Peter. 

§ 17. — In the year 634, Sergius, the patriarch of Constantinople, 
addressed a letter to pope Honorius at Rome, informing him of the 
opposition which the doctrine of one will, which he styled " the 
doctrine of the fathers," had received from one Sophronius, at that 
time bishop of Jerusalem, and others ; and requesting the opinion 
of the Pope on the subject of the doctrine in dispute, and also his 



chap, il] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 147 

The decree called the Echthesis. Pope Honorius approves the doctrine. Pope John condemns it. 

advice as to the most effectual means of maintaining the peace and 
tranquillity of the church. In the reply of Honorius, he stated that 
he entirely agreed with Sergius in opinion, that he acknowledged 
but one will in Christ, and that none of the fathers had ever openly 
taught the doctrine of two wills. 

About the time of the death of pope Honorius, which took place 
A. D. 638, Sergius published and affixed to the doors of the church 
at Constantinople, in the name of the emperor Heraclius, the cele- 
brated edict upon the subject of the controversy called the Echthe- 
sisr or exposition. This edict began with an orthodox profession 
of belief in the sacred Trinity. It acknowledged two distinct na- 
tures in one person of Christ ; but in reference to the will, and the 
operations of the will, it used the following language : — " We ascribe 
all the operations in Christ, the human as well as the divine, to the 
word incarnate. But whether they should be called two, or should 
be called one, we will suffer none to dispute" Notwithstanding, 
however, this apparent profession of neutrality, the authors of the 
edict say towards the conclusion — " We therefore confess, agreea- 
bly to the doctrine of the apostles, of the councils and of the fathers, 
but one will in Christ" — and it concludes by thundering anathemas 
against heretics, and requiring all to hold and profess the doctrine 
thus declared and explained. 

§ 18. — Sergius died soon after publishing this edict, and was, in 
639, succeeded in the See of Constantinople by Pyrrhus, who as- 
sembled a council, and confirmed the doctrine of the Echthesis as 
the genuine doctrine of the apostles and fathers. On the other 
hand, pope John IV., who differed entirely in opinion from his pre- 
decessor Honorius, assembled a council of the bishops of the West. 
in which the Echthesis was solemnly condemned and the doctrine 
of one will was anathematized as entirely repugnant to the Catholic- 
faith, and to the doctrine of the fathers. The Pope also caused a 
copy of the acts and decrees of this council to be immediately 
transmitted to Pyrrhus, signed by himself and the bishops who 
were present, hoping thereby to check the progress which the 
Monothelite doctrine was making in the East. 

Instead of paying any regard to the authority of the Pope or 
his council, Pyrrhus immediately caused transcripts to be made of 
the two letters of pope Honorius to Sergius, in which Honorius 
expressed his belief of the doctrine of one will, and sent them to 
all the principal bishops in the East ; at the same time appealing 
to them whether pope Honorius had not approved by the authority 
of the apostolic See of the very doctrine which his successor 
John had condemned by the same authority. He wrote also a let- 
ter to the Pope, in which he expressed his astonishment that he 
should condemn a doctrine which his predecessor, Honorius, had 
received, taught, and approved. Pope John, perceiving that this 
disagreement in opinion between two of the boasted successors of 
St. Peter was calculated to sap the very foundation of the papal 
authority, made an artful but lame attempt to explain away the 



148 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m. 

Pope Theodore s modest proposal to the patriarch Paul. The fugitive patriarch Pyrrhus, 

opinions of Honorius, but the fallacy of his sophistical reasoning is 
apparent, as we shall presently see, from the fact that in the sixth 
general council, held a few years later, these letters of Honorius 
were unanimously condemned as acknowledging and inculcating 
the Monothelite doctrine. 

§ 19. — Pope John was succeeded in the year 642 by Theodore, 
and about the same time Paul succeeded to the See of Constanti- 
nople, in the room of Pyrrhus, the Monothelite patriarch, who had 
abandoned his See and sought safety in flight, in consequence of the 
general suspicion that was entertained that he had been privy to 
the poisoning of the late emperor, Constantine III. In a letter 
which Theodore wrote to Paul, soon after his accession to the 
Popedom, he censures him for accepting the patriarchate till Pyr- 
rhus had been lawfully deposed, charges the latter with heresy in 
receiving the Monothelite doctrine and publishing the Echthesis 
(evidently, in the estimation of the Pope, a much greater crime than 
assassinating the Emperor) ; advises that a council should be im- 
mediately assembled, in which Pyrrhus might be judged, condemn- 
ed, and regularly deposed ; and closes his letter with the very modest 
proposal, that if there was likely to be any difficulty in the trial 
of Pyrrhus at Constantinople, he should be despatched to Rome, 
that he might there be judged, deposed and condemned by the Pope 
and his council ! The new patriarch Paul, as we may easily con- 
ceive, treated this proposal with the contempt it deserved. He 
took not the slightest notice of it, continued to exercise his office, 
and instead of condemning the doctrine of Pyrrhus, he confirmed 
it in a council assembled for the purpose, and caused the Echthesis 
to be continued on the gates of the church, that all might know the 
doctrine that he inculcated and believed. 

§ 20. — The patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, and many other 
bishops, took sides with Paul, and maintained the doctrine of one 
will. Others, however, as strongly opposed both the doctrine and 
the Echthesis. In the island of Cyprus, both were unanimously 
condemned in a council of the bishops assembled for that purpose, 
and a long epistle was despatched to pope Theodore, bitterly com- 
plaining of Paul of Constantinople, for holding and promoting, to the 
utmost of his power, a doctrine, as they said, so plainly repugnant 
to the repeated " decrees of St. Peter and his See." In the West, 
the Echthesis was universally condemned, and three of the principal 
bishops of Africa first anathematized Paul in their councils, and then 
wrote to the Pope, earnestly entreating him to cut off from the 
communion of the church, not only Paul of Constantinople, but all 
who maintained that " impious doctrine," unless, by a speedy re- 
pentance, they should repair the scandal they had caused. It was 
chiefly through the labors of a celebrated monk named Maximus, 
and the result of a public disputation that he held with Pyrrhus, 
that the African bishops were thus brought to array themselves, 
with so much unanimity and so much earnestness, against the Mo- 
nothelite opinions. Maximus, who was a man of learning, for that 



chap.il] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 149 

His disputation with the monk Maximus. Pyrrhus solemnly excommunicated by Pope Theodore. 

age, had, previous to withdrawing to a monastery, been private 
secretary to the emperor Heraclius, at Constantinople, while Pyr- 
rhus was patriarch. Soon after commencing his labors in Africa, 
the former secretary fell in with the fugitive patriarch, and both of 
them bringing to their aid talents and learning of no mean order, 
each succeeded in drawing around himself a party attached to his 
own views. In consequence of the disturbance occasioned by these 
two opposite parties, the Monothelites, headed by Pyrrhus, and the 
Duothelites, headed by Maximus, the bishops proposed that the diffi- 
culty should be settled by a public dispute, before Gregory, the 
governor of the province. This proposal having been agreed to by 
the governor and the two disputants, the debate was holden in the 
presence of a large number of the bishops, nobility, and others, who 
had congregated from various parts to listen to them. Manuscript 
copies of the debate in the original Greek, are still to be seen in the 
Vatican library, at Rome, under the following lengthy, but one- 
sided title : " The question concerning an ecclesiastical dogma, that 
was disputed before the most pious patrician Gregory, in an assem- 
bly of the most holy bishops, and the nobility, by Pyrrhus, patriarch 
of Constantinople, and the most reverend monk Maximus, in the 
month of July, the third indiction ; Pyrrhus defending the new dog- 
ma of one will in Christ, wickedly introduced by himself and his 
predecessor Sergius, and Maximus maintaining the doctrine of the 
apostles and the fathers, as delivered to us from the beginning."* 

§ 21. — At the close of the disputation, Pyrrhus, who had been 
compelled to wander as an exile from his See at Constantinople, 
wishing probably to recommend himself to the favor of the Pope, 
and the other Western bishops, professed himself a convert to the 
doctrine of Maximus, proceeded in company with him to Rome, 
and upon there solemnly abjuring his heresy in the presence of the 
Pope, the clergy, and a vast multitude of the people, was received, 
with great pomp and ceremony, to the communion of the Roman 
church, and publicly honored by the Pope, as the patriarch of Con- 
stantinople. The joy and exultation of the Pope was, however, of 
short duration ; it was soon changed into disappointment and chagrin, 
upon hearing that Pyrrhus had proceeded to Ravenna, and through 
the persuasions of the exarch Plato, who had the power, if he 
chose, of advancing his interests at the court of the Emperor, had 
publicly renounced his recent recantation, and placed himself at the 
head of the Monothelite party in that city. 

Upon hearing this, the rage and exasperation of pope Theodore 
was extreme. He immediately convened an assembly of the 
clergy in the old church of St. Peter's ; thundered forth the sentence 
of excommunication against this new Judas, accompanied with the 
most fearful anathemas, and calling, in the transport of his indigna- 

* The curious in such matters, may examine a Greek copy of the report of this 
very ancient dispute, with the Latin translation in the opposite column, occupying 
28 pages folio, at the end of the eighth volume of Baronius' Annals, of which there 
is a copy in the Society Library, New York. 



150 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m. 

Pope Theodore's impotent spiritual thunders. The decree called the 7\pe. 

tion, for the consecrated wine of the sacrament, mingled a portion 
of it with the ink. and with the mixture, signed the sentence of 
excommunication, which was to consign the apostate Pyrrhus to 
the agonies of despair, and to the torments of the damned. 

§ 22. — In the mean time, with the hope of appeasing, in some 
measure, the wrath of the Pope, and the displeasure of the Western 
bishops, the patriarch Paul had caused the obnoxious decree, called 
the Echthesis. to be removed from the gates of the church at Con- 
stantinople, and prevailed upon the Emperor to supply its place by 
another called the Type or formulary, the object of which, while it 
expressed no bias to either side of the disputed question, was strictly 
to forbid, under severe penalties, all disputes whatever, relative 
to the will or wills of Christ, and the mode of its or their operation. 
The Emperor, with reason, had become weary of these endless 
disputes and quarrels ; his object was peace, and for that reason he 
flattered himself that those who professed to be servants of the 
Prince of Peace, would readily comply with this edict. 

Before the suppression of the Echthesis was known at Rome, 
however, the Pope, in compliance with the advice of the African 
bishops, previously mentioned, had excommunicated Paul with great 
solemnity as an incorrigible heretic, and had declared him, by the 
authority of St. Peter, divested of all ecclesiastical power and 
dignities. When the news of this rash and hasty step came to 
Constantinople, instead of submitting to the Pope's authority, the 
patriarch was so enraged, that he wreaked his vengeance upon the 
apocrisarii or ambassadors of the Pope, and imprisoned, and even 
whipt some of their retinue. The excommunication of Paul by the 
Pope, was regarded by the Emperor, and with a few exceptions, 
by all the bishops of the East, as of no authority, and he continued 
to enjoy the patriarchal dignity and office till his death, and after 
his decease, the former patriarch Pyrrhus became reconciled to the 
Emperor, and though excommunicated and cursed by the Pope, in 
the terrific manner we have seen, was, notwithstanding, reinstated 
by the Emperor in his former dignity, and received and acknow- 
ledged by the bishops and people of the East as the lawful patri- 
arch of Constantinople. 

§ 23. — Upon the death of Theodore (A. D. 649), pope Martin was 
chosen as his successor in the same year, and upon sending to the 
Emperor to confirm his election (which was in this century invari- 
ably done upon the choice oi a new pope), Constantine confirmed 
his election with more than usual promptitude, hoping thereby to 
secure Ins co-operation in the plan he had formed for the restoration 
of peace, by enjoining silence on the vexed question, in his edict 
called the Type. Instead of this, however, Martin immediately 
assembled a council at Rome, and condemned not only the Mono- 
thehte doctrine, and "the impious Echthesis" but o.ho i; the most 
wicked Type, latelv published against the Catholic church, by the 
most serene emperor Constantine, at the instigation of Paul, the 
pretended bishop of Constantinople.'' 



chap, il] POPERY ADVANCING— A.D. 606—800. 15] 

Sixth general council. Pope Honorius condemned therein for heresy. 

Such an insult to the imperial authority, by one who, notwith- 
standing his high ecclesiastical dignity, was yet a subject of the 
Emperor, could not be suffered with impunity. By order of the 
emperor Constantine, Martin was taken prisoner and conveyed to 
Naxos, a small island in the Grecian Archipelago : afterward carried 
to the imperial court, and after a mock form of trial, accompanied 
with cruel insult and abuse, he was stripped of his sacerdotal gar- 
ments, condemned and degraded, and then sent into exile, on the 
inhospitable shores of Taurica Chersonesus, where he died in 656. 

§ 24. — These resolute proceedings rendered Eugenius and Vi- 
talianus, the succeeding popes, more moderate and prudent than 
their predecessor had been ; especially the latter, who received 
Constans, upon his arrival at Rome in the year 663, with the highest 
marks of distinction and respect, and used the wisest precautions 
to prevent the flame of that unhappy controversy from breaking 
out a second time. And thus, for several years, it appeared to be 
extinguished ; but it was so only in appearance ; it was a lurking 
flame, which spread itself secretly, and gave reason to those who 
examined things with attention, to dread new combustions both in 
church and state. 

To prevent these, Constantine Pogonatus, the son of Constans, 
pursuant to the advice of Agatho, the Roman pontiff, summoned, in 
the year 680, the sixth general or ecumenical council in which he 
permitted the Monothelites and pope Honorius himself to be so- 
lemnly condemned in presence of the Roman legates, who repre- 
sented Agatho in that assembly, and confirmed the sentence pro- 
nounced by the council, by the sanction of penal laws enacted 
against such as pretended to oppose it. 

§ 25. — The condemnation of pope Honorius for heresy by this gene- 
ral council is an event of so much importance, in the controversy 
with Rome, that we deem it worthy to place on record the language 
in which the decree of his condemnation, and that of others who 
also maintained the same doctrine, was couched. The writings on 
this subject having been read before the council from the pens of 
Sergius, former patriarch of Constantinople, Cyrus of Phasis, and 
Honorius, former pope of old Rome, they solemnly delivered their 
unanimous judgment in the following terms : — " Having examined 
the dogmatic letters that were written by Sergius, formerly bishop 
of this royal city, to Cyrus once of Phasis, and to Honorius, bishop 
of old Rome, and likewise the answer of the said Honorius to the 
letter of Sergius, we have found them quite repugnant to the doc- 
trine of the apostles, to the definitions of the councils, to the sense 
of the fathers, and entirely agreeable to the false doctrines of the 
heretics ; therefore we reject and accurse them as hurtful to the 
soul. As we reject and accurse such impious dogmas, so we are 
all of opinion, that the names of those who taught and professed 
them ought to be banished from the church, that is, struck out of 
the Diptychs ; viz., the names of Sergius, formerly bishop of this 
royal city, who first wrote of this impious tenet, and Cyrus of 



152 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m 

Pope Honorius anathematized by the sixth general council, and his writings committed to the flames. 

Alexandria, of Pyrrhus, Paul, and Peter, who once held this See, 
and agreed in opinion with them, and likewise of Theodorus, for- 
merly bishop of Pharan; who have all been mentioned by the 
thrice blessed Agatho, in his letter to our most pious Lord and 
mighty Emperor, and have been anathematized by him, as ho. ding 
opinions repugnant to the true faith. All these, and each of them, 
we too declare anathematized ; and with them we anathematize, 
and cast out of the holy Catholic Church, Honorius, pope of old 
Rome, it appearing from his letter to Sergius, that he entirely 
agreed in opinion with him, and confirmed his impious doctrine." 

In the same session of the council, the second letter of pope 
Honorius to Sergius was read, examined, and by a decree of the 
council, committed to the flames, with the other Monothelite writ- 
ings ; and it is worthy of remark, that this decree passed unani- 
mously, without the slightest opposition, not even the legates of the 
Pope venturing to say a word in his behalf, so overwhelming and 
conclusive was the proof that pope Honorius had held and main- 
tained the very same doctrine as was now, by this council, acknow- 
ledged even by Romanists as the sixth general council, solemnly 
condemned as heresy.* 

§ 26. — From the above account of this famous controversy, much 
light is thrown upon the condition, the character, and the claims 
of Popery during the seventh century. 

(1.) We learn that the popes of Rome were careful to seize 
every opportunity of advancing their authority, and practically 
asserting that supremacy, as the spiritual sovereigns of the church, 
which they had claimed ever since the decree of Phocas in 606. 
We hear them thundering their anathemas at the heads of the 
other bishops, and excommunicating even the patriarchs of Constan- 
tinople, the most exalted in rank of all the dignitaries of the church 
in this century, if we except the Pope himself. In the decree of 
pope Martin against the edict called the Type, we have seen that 
Paul is called * the pretended bishop of Constantinople," because he 
had been excommunicated and deposed by the authority of pope 
Theodore, the predecessor of Martin. In the letter which pope 
Agatho sent to the Emperor by the hands of his legates to the 
council, we discover the first pretence of a claim, which has since 
been frequently asserted — the claim of absolute papal infallibility. 
After a long descant in praise of the See of St. Peter, he affirmed 
that the popes never had erred, and intimated that they never could 
err, and that their decisions ought therefore to be received as the 
divine voice of St. Peter himself. We have already seen, how- 
ever, that the council, in the case of pope Honorius, very soon 
came to an entirely different decision. 

(2.) We learn, also, that notwithstanding these lofty assump- 

* Those who desire fuller information on this remarkable controversy, may find 
it in Hist. Concil. Cone, vi., Sess. 12, 13; Baronius's Annals ad Ann. 681; 
Bower's Lives of the Popes, Vit. Theodore, Martin, Agatho. 



chap.h.] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 153 



The climax of papal assumption not yet arrived. Papal infallibility. Opinion of Bellarmine, &c. 

tions, the authority of the Pope was as yet by no means universally 
received, nor his decrees regarded as binding, especially in the 
East. In proof of this, we need only recur to the fact that Paul 
and Pyrrhus both exercised the office of patriarch, and were for 
years acknowledged and regarded as such by the Emperor, the 
bishops, and people of the East, notwithstanding each of them had 
been solemnly excommunicated by the Pope. 

(3.) We see also that the popes had not yet learned to hurl 
their anathemas at the heads of emperors and kings. The election 
of a pope, at this time, was not regarded as valid till confirmed by 
a decree of the Emperor. Hence we are not surprised that the 
popes were too timid or too prudent to include " the most serene 
emperor " Heraclius or Constans in the same sentence of excommu- 
nication which they pronounced against Paul or Pyrrhus for merely 
executing the orders of their imperial masters, in preparing and 
publishing the obnoxious heretical decrees, the Echthesis, or the 
Type. The age of Theodore and of Martin was not the age of 
Gregory VII., or of Innocent III. 

(4). It is scarcely necessary to add that in the unanimous con- 
demnation of pope Honorius by the sixth general council for heresy, 
we have a complete refutation of the claim so frequently urged by the 
Jesuits and other advocates of Rome, of the infallibility of the 
Pope* Till it is proved that two contraries can be exactly alike, 
this boasted claim of infallibility must be abandoned. So evident 
is it that this fact is fatal to the papal infallibility, that Baronius, 
the Romish annalist, a strong advocate of the same, has labored 
hard, though without the semblance of reason, to show that the 
name of Honorius was inserted in the decrees instead of that of 
some other person ; a supposition as weak and ridiculous as it is 
unfounded. The great body of Romish authors, and among the 
rest Dupin, candidly admit the heresy and condemnation of Ho- 
norius. The latter historian remarks, that " the council had as much 
reason to censure him as Sergius, Paulus, Peter, and the other pa- 
triarchs of Constantinople ;" and adds, in language yet more em- 
phatic, — " This will stand for certain, then, that Honorius was con- 
demned, and justly too, as a heretic, by the sixth general 
council."f 

* As it is not uncommon in the present day, in protestant countries, to represent 
the doctrine of the infallibility of the Pope, as a protestant calumny, I will cite 
the opinion of one or two of their most celebrated advocates. 

1. Lewis Capsensis de Fid. Disput. 2, sect. 6, affirms : " We can believe nothing, 
if we do not believe with a divine faith that the Pope is the successor of Peter, 
and infallible !" 

2. I shall quote the words of Cardinal Bellarmine, as they are very remarka- 
ble, in the original Latin (de Pont. 4, 5). "Si autem Papa erraret praeticiendo 
vitia, vel prohibendo virtutes, teneretur Ecclesia credere vitia esse bona et virtutes 
malas, nisi vellet contra conscientiam peccare." That is, " But if the Pope should 
err, by enjoining vices or prohibiting virtues, the Church, unless she would sin 
against conscience, would be bound to believe vices to be good, and virtues 
evil." 

t Dupin's Eccles. Hist., vol. ii., p. 16. 



154 



CHAPTER III. 

IMAGE WORSHIP. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT CONTROVERSY 

ON THIS SUBJECT, TO THE DEATH OF THE EMPEROR LEO, AND OF POPE 
GREGORY III., BOTH IN THE SAME YEAR, A. D. 741. 

§ 27. — We have already seen (page 98 above), that in the fourth 
century, the worship of images was abominated by the Christian 
church, and that even their admission into places of worship, for 
whatever object, was regarded by the most eminent bishops with 
abhorrence. " In opposition to the authority of Scripture, there 
was a human image in the church of Jesus Christ," were the 
words of Epiphanius, already quoted. 

" It is an injury to God," says Justin Martyr, " to make an image 
of him in base wood or stone."* 

Augustine says that " God ought to be worshipped without an 
image ; images serving only to bring the Deity into contempt."f 
The same bishop elsewhere asserts that " it would be impious in a 
Christian to set up a corporeal image of God in a church ; and that 
he would be thereby guilty of the sacrilege condemned by St. Paul, 
of turning the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made 
like to corruptible man."J 

" We Christians," says Origen, when writing against his infidel 
antagonist, " have nothing to do with images, on account of the 
second commandment ; the first thing we teach those who come to 
us is, to despise idols and all images ; it being the peculiar charac- 
ter of the Christian religion to raise our minds above images, agree- 
ably to the law which God himself has given to mankind."§ It 
would be easy to multiply such quotations as these, but it is unne- 
cessary. The testimony of these fathers is merely cited as historical 
evidence, as to the state of opinion on this subject in their day, not 
as matter of authority, because were their testimony in favor of the 
practice of this popish idolatry, as it is of some other popish corrup- 
tions, still their authority would weigh nothing with genuine protest- 
ants, in favor of a practice so plainly opposed to the letter and the 
spirit of the Bible. 

§ 28. — Some of the fathers, as Tertullian, Clemens Alexandrinus, 
and Origen, carried their opposition to all sorts of images to such an 
extent, as to teach that the Scriptures forbid altogether the arts of 
statuary and painting. || Now, while it is admitted that they were 
mistaken in this construction of the second commandment, for we 

* Justin's Apology, ii., page 44. 
f Augustine de Civit. Dei.. 1. vii., c. 5. 
\ Augustine, de fide, et symb., c. viL 
\ Origen against Celsus, 1. v., 7. 

(j See Bower's History of the Popes, vol. iii., page 214, where several extracts 
are given from Tertullian, Clemens, and Origen. on this point. 



chap, in.] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 155 

Gibbon's account of the gradual introduction of image-worship hto the Christian church. 

are only forbidden to make graven images for the purpose of bowing 
down to them and serving them (Exodus xx., 5), yet the fact itself, 
of their expressing such an opinion, is the most conclusive proof 
possible, that they knew nothing whatever of the popish idolatry 
which sprung up a few centuries later, and which continues to 
characterize the church of Rome down to the present time. 

" The primitive Christians," remarks Mr. Gibbon (who is more to 
be depended on in his facts, than his reasonings), "weie possessed 
With an unconquerable repugnance to the use and abuse of images, 
and this aversion may be ascribed to their descent from the Jews, 
and their enmity to the Greeks. The Mosaic law had severely 
proscribed all representations of the Deity, and that precept was 
firmly established in the principles and practice of the chosen 
people. The wit of the Christian apologists was pointed against 
the foolish idolators, who had bowed before the workmanship of 
their own hands ; the images of brass and marble, which, had they 
been endowed with sense and motion, should have started rather 
from the pedestal to adore the creative powers of the artist. The 
public religion of the Christians was uniformly simple and spiritual ; 
and the first notice of the use of pictures is in the censure of the 
council of Illiberis, three hundred years after the Christian era. 
Under the successors of Constantine, in the peace and luxury of the 
triumphant church, the more prudent bishops condescended to 
indulge a visible superstition, for the benefit of the multitude, and, 
after the ruin of Paganism, they were no longer restrained by the 
apprehension of an odious parallel. The first introduction of a 
symbolic worship was in the veneration of the cross, and of relics. 
The saints and martyrs, whose intercession was implored, were 
seated on the right hand of God ; but the gracious, and often super- 
natural favors, which, in the popular belief, were showered round 
their tombs, conveyed an unquestionable sanction of the devout 
p lgrims, who visited, and touched, and kissed these lifeless remains, 
the memorials of their merits and sufferings. But a memorial, more 
interesting than the skull or the scandals of a departed worthy, is a 
faithful copy of his person and features, delineated by the arts of 
painting or sculpture. At first the experiment was made with 
caution and scruple, and the venerable pictures were discreetly 
allowed to instruct the ignorant, to awaken the cold, and to gratify 
the prejudices of the heathen proselytes. By a slow, though inevi- 
table progression, the honors of the original were transferred to the 
copy, the devout Christian prayed before the image of a saint, and 
the pagan rites of genuflexion, luminaries, and incense, again stole 
into the Catholic church."* 

§ 29. — About the beginning of the fifth century, the practice of 

ornamenting the churches with pictures had become very general, 

and thus the door was opened for that torrent of idolatry which 

8 flooded the churches, and in three or four centuries carried away 

* Gibbon's Decline and Fall, chap. xlix. 



156 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m. 

■ ■ — — * 

Paulinus of Nola adorns a church with pictures, &c. The permission of Gregory a dangerous precedent. 

almost every vestige of spiritual Christian worship. Among others, 
Paulinus, a bishop of Nola, in Italy, about the year 431, erected in 
that city a magnificent church in honor of St. Felix, and as he him- 
self informs us, adorned it with pictures of martyrs, and various 
Scripture histories painted on the walls. This example, at that 
time rare, was imitated in various places, though not without con- 
siderable opposition, till in the sixth century, the dangerous practice 
of using not only paintings but images, became very general, both 
in the East and the West. 

§ 30. — Still it was the general opinion, even to the time of Gre- 
gory, that if used at all, they were to be used only as helps to the 
memory, or as books to instruct those who could not read, and that 
no sort of worship was to be paid them. That this was his opinion 
we have already seen from his epistle to Serenus, bishop of Mar- 
seilles.* Thus it is evident that so late as the beginning of the 
seventh century, images were altogether forbidden to be worship- 
ped in any way. Of course the distinction invented by modern 
popish idolators, between sovereign or subordinate, absolute or 
relative, proper or improper worship — the worship of latria, dulia, 
or hyperdulia — of course, I say, these scholastic distinctions were 
not then invented, and were therefore unknown to Gregory. They 
never would have been thought of, but for the necessity which 
papists found of inventing some way of warding off the charge of 
idolatry, so frequently and so justly alleged against them. The 
words of Gregory were, " adorari vero imagines omnibus modis 
devita," which the Roman Catholic historian, Dupin, has translated, 
" that he must not allow images to be worshipped in any manner 
whatever."-\ 

The permission given by Gregory for the use of images in 
churches was a dangerous precedent. He might have anticipated 
that if suffered at all they would not long continue to be regarded 
merely as books for the ignorant ; especially when, as soon after 
happened in this dark age, the most ridiculous stories began to be 
circulated relative to the marvellous prodigies and miraculous 
cures effected by the presence or the contact of these wondrous 
blocks of wood and of stone. The result that might naturally have 
been anticipated, came to pass. These images became idols ; the 
ignorant multitude reverently kissed them, and " bowed themselves 
down" before them, and, by the commencement of the eighth century, 
a system of idol worship had sprung up almost all over the nomi- 
nally Christian world, scarcely less debasing than that which pre- 
vails at the present day in Italy and other popish countries of Eu- 
rope. In the year 713, pope Constantine issued an edict, in which 
he pronounced those accursed who " deny that veneration to the 
holy images, which is appointed by the church" — ' Sanctis imagini- 
bus venerationem constitutam ab ecclesia, qui negarent illam ipsam. 

§ 31. — In the year 726, commenced that famous controversy be- 

* See above, page 131. f Dupin, vol. v., p. 122. 



chap, ni.] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 157 

The emperor Leo, in 726, issues his first decree against image-worship. 

tween the Emperor and the Pope upon the worship of images 
which for more than half a century arrayed against each other, 
Leo and Gregory, and their successors in the empire and the pope- 
dom, and which was only quelled by the full establishment of this 
idolatrous worship, by the decree of the second council of ]\ice, in 
787. " In the beginning of the eighth century," says Gibbon, " the 
Greeks were awakened by an apprehension that, under the mask 
of Christianity, they had restored the religion of their fathers: 
they heard, with grief and impatience, the name of idolaters ; the 
incessant charge of the Jews and Mahometans, who derived from 
the law and the Koran an immortal hatred to graven images and 
all the relative worship." (Vol. hi., p. 273.) 

Leo, the emperor, observing from his palace in Constantinople 
the extensive prevalence of this idolatry, resolved to put a stop to 
the growing superstition, and make an attempt to restore the Chris- 
tian worship to its primitive purity. With this view he issued an 
edict forbidding in future any worship to be paid to images, but 
without ordering them to be demolished or removed. The date of 
this edict was A. D. 726, a year, as Bower has well remarked, 
"ever memorable in the ecclesiastical annals, for the dispute to 
which it gave occasion, and the unheard of disturbances which 
that dispute raised, both in the Church and the State.*" Anxious 
to preserve his subjects from idolatry, the Emperor, with all that 
frankness and sincerity which marked his character, publicly avow- 
ed his conviction of the idolatrous nature of the prevailing practice, 
and protested against the erection of images. Hitherto no coun- 
cils had sanctioned the evil, and precedents of antiquity were 
against it. But the scriptures, which ought to have had infinitely 
more weight upon the minds of men than either councils or pre- 
cedents, had expressly and pointedly condemned it ; yet, such deep 
root had the error at this time taken ; so pleasing was it with men 
to commute for the indulgence of their crimes by a routine of 
idolatrous ceremonies ; and, above all, so little ear had they to be- 
stow on what the word of God taught, that the subjects of Leo 
murmured against him as a tyrant and a persecutor. And in this 
they were encouraged by Germanus, the bishop of Constantinople, 
who, with equal zeal and ignorance, asserted that images had al- 
ways been used in the church, and declared his determination to 
oppose the Emperor : which, the more effectually to do, he wrote 
to Gregory II., then bishop of Rome, respecting the subject, who, 
by similar reasonings, warmly supported the same cause. 

§ 32. — The first steps of the emperor Leo in the reformation, 
were moderate and cautious ; he assembled a great council of 
senators and bishops, and enacted, with their consent, that all the 
images should be removed from the sanctuary and altar to a proper 
height in the churches, where they might be visible to the eyes, 
and inaccessible to the superstition of the people. But it was im- 

* History of the Popes, v. iii., p. 199, 



158 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m 

Tumult and murder by the women of Constantinople at the removal of an image. 

possible on either side to check the rapid though adverse impulse 
of veneration and abhorrence: in their lofty position, the sacred 
images still edified their votaries and reproached the tyrant. He 
was himself provoked by resistance and invective ; and his own 
party accused him of an imperfect discharge of his duty, and 
urged, for his imitation, the example of the Jewish king, who had 
broken without scruple the brazen serpent of the temple. 

In the year 730, he issued an edict, enjoining the removal or de- 
struction of images, and having in vain labored to bring over Ger- 
manus the bishop of Constantinople, to his views, he deposed him 
from his See, and put in his place Anastasius, who took part with 
the Emperor. There was, in the palace of Constantinople, a porch, 
which contained an image of the Saviour on the cross. Leo sent 
an officer to remove it. Some females, who were then present, en- 
treated that it might remain, but without effect. The officer mount- 
ed a ladder, and with an axe struck three blows on the face of the 
figure, when the women threw him down, by pulling away the lad- 
der, and murdered him on the spot. The image, however, was re- 
moved, and burnt, and a plain cross set up in its room. The women 
then proceeded to insult Anastasius for encouraging the profanation 
of holy things. An insurrection ensued — and, in order to quell it, 
the Emperor was obliged to put several persons to death. 

§ 33. — Pope Gregory, as soon as he heard of the appointment of 
Anastasius, an avowed enemy to the worship of images, as bishop 
of Constantinople, immediately declared him deposed from his dig- 
nity, unless he should at once renounce his heresy, and favor images 
as his predecessor, Germanus, had done.* Both the letter and the 
edict of the Pope were, however, treated with silent contempt, and 
the new patriarch continued to exercise his office, and, by the di- 
rection of his master, Leo, to employ all his zeal in rooting out the 
idolatry. 

The imperious pontiff was no more civil to the emperor Leo 
than to the patriarch. The Emperor had written him a letter, en- 
treating him not to oppose so commendable a work as the extirpa- 
tion of idolatry, and threatening him with the fate of pope Martin, 
who died in banishment, if he should continue obstinate and rebel- 
lious. The reply of Gregory is worthy of record as an illustration 
of the spirit of the man, and of the spirit of the times. " During 
ten pure and fortunate years," says he, " we have tasted the annual 
comfort of your royal letters, subscribed in purple ink, with your 
own hand, the sacred pledges of your attachment to the orthodox 
creed of our fathers. How deplorable is the change ! How tre- 
mendous the scandal ! You now accuse the Catholics of idolatry ; 
and, by the accusation, you betray youi own impiety and ignorance. 
To this ignorance we are compelled to adapt the grossness of our 
style and arguments : the first elements of holy letters are sufficient 
for your confusion ; and were you to enter a grammar-school, and 

* Fleury's Eccles. Hist., book xlii., 7. 



chap, m.] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 159 



Pope Gregory's insulting letter to the emperor Leo. The Pope "revered as a God upon earth." 

avow yourself the enemy of our worship, the simple and pious 
children would be provoked to cast their horn-books at your head" 

After this curious salutation, Ihe Pope explains to him the dis- 
tinction between the idols of antiquity and the Christian images. 
The former were the fanciful representations of phantoms or 
demons, at a time when the true God had not manifested his per- 
son in any visible likeness — the latter are the genuine forms of 
Christ, his mother, and his saints. To the impudent and inhuman 
Leo, more guilty than a heretic, he recommends peace, silence, and 
implicit obedience to his spiritual guides of Constantinople and 
Rome. " You assault us, O tyrant," thus he proceeds, " with a 
carnal and military hand ; unarmed and naked we can only im- 
plore the Christ, the prince of the heavenly host, that he will send 
unto you a devil, for the destruction of your body and the salva- 
tion of your soul. You declare, with foolish arrogance, ' I will 
dispatch my orders to Rome ; I will break in pieces the images of 
St. Peter ; and Gregory, like his predecessor Martin, shall be trans- 
ported in chains and in exile to the foot of the imperial throne.' 
Would to God, that I might be permitted to tread in the footsteps 
of the holy Martin ; but may the fate of Constans serve as a 
warning to the persecutors of the church. After his just con- 
demnation by the bishops of Sicily, the tyrant was cut off, in the 
fulness of his sins, by a domestic servant ; the saint is still adored 
by the nations of Scythia, among whom he ended his banishment 
and his life. 

" But it is our duty to live for the edification and support of the 
faithful people, nor are we reduced to risk our safety on the event 
of a combat. Incapable as you are of defending your Roman sub- 
jects, the maritime situation of the city may perhaps expose it to 
your depredation ; but we can remove to the distance of four-and- 

twenty stadia, to the first fortress of the Lombards, and then ■ 

you may pursue the winds. Are you ignorant that the popes are 
the bond of union between the East and the West ? The eyes of 
the nations are fixed on our humility ; and they revere as a God 
upon earth the apostle Saint Peter, whose image you threaten to 
destroy. The remote and interior kingdoms of the West present 
their homage to Christ and his vicegerent, and we now prepare to 
visit one of the most powerful monarchs, who desires to receive 
from our hands the sacrament of baptism. The Barbarians have 
submitted to the yoke of the gospel, while you alone are deaf to 
the voice of the shepherd. These pious Barbarians arc kindled 
into rage ; they thirst to avenge the persecution of the cast. 
Abandon your rash and fatal enterprise ; reflect, tremble, and repent. 
If you persist, we are innocent of the blood that will be spilt in the 
contest ; may it fall on your own head !"* 

§ 34. — Upon the news of Leo's decree reaching Rome, where 
the people were as mad upon their idols as they were at the East, 

* Act Cone. Nic, torn, viii., p. 651, &c. 
11 



160 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [boos m. 

Tumults at Rome. H\- ;: r.e :: :zh I::;;.:: ::" mc-jie: =u::e=i:r : 7 ; --.: _e U :.-.-— ^ 

such was the indignation excited by it. that the Emperor's statues 
were immediately pulled down, and trodden under foot AD Italy 
was thrown into contusion ; attempts were made to elect another 
emperor, in the room of Leo, and the Pope encouraged these at- 
tempts. The Greek writers affirm that he prohibited the Italians 
from paying tribute any Longer tc L^: ; but, in the midst of these 
brc Is, while defending idolatry and exciting rebellion with all his 

Gregory was stopped short in his wicked career. "He was 

extremely insolent," says an impartial writer, ,: though he died with 
the character of a saint-"* 

5 35. — He was sue :eeded in his office. A. D. 731. by Gregory III., 
who entered with great spirit and energy into the measures 
predeirss::'?. The reader cannot but be amused with the foil 
ing extract of a letter which he addressed to the Emperor, imme- 
diately cl :us elevation: — "Becauseyou are unlearned and igno- 
rant, we are obliged t: write a: you rude discourses, but full u" sense 
and the word :: God. We conjure y:u t: :;;:: yaar 
hear us with humility. You say that we adore stones, walls, and 
boards. It is not so. my lord; but these syml ~u make us recollect 
the persons whose names they bear, and exalt our grovelling minds 
We do not look : : >n mem as u : :i s : but, if it be the image of JesuSj 
we say. • Lira, help as." If it ce the image of iris mother, we 
say, • Pray to your Son to save as." I: it be of a martyr, we say, 
'St. Stephen, rray :":r as.' We :u:ga:. as having the power cf 
Saint Peter, pronounce punishments against you ; but, as you have 
pronounced the curse upon yourself, u; i: s:i: : : t: i :::. You " 
to us to assemble a general ::au:a, of which there is no need. Do 
yon cease to persecute images, and all will :: priet; we fear not 
your threats." 

Few readers will uvea: the style of this letter much calculate 
conciliate the Emperor; and though :: zertainly cit: not equal 
the arrogance and blasphemy which are :: be found among the 
pretensions of this wretched race •:: mortals in the subsequent 
period of their history, it may strike some :; :aa;"uaau :-. ::iera:ie 
advance towards them, I: seems tc have shut the loor again 
further intercourse between the parties ; for, in 7 3 a? . Gregory 
councii. excommmiicated all whe should remove ar speak c:u- 
temptuously of images; and. Italy being now in a state ol rebel- 
lion, Leo fitted out a fleet with :. view ::" mashing the refers story 
conduct of ius subjects, but it was wrecked in the Adria .: the ob- 
ject of the expedition frustrated, and the lesigo :: vengeance :a 
the Pope ana the Romans foi the present abandoned, f 

j 36. — Pore Gregory, in ordeT to revenge himself on the Eaa- 
peror for his continue:", and persevering opposition tc images, ex- 
pended, in defiance of the royal era: a the whole wealth of the 
church on pictures and statues to adorn the churches at Rune. As 

* Waicirs Compend. His:, of the Popes, p. 101. 

f See Lect. en Eccles, His:., :t Jones. London. 1534. — Lect, xxvii. 



ohap. iv.] POPERY ADVANCING— A.D. 606—800. 161 

Gregory's expensive zeal for i mage-worship. Death of the Pope and the Emperor. Their successors 

Leo was as much opposed to the worship of saints and relics as he 
was to images, the Pope, according to the account of the Romish 
historian, Anastasius, caused relics to be everywhere sought for, 
and conveyed from all parts of the world to Rome, built a mag- 
nificent oratory for their reception and worship, and appointed a 
religious service to be performed to them, and monks to con- 
duct the service, maintained at the expense of the See. In these 
pious works the Pope is said to have expended 73 pounds weight 
of gold, and 376 pounds of silver, at that time a most enormous 
sum.* But these hatreds and animosities were soon quieted in the 
stillness of the grave ; for in the year 741, both the emperor Leo 
and the pope Gregory were nearly at the same time called away 
from earth, to render up their account to a higher tribunal, leaving 
their strifes and contentions to be continued by their successors 



CHAPTER IV. 

CONTINUATION OF THE CONTROVERSY ON IMAGE-WORSHIP. FROM THE 

DEATH OF LEO AND GREGORY, A. D. 741, TO THE FINAL ESTABLISH- 
MENT OF THIS IDOLATRY, BY THE SECOND COUNCIL OF NICE, A. D. 787. 

§ 37. — The emperor Leo was succeeded by his son Constantine 
V., surnamed Copronymus, and pope Gregory, by Zachary, a 
native of Greece. The new Emperor followed in the steps of his 
father, in endeavoring to extirpate the idolatrous worship of images, 
but the new Pope was too busily engaged, as we shall see in the 
next chapter, in his ambitious attempts to exalt the temporal gran- 
deur of the Roman See, and to elevate the popes of Rome to a rank 
among the princes of the earth, to concern himself much about any- 
thing connected with the ceremonies of religious worship. During 
his pontificate, therefore, of about eleven years, the emperor Constan- 
tine suffered but little molestation in his commendable attempts to 
root out idolatry, except from a domestic usurper, Artabasdus, who, 
in his absence on an expedition against the Saracens, seized upon 
his throne, and endeavored to conciliate the superstitious populace, 
by reversing the edicts of Leo against images, ordering the idols to 
be restored to the churches, and forbidding any one in future to 
question the lawfulness of that idolatry upon pain of exile or 
death. The dominion of Artabasdus, was, however, but short- 
lived. At the end of a few months, he was defeated and taken by 
Constantine, who spared the life of the usurper, but caused the 
images he had set up to be immediately destroyed, and renewed the 

* Bower's Hist. Popes, vol. iii., p. 299. 



162 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookiij. 

Council at Constantinople condemns image-worship — A.D. 754. 

former edicts against their worship and use. at the same time 
promising the people, at an early period, to refer the whole question 
of image-worship to the decision of a general council. 

§ 38. — In 754, during the pontificate of Stephen EL, the Emperor 
proceeded to redeem this pledge by convening a council at Hiera, 
opposite to Constantinople, consisting of 33S bishops, the largest 
number that had ever yet assembled in one general council. This 
numerous council, after continuing their sessions from the 10th of 
February to the 17th August, with one voice condemned the use 
and the worship of images, as a custom borrowed of idolatrous 
nations, and entirely contrary to the practice of the purer ages of 
the church. On the nature of the heresy they express themselves 
in the following language. " Jesus Christ hath delivered us from 
idolatry, and hath taught us to adore him in spirit and in truth. 
But the devil, not being able to endure the beauty of the church, 
hath insensibly brought back idolatry, under the appearance of 
Christianity, persuading men to worship the creature, and to take 
for God a work to which they gave the name of Jesus Christ.*'* 

The decree of faith issued by this celebrated council was as 
follows : " The holy and oecumenical council, which it hath pleased 
our most orthodox emperors. Constantine and Leo. to assemble in 
the church of St. Mary ad Blachemas in the imperial city, adhering 
to the word of God, to the definitions of the six preceding councils. 
to the doctrine of the approved fathers, and the practice of the 
church in the earliest times, pronounce and declare, in the name of 
the Trinity, and with one heart and mind, that xo images aee to be 
worshipped: that to worship them or any other creature, is robbing 
God of the honor that is due to him alone, and eelapsixg ixto idola- 
try. Whoever, therefore, shall henceforth presume to worship 
images, to set them up in the churches, or in private houses, or to 
conceal them : if a bishop, priest, or deacon, shall be degraded, and 
if a monk or layman, excommunicated and punished as guilty of a 
breach of God's express command, and of the imperial laws, that is, 
of the very severe laws issued by the Christian emperors against 
the worshippers of idols." 

This council is reckoned by the Greeks as the seventh general 
council, but by the papists, on account of their decree against the 
worship of images, this claim is, of course, disallowed. Encouraged 
by the countenance and decrees of so numerous a council. Constan- 
tine proceeded to burn the images, and demolish the walls of the 
churches which were painted with the figures of Christ, of the 
Virgin, and the saints, with a promptness and resolution which 
showed that he was determined, if possible, to extirpate the last 
vestige of idolatry. 

§ 39. — Upon the death of Constantine V., in the year 775. he was 
succeeded by his son Leo IV.. who adopted the sentiments of his 
father and grandfather, and imitated their zeal in the extirpation of 

* Fleurv, book xliii., chapter 7. 



chap, iv.] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 163 

The empress Irene. Her unnatural cruelties. Justified by popish writers. 

idolatry out of the Christian church. The wife of Leo was named 
Irene, a woman who has rendered her name infamous in the annals 
of crime. In the' year 780, her husband, who had opposed her 
attempts to introduce the worship of images into the very palace, 
suddenly died, as is supposed by many, in consequence of poison, 
administered by the direction of his faithless and perfidious queen. 
Bower expresses his own opinion, that this woman, " so abandonediy 
wicked" (as he describes her), caused poison to be administered to 
Leo, and Mosheim directly asserts that such was the fact. For my 
own part, I think it very probable that this was the cause of the 
death of her husband, though I am not aware that it is directly 
asserted by any ancient author. There is no uncertainty, however, 
relative to her unnatural and bloody treatment of her son, the 
youthful emperor Constantine VI. 

Inspired by a desire to occupy the throne now possessed by him, 
she caused him to be seized, and his eyes to be put out, to render 
him incapable of reigning, which, according to the testimony of 
Theophanes, was done " with so much cruelty, that he immediately 
expired." Gibbon doubts whether immediate death was the conse- 
quence, but describes in vivid language, the horrid cruelty of the 
unnatural mother. " In the mind of Irene, ambition had stifled every 
sentiment of humanity and nature, and it was decreed in her bloody 
council, that Constantine should be rendered incapable of the throne, 
her emissaries assaulted the sleeping prince, and stabbed their dag- 
gers with such violence and precipitation into his eyes, as if they 
meant to execute a mortal sentence. The most bigoted ortho- 
doxy has justly execrated the unnatural mother, who may not 
easily be paralleled in the history of crimes. On earth, the crime 
of Irene was left five years unpunished, and if she could silence the 
voice of conscience, she neither heard nor regarded the reproaches 
of mankind."* 

§ 40. — Such was the flagitious character of the wretched woman, 
who was eventually the means of establishing the worship of images 
throughout the empire, and yet in consequence of this service which 
she rendered to the cause of idolatry, will it be credited that popish 
writers represent her as a pattern of piety, and even justify the 
horrid torture, or the murder of her son? The following are the 
words of Cardinal Baronius, justifying this cruel and unnatural 
crime : " Snares," says he, " were laid this year for the emperor 
Constantine, by his mother Irene, which he fell into the year follow- 
ing, and was deprived at the same time of his eyes and his life. An 
execrable crime indeed, had she not been prompted to it by zeal for 
justice. On that consideration she even deserved to be commend- 
ed for what she did (! !) In more ancient times, the hands of 
parents were armed by God's command, against their children 
worshipping strange gods, and they who killed them were com- 
mended by Moses." Again says Baronius," As Irene was supposed 

* Decline and Fall, vol. iii., page 246. 



1&4 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book 



- 



The wicked Irene convenes a council, which establishes idolatry, A. D. 787. 

to have done what she did (that is, to have deposed and murdered 
her son), for the sake of religion (!) and love of justice (! !) she was 
still thought by men of great sanctity worthy of praise and com- 
mendation."* This extract from a popish Cardinal, and one of the 
most celebrated writers of that communion, needs no comment. 
Well might Popery be called in the language of inspiration, " the 
mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth." (Rev. xvii., 5.) 

§ 41. — In the year 784, this wicked woman wrote to pope Adrian, 
desiring his presence, or at least the presence of his legates, to a 
general council to be held at Nice, in support of the worship of 
images ; and Adrian in his reply testified his joy at the prospect of 
the restoration of the holy linages to their place in the churches 
from which they had so long been banished. 

In the year 787, this famous council was convened, which papists 
reckon the seventh general council, though it has no more right to be 
regarded as a general council, than the council convened by the 
Emperor in 754, which condemned the use of images. The num- 
ber of bishops who attended on this occasion, was 350, and the 
result of their deliberation was, as might be expected, in favor of 
images. It was decreed " That holy images of the cross should be 
consecrated, and put on the sacred vessels and vestments, and upon 
walls and boards, in private houses and in public ways. And espe- 
cially that there should be erected images of the Lord God, our 
Saviour Jesus Christ, of our blessed Lady, the mother of God, of 
the venerable angels, and of all the saints. And that whosoever 
should presume to think or teach otherwise, or to throw away any 
painted books, or the figure of the cross, or any image or picture, or 
any genuine relics of the martyrs, they should, if bishops or clergy- 
men, be deposed, or if monks or laymen, be excommunicated. They 
then pronounced anathemas upon all who should not receive images, 
or who should apply what the Scriptures say against idols to the 
holy images, or call them idols, or wilfully communicate with those 
who rejected and despised them, adding, according to custom, 
* Long live Constantine, and Irene, his mother — damnation to all 
heretics — damnation on the council that roared against venerable 
images — the holy Trinity hath deposed them.' "f 

§ 42. — Thus was the system of popish idolatry established by law, 
confirmed by a boasted general council, in direct opposition to both 
the letter and the spirit of the sacred Scriptures. In spite of all the 
fine-spun distinctions, and papistical apologies, to diminish the guilt 
of this idol worship, from that time to the present, idolatry has 
been stamped upon the forehead of the papal anti-Christ. The church 
of Rome, let her say what she will, is a church defiled and polluted 
by idolatry, and in this spiritual adultery, her members have almost 
universally participated. " Tell us not," says Isaac Taylor, " how 
the few may possibly steer clear of the fatal errors, and avoid a 

* Baronius' Annals, aim. 796. 

f Platina's Lives of the Popes, vita Adrian I. 



chap, v.] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 165 

From the tumults about images in 730, the Emperor had no power in Italy. 

gross idolatry, while admitting such practices. What will be their 
effect with the multitude ? The actual condition of the mass of the 
people in all countries where Popery has been unchecked, gives us 
a sufficient answer to this question ; nor do we scruple to condemn 
these practices as abominable idolatries. Tell us not how Fenelon 
or Pascal might extricate themselves from this impiety : what are 
the frequenters of churches in Naples and Madrid ? nothing better 
than the grossest polytheists, and far less rationally religious than 
were their ancestors of the times of Numa and Pythagoras."* 



CHAPTER V. 

THE POPE FINALLY BECOMES A TEMPORAL SOVEREIGN, A. D. 756. 

§ 43. — The popes, although seizing every opportunity to exalt 
their own authority, had not, up to the commencement of the eighth 
century, ventured the attempt to excite rebellion against the ancient 
emperors, or to wield in their own hands, the sceptre of temporal 
sovereignty. In the present chapter we are to follow them, in their 
career of ambition, till they united the regal crown to the episcopal 
mitre, and took rank among the kings of the earth. 

We have already referred to the rebellious tumults, excited at 
Rome, and encouraged by pope Gregory II., when in 730, the edict 
of Leo was promulgated, enjoining the destruction of images. From 
that time forward, till the coronation of Charlemagne in 800, the 
government of the city of Rome, and the surrounding territory, was 
administered only nominally, in the name of the emperors of the 
East, while the real power was vested in the popes, sustained as 
they were by the ignorant and superstitious multitudes. " After the 
prohibition of picture worship," says Gieseler, " the city of Rome 
was in a state of rebellion against the emperors, though without an 
absolute separation from the empire. From this they were with- 
held by fear of the Lombards, who, under Liutprand, were waiting 
only for a favorable opportunity to extend their sway over Rome, 
as well as the Exarchate, and whose purpose it was the great object 
of the popes to defeat."! 

In the year 734, the Emperor sent an army and a fleet to reduce 
to submission the Pope and the refractory Romans, and to enforce 
the execution of his decree against images, but as nearly all his 
vessels were lost at sea, the attempt was abandoned, and from this 

* Taylor's Ancient Christianity, page 328. 

-f Gieseler's Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii., page 14. 



166 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book in 



Pope Gregory III. applies to Charles Martel for help against the Lombards. 

time forward, says Bower, " the Emperor concerned himself no 
more with the affairs of the West, than the Pope with those of the 
East." The Exarch, or emperor's Viceroy, continued still to reside 
at Ravenna, but was not in a condition to cause the imperial edict 
against images to be observed even in that city, much less to under- 
take anything against the Pope or the people of Rome, who had 
now withdrawn themselves from subjection to the Emperor, and 
were governed by magistrates of their own election, " forming a 
kind of republic under the Pope, not yet as their prince, but only as 
their head."* 

§ 44. — In the year 740, in consequence of the Pope refusing to 
deliver up two rebellious dukes, the subjects of Luitprand, king of 
the Lombards, that warlike monarch invaded and laid waste the 
territories of Rome. In their distress, their fear of the resentment of 
the Emperor forbidding them to apply to him for the assistance they 
urgently needed, they resolved to apply to the celebrated Charles 
Martel, the great hero of that age, who had received that surname, 
which signifies hammer, in consequence of a celebrated victory 
gained over the Saracen forces, near Poictiers, in 732, by which 
he had probably saved his native country, France, from being sub- 
jected under the Mahometan rule. Charles was at this time mayor 
of the palace to the king of France, but wielded in his own person 
all the power of the kingdom. To him, therefore, pope Gregory III. 
despatched the most urgent and pressing entreaties to hasten to his 
aid. " Shut not your ears, my most Christian son," writes Gregory, 
" shut not your ears to our prayers, lest the prince of the apostles 
should shut the gates of the kingdom of heaven upon you !" The 
Pope had sent him his usual royal present of the keys of the tomb of 
St. Peter, with some filings of Peter's chain inserted, and appealing 
to these, he adds, in his letters, " I conjure you, by the sacred keys 
of the tomb of St. Peter, which I send you, prefer not the friendship 
of the Lombard kings, to that regard you owe to the prince of 
the apostles !"f 

§ 45. — Whether it was, however, that the stern warrior did not at- 
tach much value to these wonder-working keys and filings, or whether 
he was unwilling to offend the king of the Lombards, it is certain 
that he turned a deaf ear to these pathetic appeals of the Pope ; 
till the latter, despairing of gaining his help by appealing to his 
piety or superstition, attacked him in a more vulnerable part, by 
appealing to his ambition. This Gregory did by proposing to 
Charles, that he and the Romans would renounce all allegiance to 
the Emperor, as an avowed heretic, and acknowledging him for 
their protector, confer upon him the consular dignity of Rome, upon 
condition that he should protect the Pope, the church, and the 
Roman people against the Lombards ; and, if necessity should 
arise, against the vengeance of their ancient master, the Emperor. 

* Bowers History of the Popes, vol. iii., page 300. 
f Gregory III., Epist. in Baronius, ann. 740. 



chap, in.] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 167 

Leo III., Gregory III., and Charles Martel die in the same year. Pepin of France 

These proposals were more suited to the warlike and ambitious dis- 
position of Martel, and he immediately despatched his ambassadors 
to Rome to take the Pope under his protection, intending, doubtless, 
at an early period, to consummate the agreement. 

Pope Gregory, however, did not live to carry into effect his 
treasonable purpose, Charles Martel to profit by it, or the emperor 
Leo to hear of it. They all three died in that year, 741, within a few 
weeks of each other. Before the death of Martel, his timely inter- 
ference had procured the Romans a brief respite from their in- 
vaders, for soon after the arrival of his messengers at Rome, the 
Lombard king retired with his troops to his own dominions, though 
he still retained the four cities he had taken belonging to the Roman 
dukedom. Upon the almost simultaneous death of these three 
noted individuals, the Emperor was succeeded by Constantine, the 
Pope by Zachary, and the mayor of the palace by his son Pepin, 
as the nominal mayor, but the real sovereign of France. 

§ 46. — Pope Zachary was immediately ordained, without waiting 
for his election to be confirmed, either by the Emperor or his Italian 
representative, the Exarch ; the imperial power in Italy being at 
this time reduced to so low an ebb, that the Emperor had no power 
to resist this encroachment upon his right of confirming the Uni- 
versal Bishops — a right which his predecessors had claimed and 
enjoyed without interruption ever since the decree of Phocas had 
created that dignity. Soon after his ordination, pope Zachary 
visited in person the camp of Luitprand, the Lombard king, who, 
upon the death of Charles Martel, was preparing again to invade 
the territories of Rome, and had influence sufficient, by threaten- 
ing him with damnation if he refused, and promising the favor of St. 
Peter if he complied, to prevail on him to deliver up the four cities 
he had taken ; which he accordingly did, declaring in the presence 
of all, that they no longer belonged to him, but to the Apostle St. 
Peter, without saying a word of the Emperor, who, if any one, 
was, without doubt, their rightful master and sovereign. 

§47. — A few years later, A. D. 751, Pepin, son of Martel, con- 
ceived the design of dethroning the feeble monarch, Childeric III., 
under whom he was acting as prime minister and viceroy. Though 
he possessed the power of the sovereign, yet he was still a subject, 
and determined, if possible, to obtain the title of king as well as the 
authority. Not deeming it prudent to depose the legitimate sove- 
reign without providing to satisfy the scruples of the timid or the 
superstitious, Pepin resolved to submit the case of conscience to 
pope Zachary ; viz., who best deserved to be called king ; he who 
was possessed of the title without the power, or he who possessed 
the power without the title. The situation of Zachary, exposed as 
he was, on the one hand, to the indignation of the Emperor, and on 
the other, to the attacks of the warlike Lombards, was such as to 
leave no doubt that he would give such an answer as would secure 
the favor and protection of the powerful Pepin. Accordingly he 






168 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book in. 

Pepin, advised by the Pope, usurps the throne of king Childeric. Lombards conquer Ravenna. 

gave, without hesitation, such an answer as the usurper desired ; 
viz.. that he ought to be called king who possessed the power, rather 
then he who, without regal power, possessed only the title* The 
feeble Childeric was immediately deposed and confined to a 
monastery, and Pepin proclaimed king in his stead. He was 
crowned and anointed by Boniface, the Pope's legate, and two 
years after, in order to render his title as sacred as possible, the 
ceremony was performed again by pope Stephen, the successor of 
Zachary, on the occasion of a journey into France to obtain his 
succor against the Lombards. Upon the arrival of Stephen into 
Pepin's dominions on this occasion, he was received with the most 
extravagant honors. The king and queen, with their two sons, 
Charles and Carloman, the chief lords of the court, and most of the 
French nobility, went out three miles to meet him. Upon his ap- 
proach, Pepin dismounted from his horse and fell prostrate on the 
ground ; and, not suffering the Pope to dismount, he attended him 
part of the way on foot, performing, according to the Romish his- 
torian, Anastasius, " the office of his groom or equerry ."f 

§ 48. — In the year 753, Aistulphus, king of the Lombards, in- 
vaded the exarchate, and laid siege to the city of Ravenna. The 
city was bravely defended by Eutychius, the last of the exarchs, 
till his affairs were desperate, when he embarked on board a vessel 
with the remnant of his soldiers, and fled to his master, the Em- 
peror, to Constantinople. Thus ended the exarchate of Ravenna, 
and with it the splendor of that ancient city, in which for nearly 
two centuries the exarchs, as the viceroys of the emperors, had 
maintained the imperial power in the "West. 

Elated by his conquest, Aistulphus despatched a messenger to 
Rome, demanding the submission of the inhabitants, asserting that 
as the exarchate was his by right of conquest, so also were all 
the cities and other places that had heretofore been subject to the 
exarchs in Italy ; that is, all Italian dominions of the Emperor. At 
the same time he threatened to march with his army to Rome, and 
to put all the inhabitants to the sword, unless they acknowledged 
his government, and paid him a yearly tribute of a piece of gold 
for each person. 

§ 49. — In these perilous circumstances, Stephen ventured to in- 
form the Emperor, who was still nominally the sovereign of Rome, 
and solicit his succor. Constantine, however, was too busy in pur- 
suing his victories over the Saracens in the East to do more than 
send an ambassador to make the best terms he could with Aistul- 
phus. The ambassador John bore with him commands to the Pope 

* The oldest account of this is in Annalibus Loiselianus ad ann. 749 (751). 
See a quotation from this ancient writing in Gieseler, iii., 14, note 5. " Zacharias 
Papa, mandavit Pipino ut melius esset ilium regem vocari qui potesialem haberet. 
quam ilium qui sine regali potestate manebat. Per auctoritatem ergo apostolicam 
jussit Pipinum regem fieri." 

t Anastasius de litis Ponlificvm, in Stephen II. t 



chap, m.] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 169 

Aistulphus, the Lombard king, threatens Rome. Pope Stephen applies for succor to king Pepir^ 

to unite his persuasions with his own, to induce the Lombard king 
to send a minister to Constantinople to treat of an accommodation, 
and in the mean time to forbear hostilities. This Aistulphus abso- 
lutely refused, and John was soon despatched to his master at Con- 
stantinople, to inform him that nothing but a powerful army sent 
immediately into Italy, could save the remnant of the ancient 
Roman empire in that country. As another expedient, two abbots 
were sent to the camp of the conqueror, to plead with him the 
cause of St. Peter. The King admitted them to his presence, but 
only to reproach them for meddling in worldly affairs, and com- 
manded them to return immediately to their monasteries. Failing 
in this, the Pope tried processions, in which were solemnly carried 
the images' of the Virgin Mary, of St. Peter, and St. Paul, and a 
host of other saints ; but these saints too, or their images, appeared 
deaf to their entreaties, and their condition was daily becoming 
more critical. 

§ 50. — In this extremity, pope Stephen resolved to apply in per- 
son for succor to Pepin, king of France, whom we have already 
seen encouraged by the Pope in usurping the throne of his master, 
Childeric. Stephen, upon his arrival in France, was received 
with the highest honor, and " entertained as the visible successor of 
the apostles." After a short delay, he recrossed the Alps, at the 
head of a victorious army, which was led by the King in person. 
The ambitious Pope, while an honored guest at the court of Pepin, 
anxious to see himself elevated to the rank of an earthly monarch, 
had been cunning enough to obtain from him a promise that he 
would restore the places that might be captured from Aistulphus 
(not to the Emperor, but) to be freely possessed by St. Peter and his 
successors. After a feeble resistance to the arms of Pepin, the 
Lombards were compelled to submit, their King was besieged in 
his metropolis, Pavia, and as the price of peace was compelled to 
sign a treaty to deliver up to the Pope the exarchate, " with all the 
cities, castles, and territories thereto belonging, to be for ever held 
and possessed, by the most holy pope Stephen and his successors 
in the Apostolic See of St. Peter." 

§ 51. — No sooner had Pepin returned into France, than Aistul- 
phus, who had signed this treaty, resolved not to fulfil it. The 
rope had frequently reminded the Lombard king of the dishonesty 
and injustice of keeping those territories which belonged, of right, 
to the Emperor ; and it was very natural for him to conclude, that 
if he had no right to keep what belonged to another, neither had 
king Pepin any right to bestow it, or pope Stephen to receive it ; 
and that of the three, he himself had as much right to it as any one 
of them. Aistulphus accordingly laid siege to Rome, burning with 
rage against the Pope ; first, for bringing the French to invade his 
dominions ; and second, for claiming the exarchate for himself, 
after having so frequently threatened him with the vengeance of 
heaven for his injustice in not restoring that territory to his " most 



170 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m 

: 7^~ ? : :-. '= .::-z: .i::zz :: ?t_:.- 

religic s soil, the Emperor/' who alone had a right to it. He there- 
fore declared to the people that he came not as an enemy to them, 
ad that if they would deliver him up they should 
be treated with the greatest kindness, but if they refused to do this, 
that he would level the walls of the city with the ground, and 
none :: them alive to tell the tale. 

j. — The Pope immediately wrote an urgent letter, and sent it 
by d abbot named Fulrad. to his former protector. Pepin, in which 
he say;. B -Tc iefend the church, is. of all works, the most meritori- 
: us ; and that, to which is reserved the greatest reward in the 
j : i might himself have defended his church, or 
r . :sed up others tc as certain and deft n the just rights of his apos- 

-. I iter. But it pleased him to choose you. my most excel! r 
son, out of the whole human race, for that holy purpose. For it 
" s in cony ; Uvine inspiration and command that I 

applied fcc you, that I came into your kingdom, that I exhorted you 
fcc espouse the cause :: bis beloved apostle, and your great pro- 
tector, St Peter. You espoused his cause accordingly; and your 
: for his honor was quickly rewarded with a signal end miracu- 
lous victory. But. ray most excellent son, St Peter has not yet 
reaped the least advantage from so glorious a victory, though owing 
entirely to him. The perfidious and wicked Aistulphus has not yet 
yiel Ledtc him one foot :: _::_:. ; nay, eaarnindful of his oath, and 

ited by the devil, he has begun hostilities anew. and. bidding 
iefiance both to you and St. Peter, threatens as, and the whole 
Roman people, with death and destruction, as the abbot Fulrad and 
bis companions will inform you." The rest of the Pope's letter 
: : Dsists -'::. :-ri y :f repeated invecta : - g a inst Aistulphus as a sworn 
enemy t: St Peter, end repeated commendations of Pepin, his two 
s us, : od the whole French net; : a, a s the chief friends : n 1 favorite! 
of that apostle. In the end he pats Per in. and likewise bis two 
sons, in mind of the promise they had made to the door-keeper of 
heaven : tells them, that the prince of the apostles himself kept the 
instrument of their donation; that it had been delivered into the 
: and that he held it tight to produce it. at the 
last lay, for their punishment, if it was not executed ? and for their 
reward if it was ; and therefore conjures them by the living God, 
by the Virgin Mary, by all the angels of heaven, by St. Peter and 
St. Paul, and the tremendous day of judgment, to cause St. Peter to 
be put in possess: aa : : all the places named in the donation : and 
that without further delay, lest by excusing others they should them- 
selves become inexcusable: and be, in the end. eternally damned.* 

* Cc lex Carotinns, Epist 7. Tils is a collection of the epistles of the popes 
to C. Ms rtd (whom they style >: rcgpdus^ . Pepin, and Charlemagne, as far 

i c ■>""•: r 791, when it * - formed z~ zr.z- '.is: :: a —f ::: i^s H:> ^ r 
and anthentic MS. Bibliothece C:::: irs is now in the i.T.rerial library of 
\ ienna, i~d has been pub!:;.";: by Lunbeeins and II ratori Script. Remm. ItaL 
torn, iii., par;. :. : "; fee , See Gibbon, vol. iii.. f 281j Date _ 



chap. v.J POPERY ADVANCING— A.D. 606—800. 171 

A letter from St. Peter in heaven to Pepin, sent through the infallible postmaster, pope Stephen. 

§ 53. — As some time elapsed, and the Pope had received no in- 
telligence of the march of Pepin, Stephen began to fear that the im- 
pression produced by his letter on the mind of the King had not 
been sufficiently powerful to induce him to cross the Alps a second 
time, and as the city, unless relieved, could not sustain the siege 
much longer, he adopted the extraordinary expedient of pretending, 
by one of those pious frauds which papists have always regarded 
as lawful and commendable, to have received a letter from St. 
Peter in heaven, beseeching the immediate interposition of the 
French on behalf of his successor and his See. This most singular 
document, as well as the last quoted letter of pope Stephen, has 
been preserved in the Codex Carolinus. The superscription is as 
follows: — "Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, 
to the three most excellent kings, Pepin, Charles, and Carloman ; 
to all the holy bishops, abbots, presbyters, and monks ; to all the 
dukes, counts, commanders of the French army, and to the whole 
people of France : Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied." The 
letter then proceeds thus: " I am the apostle Peter, to whom it 
was said, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock, &c, Feed my sheep, 
&c, And to thee will I give the keys, &c. As this was all said to me 
in particular, all, who hearken to me and obey my exhortations, may 
persuade themselves, and firmly believe that their sins are forgiven 
them ; and that they will be admitted, cleansed from all guilt, into 
life everlasting. Hearken, therefore, to me, to me Peter the apos- 
tle and servant of Jesus Christ ; and since I have preferred you to 
all the nations of the earth, hasten, I beseech and conjure you, if 
you care to be cleansed from your sins, and to earn an eternal reward, 
hasten to the relief of my city, of my church, of the people com- 
mitted to my care, ready to fall into the hands of the wicked Lom- 
bards, their merciless enemies. It has pleased the Almighty that 
my body should rest in this city ; the body that has suffered for the 
sake of Christ such exquisite torments : and can you, my most 
Christian sons, stand by unconcerned, and see it insulted by the 
most wicked of nations ? No, let it never be said, and it will, I 
hope, never be said, that I, the apostle of Jesus Christ, that my 
apostolic church, the foundation of the faith, that my flock, recom 
mended to you by me and my vicar, have trusted in you, but trusted 
in vain. Our Lady, the Virgin Mary, mother of God, joins in 
earnestly entreating, nay, commands you to hasten, to run, to fly, to 
the relief of my favorite people, reduced almost to the last gasp, 
and calling in that extremity night and day upon her and upon me. 
The thrones and dominions, the principalities and the powers, and 
the whole multitude of heavenly hosts, entreat you, together with 
us, not to delay, but to come with all possible speed, and rescue my 
chosen flock from the jaws of the ravening wolves ready to devour 
them. My vicar might, in this extremity, have recurred, and not 
in vain, to other nations ; but with me the French are, and ever 
have been, the first, the best, the most deserving of all nations ; and 



172 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookie. 

Pepin again conquers Aistulphus. The Pope at length becomes a temporal sovereign 

I would not suffer the reward, the exceeding great reward, that is 
reserved, in this and the other world, for those, who shall deliver 
my people, to be earned by any other." In the rest of >he letter 
St. Peter is made to repeat all the Pope had said in his letters ; to 
court the favor and protection of the French with the most abject 
flattery ; to inveigh with as much unchristian resentment and ran- 
cor, as the Pope had inveighed, against " the most wicked nation of 
the Lombards ;" and to entreat his most Christian sons over and 
over again to come, and with all possible speed, to the relief of his 
vicar and people, lest they should in the mean time fall into the 
hands of their implacable enemies; and those, from whom they 
expected relief, incur the displeasure of the Almighty, and his ; 
and be thereby excluded, notwithstanding all their other good 
works, from the kingdom of heaven. 

§ 54. — With this letter from Saint Peter in heaven, pope 
Stephen, the infallible postmaster, despatched a messenger, in all 
haste, to Pepin ; but he had, upon the receipt of his first letter, as- 
sembled all his forces anew ; and was, when he received this, 
within a day's march of the Alps. He pursued his march without 
delay ; and, having forced the passes of those mountains, advanced, 
never once halting till he reached Pavia, and laid, a second time, a 
close siege to that city, not doubting but he should thus oblige 
Aistulphus to retire from the siege of Rome.* Pepin was not mis- 
taken in his calculations. Fearing that the French would make 
themselves masters of his metropolis and his kingdom, the Lombard 
king was compelled, before it was too late, once more to sue for 
peace, which was granted by the French king, upon the humiliating 
conditions that Aistulphus should execute literally the treaty of the 
former year, and convey at once the exarchate to the Pope, that he 
should deliver up also the city of Commachio, defray all the ex- 
penses of the war, and pay besides an annual tribute to France of 
twelve thousand solidi of gold. 

These terms being agreed and sworn to by Aistulphus, Pepin 
caused a new instrument to be drawn up, whereby he yielded 
all the places mentioned in the treaty, to be for ever held and pos- 
sessed by St. Peter and his lawful successors in the See of Rome. 
This instrument, signed by himself, by his two sons, and by the 
chief barons of the kingdom, he delivered to the abbot Fulrad, ap- 
pointing him his commissary to receive, in the Pope's name, all the 
places mentioned in it. With this character the Abbot, attended by 
the commissaries of Aistulphus, repaired immediately to Ravenna, 
and from thence to every city named in the instrument of donation, 
and having taken possession of them all in St. Peter's name and the 
Pope's, and everywhere received a sufficient number of hostages, 
he went, with all his hostages, immediately to Rome ; and there, 
laying the instrument of donation, and the keys of each city, on 
the tomb of St. Peter, put the Pope thereby at last in possession of 

* Anastasius de vitis Pont, in Stephen II. See also Baronius ad Ann. 755. 



chap, v.] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 173 

The popes' temporal and spiritual power both owing to usurpers. Bower's History of the Popes. 

the so long wished-for principality, and thus was the pope of Rome 
finally raised to the station of an earthly sovereign, and took rank 
among the kings of the earth. 

" And now," says Bower, to whose learned labors we have been 
indebted for many of the facts mentioned in this chapter, " that we 
have seen the temporal power united in the popes to the spiritual, 
the crown to the mitre, and the sword to the keys, I shall leave 
them for a while, with two short observations. First. That as 
their spiritual power so also their temporal power was owing to 
a usurper ; the one to Phocas, and the other to Pepin. Second. 
That as they most bitterly inveighed against the patriarchs of Con- 
stantinople as the forerunners of the anti-Christ for assuming the 
title of Universal Bishop, and yet laid hold of the first opportunity 
that offered to assume that very title themselves ; so did they in- 
veigh against the Lombards as the most wicked of men, for usurp- 
ing the dominions of their * most religious sons,' the Emperors ; and 
yet they themselves usurped the dominions of their ' most religious 
sons ' just as soon as they had it in their power."* 

* Bower's Lives of the Popes, vol. iii., p. 381. The edition of Bower to which 
we refer in the present work, is the original edition, in seven volumes quarto, 
"printed for the author," London, 1754. Since the present work has been in pro- 
gress, the author has learned with pleasure that an American edition of Bower's 
great work is in course of publication, in twenty-four numbers, under the editorial 
supervision of his learned and gifted friend, the Rev. Dr. Cox, of Brooklyn, which, 
by the economising improvements in modern printing, will be afforded in numbers 
complete for six dollars — a sum far less than the cost of a single volume of the 
original edition. The History of the Popes was the great work of the author's 
life, and is a stupendous monument of learning, industry, and historical research. 
Unable to controvert or to disprove his facts, which are related upon the most un- 
questionable authority of standard, and generally contemporary historians, the 
papists have striven to blacken the character of Mr. Bower, just as Tertullus, the 
orator of the Jews, when unable to meet the arguments of the apostle Paul, called 
him " a pestilent fellow."* The only effect of these attacks, however, has been to 
establish the character of the work as one of unquestionable veracity and author- 
ity. The present author cannot but indulge the hope that thr, enterprise of the 
publishers of this cheap edition of Bower (Messrs. Griffith 9,nd Simon, of Phila- 
delphia) will be rewarded with a sale commensurate witk the sterling merits of 
the work. 

* Acts xxiv. 5. 



174 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE CONFIRMATION AND INCREASE OF THE POPE'S TEMPORAL POWER. 
TO THE CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE, A. D. 800. 

§ 55. — We are henceforth to contemplate the Pope, not simply as 
a professed Christian bishop, but as an earthly prince, exercising a 
temporal sovereignty over a rich and fertile country. In reference 
to the extent of these first fruits of the conquests of Pepin, now pos- 
sessed by the Pope, says Gibbon, " The ample measure of the exar- 
chate might comprise all the provinces of Italy, which had obeyed 
the Emperor and his vicegerent ; but its strict and proper limits 
were included in the territories of Ravenna, Bologna, and Ferrara, 
its inseparable dependency was the Pentapolis, which stretched along 
the Adriatic from Rimini to Ancona, and advanced into the midland 
country, as far as the ridges of the Appenine. The splendid dona- 
tion was granted in supreme and absolute dominion, and the world 
beheld, for the first time, a Christian bishop invested with the 
prerogatives of a temporal prince ; the choice of magistrates, the 
exercise of justice, the imposition of taxes, and the wealth of the 
palace of Ravenna."* 

§ 56. — These limits were subsequently much enlarged by succes- 
sive donations from the celebrated son and successor of Pepin. In 
the year 774, Charlemagne, in compliance with the entreaties of 
pope Adrian, advanced at the head of a numerous army into Italy, 
with the professed design of protecting the holy See, from the at- 
tacks of Desiderius, at that time the king of the Lombards. Upon 
the approach of the French king to Rome, he was received by the 
Pope, as might be expected, with the highest marks of distinction. 
On the morning after his arrival, Adrian, with the whole body of 
his clergy, proceeded to the ancient church of St. Peter's, early in 
the morning, to await the arrival of Charlemagne, and conduct him 
in person, to the tomb of St. Peter. Arrived at the steps of the 
church, the king kneeled down and kissed each step of the sacred 
edifice, as he ascended. At the entry he was received by the Pope, 
in all the gorgeous attire of his pontifical robes, and led by him into 
the church, amidst the songs of the clergy and the people, who im- 
piously applied to this stern warrior that song which was originally 
applied to HIM who is the " Prince of peace," " Blessed is he that 
cometh in the name of the Lord." 

Charlemagne then solemnly confirmed the donation of the exar- 
chate, made by his father Pepin, to the Pope and his successors, 
ordered a new instrument to be drawn up, which he first signed 
himself, and then ordered to be signed by all the bishops, abbots, 

* Decline and Fall, vol. iii., page 284. 



chap, vi.] POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606-800. 175 

Charlemagne confirms and enlarges the donation of Pepin. Crowns his son king of Lombardy- 

and other distinguished men who had accompanied him to Rome ; 
then kissing it with great respect and devotion, as we are informed 
by Anastasius, " he laid it with his own hand on the body of St. 
Peter."* That the king of France, by this new donation, not only 
promised to defend the Pope's rights to all the places mentioned in 
Pepin's donation, but also added several other places, is generally 
agreed by the ancient writers, though there is much diversity of 
opinion, as to what these new territories were. Returning from 
Rome to Pavia, the capital of the Lombard kingdom, Charlemagne 
besieged and reduced that city, and captured and deposed from his 
kingdom, the last of the race of the Lombard kings, Desiderius, 
and confined the unfortunate prince for the rest of his life to a mon- 
astery. After thus conquering the Lombard kingdom, Charlemagne 
immediately took measures to put the Pope in actual possession, 
which he had never yet fully enjoyed, of all the places named in the 
donation of Pepin. On a second visit of the king to Rome, in 781, 
he caused his son Carloman to be crowned and anointed by the 
Pope, king of Lombardy, and his son Lewis king of Aquitaine. 

§ 57. — -In 787, Charlemagne again visited Italy for the purpose of 
defeating the plans of the powerful duke of Benevento, who had 
conspired with some of the Lombard princes to drive the French 
out of Italy. Upon the approach of the King, the duke proffered 
submission and implored forgiveness. Charlemagne was disposed 
to accept his submission, and cease further hostilities, but pope 
Adrian, concluding no doubt, that if any cities should be taken 
from the duke, St. Peter would doubtless reap the benefit, dissuaded 
the King from his purpose of forgiveness ; and to gratify his holi- 
ness, he entered the dominions of the duke, captured several of his 
cities, and laid waste the country with fire and sword. The Pope 
was not disappointed. Charlemagne, before he returned to France, 
added to the dominions of the church, the five cities he had taken 
during this expedition, beside several of the places which had 
formerly belonged to the Lombards. The Pope, instead of an 
humble minister of Christ, had already become an intriguing worldly 
politician, and like most other sovereigns of that age, anxious chiefly 
for the enlargement of his dominions, and his own personal aggran- 
disement, and so that these objects might be accomplished, caring 
but very little about the humanity or the justice of the means em- 
ployed. 

§ 58. — In the year 800, king Charlemagne having reduced under 
his sway nearly the whole of Europe, paid another visit to Rome, for 
the purpose of vindicating the cause of pope Leo III., who had been 
assailed, waylaid, and wounded by Pascal and Campule, two nephews 
of the late pope Adrian, who were loth to part with that almost 
unbounded power which they had enjoyed during the pontificate of 
their uncle. They had not only offered themselves as his accusers, 

* Anastasius, de vitis Pont., in Adrian. 
12 



176 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book in. 



The Pope judges all, and is judged by none. Charlemagne crowned Emperor, A. D. 800. 

but attacked him in the public streets, and dragged him half dead 
into the church of St. Mark. Upon the arrival of the king at Rome in 
the month of November, he called together the whole body of the 
clergy and nobility of the city in the church of St. Peter, and after 
seating himself on the same throne with the Pope, informed the 
assembly of his horror at the late cruel attempt upon the life of his 
holiness, that he had come there for the purpose of informing him- 
self of the particulars of this horrid and unprecedented crime, and 
as the conspirators, with the design of diminishing their own guilt, 
had charged the Pope with various crimes, he had called them 
together to judge of the justice or injustice of these accusations. 

Upon the King's pronouncing these words, says Anastasius, the 
archbishops, bishops, and abbots exclaimed with one voice, " We 
dare not judge the apostolic See, the head of all churches. By that 
'See and its vicar, we are all judged, and they by none !"* The 
Pope, however, declared himself willing to justify himself by a 
solemn oath, and upon his doing so, Charlemagne and the assembly 
declared themselves satisfied ; the Pope was pronounced innocent, 
and upon the two conspirators was pronounced the sentence of 
death, which, at the intercession of Leo, was commuted to that of 
perpetual banishment from Italy. 

§ 59. — A few weeks after this event, viz. : on Christmas day, 800, 
Charlemagne was solemnly crowned and proclaimed Emperor, by 
the Pope, with the title of Carolus I., Caesar Augustus. The king 
was assisting at the celebration of mass in St. Peter's church, when 
in the midst of the ecclesiastical ceremonies, and while he was yet 
on his knees, pope Leo advanced and placed an imperial crown on 
his head, amidst the shouts of the people, who immediately exclaim- 
ed, " Long life and victory to Charles Augustus, crowned by the 
hand of God ! — long live the great and pious Emperor of the Ro- 
mans."! The Emperor was then conducted by the Pope to a mag- 
nificent throne, presented with the imperial mantle, and saluted 
with the title of Augustus. From this time forward, the nominal 
sovereignty of the Eastern emperor in Rome, which had been 
merely a dead letter from the time of the dispute concerning images, 
in 730, was formally transferred to the new emperor of the Romans, 
although the principal power of administering the government of 
that city, was left by him where it had long been, in the hands of 
the Pope. 

§ 60. — Widely different opinions have existed among historians of 
learning and research, as to the nature of the temporal power exer- 
cised in the city of Rome by the popes, after the coronation of the 
emperor Charlemagne, whether it was an independent or delegated 
power, and if the latter, in what sense, and how far the popes, in the 

* Anastasius, in vita Leo III. 

f Eginhard in Annal.— Eginhard, the celebrated biographer of Charlemagne, 
was a contemporary and favorite of that monarch. 



chap, vi.] POPERY ADVANCING-A. D. 606—800. 177 

The Pope's temporal power. Daniel's little horn, and the three plucked up by the roots. 

exercise of their temporal government, were dependent upon Charle- 
magne and the emperors who succeeded him. Instead of adding 
another to these various opinions, I shall only quote the following 
opinion of the learned Mosheim, " That Charlemagne, in effect, 
preserved entire his supreme authority over the city of Rome and 
its adjacent territory, has been demonstrated by several of the 
learned in the most ample and satisfactory manner, and confirmed 
by the most unexceptionable testimonies. On the other hand, 
we must acknowledge, ingenuously, that the power of the pontiff, 
both in the city of Rome and its annexed territory, was very great, 
and that he seemed to act with a 'princely authority. But the extent 
and the foundations of that authority are matters hid in the deepest 
obscurity, and have thereby given occasion to endless disputes. 
After a careful examination of all the circumstances that can con- 
tribute toward the solution of this perplexed question, the most 
probable account of the matter seems to be this : that the Roman 
pontiff possessed the city of Rome and its territory as a feudal ten- 
ure, though charged with less marks of dependance than other fiefs 
generally are, on account of the lustre and dignity of a city which 
had been so long the capital of the empire."* 

§ 60. — In the seventh chapter of Daniel, verses 8, &c, the papal 
power is represented as a " little horn," or kingdom, coming up 
among the other ten horns or kingdoms into which the Roman empire 
was divided. Before this little horn, coming up after the other ten, 
and " diverse from the first," three of the others are plucked up by 
the roots, which signifies that the papal government should eventu- 
ally triumph over three of the states or governments out of the ten 
into which the ancient Roman empire was divided. Bishop Newton, 
in his learned work on the prophecies, supposes that these were the 
state of Rome, the exarchate of Ravenna, and the kingdom of the 
Lombards. Perhaps it may be doubted whether his assertion is 
quite consistent with historical accuracy, that " in the year 774, the 
Pope, by the assistance of Charles the Great, became possessed of the 
kingdom of the Lombards."*]- It is true that Charlemagne, upon his 
conquest of Lombardy, enlarged the donation of Pepin, with some 
of the cities formerly belonging to the Lombards, but he caused his 
own son Carloman, to be crowned king of Lombardy, by the Pope, 
in the year 781, as we have already seen. (See above, page 175.) 

Indeed, while there is no uncertainty as to the fact, there is much 
uncertainty as to the time when the papal government thus succes- 
sively triumphed over these three horns or governments. Whoever 
will examine a map of the papal states in Italy at the present day, 
will see that the Pope is now possessed of all the territory occupied 
by two of these governments, in the sixth and seventh centuries, 
and at least of a large part of that occupied by the third ; but it is 

* Mosheim, vol. ii., page 229. 

t Newton's Dissertations on the Prophecies, page 617. 



178 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m. 

Circumstances of the full establishment of the Papal State as independent and sovereign. 

more difficult to tell the precise time when these territories became 
all united under him as a sovereign and independent monarch. 

§ 61. — The origin and foundation of the sovereign state, called the 
Papal State, which is annexed to the See of Rome, says a late accurate 
writer, " is one of the most obscure and intricate subjects in the 
history of modern Europe." This writer then proceeds to show in 
a minute and careful sketch of the papal power for more than four 
centuries after Charlemagne, that the popes, during all that time, 
though acknowledged as sovereigns, and exercising the rights of 
sovereignty, and at some periods even claiming a sovereign power 
over all earthly kings and emperors, were yet, in the government 
of their own territories, nominally at least, dependent upon the em- 
perors of the West, till the time of Rudolph of Hapsburg, the ances- 
tor of the present reigning house of Austria. His account of the act 
of the Emperor, by which this nominal dependency was given up, is 
as follows : " Rudolph of Hapsburg, being elected emperor after a 
long interregnum (A. D. 1273), was entirely engrossed by German 
affairs, and had little time to bestow upon the kingdom of Italy, 
which had ever proved a troublesome appendage of the German 
crown, and he is said to have been ignorant of the geography of that 
country. Charles of Anjou, king of Sicily and Naples, was then 
the most powerful sovereign of Italy, and had extended his authority 
by various means over the North of Italy, where he had assumed the 
title of Imperial Vicar. Rudolph resented this usurpation, and pope 
Nicholas III., interfering between the two sovereigns, induced 
Charles to give up Tuscany and Bologna, as well as the senatorship 
of Rome, which he had also obtained. 

"At the same time the Pope urged Rudolph to define by a charter 
the dominions of the holy See, and to separate them for ever from 
those dependent on the empire, and he sent to Rudolph copies of the 
donations or charters of the former emperors. Rudolph, by letters 
patent, dated May, 1278, recognized the states of the church, as 
extending from Radicofani to Ceperano, near the Liris, on the fron- 
tiers of Naples, and as including the duchy of Spoleto, the march of 
Ancona, the exarchate of Ravenna, the county of Bertinoro, Bo- 
logna, and some other places. At the same time, Rudolph released 
the people of all those places from their oath of allegiance to the 
empire, giving up all rights over them, which*might still remain in 
the imperial crown, and acknowledging the sovereignty of the same 
to belong to the See of'Rome. This charter was confirmed by the 
electors and princes of the empire. Rudolph's letter and charter are 
found in Raynaldus's ' Annales' for the year 1278. This charter, 
important as a title, had little effect at the time. Rudolph gave up 
to the Pope a sovereignty, which was more nominal than real."* 

* See a learned article on the " Papal States," in the valuable Cyclopedia, 
lately published in London, by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, of 
which the celebrated Lord Brougham is president. 



chap. vi.l POPERY ADVANCING— A. D. 606—800. 179 

Rudolph's charter, establishing the independence and defining the limits of the Papal State. 

The learned historian of the Italian republics, remarking on the 
same event, adds, " from that period, 1278, the republics as well as 
the principalities, situated in the whole extent of what is now called 
the states of the church, held of the holy See, and not of the Em- 
peror."* 

Thus have we endeavored to trace the history of the papal 
power, till its full establishment as an independent temporal sove- 
reignty. If, in so doing, we have related some events belonging to 
an age yet to pass under review, we shall readily be excused by 
the reader for placing in a connected view the successive occur- 
rences relating to the same subject. 

* Sismondi's Italian Republics, page 96. See also Raynald's Annals ad Ann. 
1299, and Gieseler, vol. ii., page 235, note 10, where the following extract is given 
from the original Latin of Rudolph's charter, establishing the independence of the 
Papal State, and defining its boundaries. " Ad has pertinet tota terra, qua? est a 
Radicofano usque Ceperanum, Marchia Anconitana, ducatus Spoletanus, terra 
comitissae Mathildis, civitas Ravennae et ^Emilia, Bobium, Caesena, Forumpopuli, 
Forumlivii, Faventia, Imola, Bononia, Ferraria, Comaculum, Adriam, atque Gabel- 
lum, Arminum, Urbinum, Monsfeltri, territorium Balnese, Comitatus Bricenorii, 
Exarchatus Ravennae, Pentapolis, Massa Trabaria cum adjacentibus terris et om- 
nibus aliis ad Romanum Ecclesiam pertinentibus." 




II p 



181 



BOOK IV. 



POPERY IN ITS GLORY.-THE WORLD'S 
MIDNIGHT.-A.D. 800—1073. 



FROM THE CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE, A. D. 800, TO THE BEGINNING OF THE 
PONTIFICATE OF POPE HILDEBRAND OR GREGORY VH., A. D. 1073. 



CHAPTER I. 

PROOFS OF THE DARKNESS OF THIS PERIOD. FORGED DECRETALS. RE- 
VERENCE FOR MONKS, SAINTS, AND RELICS. WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN. 

PURGATORY. 

§ 1. — The period upon which we are now to enter, comprising 
the ninth and tenth centuries, with the greater part of the eleventh, 
is the darkest in the annals of Christianity. It was a long night 
of almost universal darkness, ignorance, and superstition, with 
scarcely a ray of light to illuminate the gloom. This period has 
been appropriately designated by various historians as the " dark 
ages," the " iron age," the " leaden age," and the " midnight of 
the world." The darkness was the most intense during the middle 
of this period, that is, during the whole of the tenth century ; yet the 
difference between the gloom of that and of the ninth and eleventh 
centuries, is no greater than the difference between the darkness of 
the hour of midnight, and that of the hour or two which precedes or 
follows it. During these centuries, it was rare for a layman of 
whatever rank to know how to sign his name. Still more extraor- 
dinary was it to find one who had any tincture of learning. Even 
the clergy were for a long period not very superior as a body to 
the uninstructed laity. An inconceivable cloud of ignorance over- 
spread the whole face of the church, hardly broken by a few glim- 
mering lights, who owe almost the whole of their distinction to the 
surrounding darkness. In almost every council, the ignorance of the 
clergy forms a subject for reproach, and by one council held in 
992, it is asserted that scarcely a single person was to be found in 
Rome itself, who knew the first elements of letters.* 

In the age of Charlemagne, it is related upon the authority of 

* Tiraboschi, Storia della Letcratura, Tom. iii., page 198. Hallam, page 460. 



182 HISTORY OF R0MAN7SM. [book iv 

Midnight darkness of this period. The forged Decretals, 

Mabillon, that not one priest in a thousand in Spain, could address 
a common letter of salutation to another. A few years later, king 
Alfred the Great, king of England, declared that he could not recol- 
lect a single priest South of the Thames, who understood the ordi- 
nary prayers, or could translate Latin into his mother tongue.* 
" Nothing," says Mosheim, " could be more melancholy and deplor- 
able than the darkness that reigned in the Western world, during 
the tenth century, which, with respect to learning and philosophy 
at least, may be called the iron age of the Latins." The corrup- 
tions of the clergy, according to the same historian, had reached the 
most enormous height in that dismal period of the church. For the 
most part, they were composed of a most worthless set of men, 
shamefully illiterate and stupid, ignorant more especially in reli- 
gious matters, equally enslaved to sensuality and superstition, and 
capable of the most abominable and flagitious deeds. This dismal 
degeneracy of the sacred order was, according to the most credi- 
ble accounts, principally owing to the pretended chiefs and rulers 
of the universal church, who indulged themselves in the commission 
of the most odious crimes, and abandoned themselves to the lawless 
impulse of the most licentious passions, without reluctance or re- 
morse, who confounded, in short, all difference between just and 
unjust, to satisfy their imperious ambition, and whose spiritual em- 
pire was such a diversified scene of iniquity and violence, as never 
was exhibited under any of those temporal tyrants, who have been 
the scourges of mankind, j 

§ 2. — As a proof of the priestly wickedness and knavery which 
could invent such an imposture, and the ignorance and imbecility 
which could be duped by it, may be mentioned the forgery of the 
celebrated False Decretals, and the Donation of Constantine, which 
appeared about the close of the eighth century, and by which, 
during the whole of the three centuries of this midnight of the world, 
the arrogant pretensions of the pontiffs were established and main- 
tained. The object of these decretals, as they were called, was to 
persuade the multitude that, in the first ages of the church, the bish- 
ops of Rome were possessed of the same spiritual majesty and 
authority as they now assumed. They consisted of a pretended 
collection of rescripts and decrees of various bishops of Rome, 
from the second to the fifth centuries, and other forged acts, pub- 
lished with great ostentation and parade, in the ninth century, with 
the name prefixed, of Isidore, bishop of Seville, to make the world 
believe they had been collected by that learned prelate, some two 
or three centuries before. 

The most important of these forged documents, by which the 
enormous power and assumption of the popes, for so many ages 
was justified and sustained, was the pretended donation from the 

* See Hallam's Middle Ages, page 460. 
| See Mosheim. cent, x., part 2. 



chap, i.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 183 

Pretended donation of Constantine the Great, to pope Sylvester of Rome and Italy. 

emperor Constantine the Great, in the year 324, of the city of Rome 
and all Italy, with the crown, the mitre, &c, to Sylvester, then 
bishop of Rome. The following extract from this pretended deed 
of donation will be sufficient to show the character of this bungling 
imposture. " We attribute to the chair of St. Peter all the impe- 
rial dignity, glory, and power. # * Moreover, we give to 
Sylvester, and to his successors, our palace of Lateran, incontestably 
one of the finest palaces on earth ; we give him our crown, our 
mitre, our diadem, and all our imperial vestments ; we resign to 
him the imperial dignity. * * # We give as a free gift to 
the holy pontiff the city of rome, and all the Western cities of 
Italy, as well as the Western cities of the other countries. To make 
room for him, we abdicate our sovereignty over all these provin- 
ces ; and we withdraw from Rome, transferring the seat of our 
empire to Byzantium, since it is not just that a terrestrial em- 
peror shall retain any power where God has placed the head 
of religion." 

§ 3. — This memorable donation was, near the close of the eighth 
century, introduced to the world, says the eloquent Gibbon, " by 
an epistle of pope Adrian I. to the emperor Charlemagne, in which 
he exhorts him to imitate the liberality of the great Constantine. 
According to the legend, the first of the Christian emperors was 
healed of the leprosy, and purified in the waters of baptism, by St. 
Sylvester, the Roman bishop ; and never was physician more glo- 
riously recompensed. His royal proselyte withdrew from his seat 
and patrimony of St. Peter ; declared his resolution of founding a 
new capital in the east; and resigned to the popes the free and per- 
petual sovereignty of Rome, Italy, and the provinces of the West. 
This fiction was productive of the most beneficial effects. The 
Greek princes were convicted of the guilt of usurpation ; and the 
revolt of pope Gregory was the claim of his lawful inheritance. 
The popes were delivered from their debt of gratitude : and the 
nominal gifts of the Carlovingians were no more than the just and 
irrevocable restitution of a scanty portion of the ecclesiastical state. 
The sovereignty of Rome no longer depended on the choice of a 
fickle people ; and the successors of St. Peter and Constantine 
were invested with the purple and prerogatives of the Csesars. So 
deep was the ignorance and credulity of the times, that this most 
absurd of fables was received with equal reverence, in Greece and 
in France, and is still enrolled among the decrees of the canon 
law.* The emperors and the Romans were incapable of discern- 
ing a forgery that subverted their rights and freedom ; and the only 
opposition proceeded from a Sabine monastery, which, in the be- 
ginning of the twelfth century, disputed the truth and validity of 
the donation of Constantine. In the revival of letters and liberty 

* In the year 1059, it was believed, or at least jwofessed to be believed, by Pope 
Leo IX., Cardinal Peter Damianus, &c. 



184 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book iv. 

The world deceived for ages by these forgeries of the popes and their tools. 

this fictitious deed was transpierced by the pen of Laurentius Valla, 
an eloquent critic and a Roman patriot. His contemporaries of the 
fifteenth century were astonished at his sacrilegious boldness ; yet 
such is the silent and irresistible progress of reason, that before the 
end of the next age, the fable was rejected by the contempt of his- 
torians ; though by the same fortune which has attended the decre- 
tals and the Sibylline oracles, the edifice has subsisted after the 
foundations have been undermined." 

§ 4. — The fact is most astonishing that upon the strength of 
these documents, acknowledged now by Fleury,* and even by Baro- 
nius, as well as the great body of Roman Catholics, to be forgeries, 
the world should have quietly submitted for centuries of gloom and 
darkness, to the tyrannical usurpations of the haughty and aban- 
doned prelates of Rome. The fabric erected upon these forged 
documents " has stood,'' in the words of Hallam, " after the founda- 
tion upon which it rested has crumbled beneath it ; for no one has 
pretended to deny for the last two centuries that the imposture is 
too palpable for any but the most ignorant ages to credit."f 

It cannot be doubted by any one who is not blinded by pre- 
judice, that whoever was the immediate author of these spurious 
documents, they were forged with the knowledge and consent of 
the Roman pontiffs, since it is utterly incredible that these pontiffs 
should, for many ages, have constantly appealed, in support of their 
pretended rights and privileges, to acts and records that were only 
the fictions of private persons, and should, with such weak arms, 
have stood out against monarchs and councils, who were unwilling 
to receive their yoke. " Acts of a private nature," says Mosheim, 
" would have been useless here, and public deeds were necessary to 
accomplish the views of papal ambiuon. Such forgeries were then 
esteemed lawful, on account of their supposed tendency to promote 
the glory of God, and to advance the prosperity of the church ; and 
therefore it is not surprising that the good pontiffs should feel no 
remorse in imposing upon the world frauds and forgeries, that were 
designed to enrich the patrimony of St. Peter, and to aggrandize 
his successors in the apostolic See."J Nor will the reader be dis- 
posed to regard as uncharitable this opinion, who has perused the 
pretended letter of St. Peter, written in heaven, and sent to king 
Pepin on earth, through the hands of the infallible postmaster, pope 
Stephen. (See above, page 171.) 

It is well remarked by Dr. Campbell of these forgeries of 
Constantine's donation and the decretal epistles of early bishops of 
Rome, that " they are such barefaced impostures, and so bunglingly 
executed, that nothing less than the most profound darkness of those 
ages could account for their success. They are manifestly written 
in the barbarous dialect which obtained in the eighth and ninth 

* See a dissertation of Fleury prefixed to the sixteenth volume of his Eccles. 
History. 

f Middle Ages, p. 274. 

\ See Mosheim, vol. ii., p. 297, note. 



chap, i.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 185 

Extravagant veneration for monks. The great cardinal doctrines of the gospel forgotten. 

centuries, and exhibit those poor meek and humble teachers, who 
came immediately after the apostles, as blustering, swaggering, and 
dictating to the world in the authoritative tone of a Zachary or a 
Stephen."* 

§ 5 # — Another proof of the ignorance and grovelling superstition 
of this dark period is found in the increasing reverence for the 
monastic life, and the extravagant veneration paid to those who 
embraced it. In this age even kings, dukes, and other noblemen, in 
many instances, abandoned their thrones, honors or treasures, and 
shut themselves up in monasteries ; and in other instances, where the 
attractions of wealth and grandeur were too strong to permit this 
sacrifice during life, the victims of superstition, upon the approach 
of death, imagining that the holy frock of a monk would be a pass- 
port to heaven, caused themselves, upon their death-beds, to be 
arrayed in the monastic habit, vainly hoping in this way to atone 
for the sins of an ungodly life. 

The cardinal and fundamental doctrines of the gospel seemed 
to be almost entirely forgotten or unknown. The doctrines of 
native depravity, salvation by grace, through faith in the Lord 
Jesus, and holy obedience springing from that faith which works 
by love, constituted no part of the theology of this age. The 
essence of religion was then made to consist in the worship of images 
and saints, in searching for the mouldering bones of reputed holy 
men and women, and bestowing due reverence upon these sacred 
relics, and in loading with riches a set of ignorant and lazy monks. 
It was not enough to reverence departed saints, and to confide 
in their intercession and succors ; it was not enough to clothe 
them with an imaginary power of healing diseases, working mira- 
cles, and delivering from all sorts of calamities and dangers ; their 
bones, their clothes, the apparel and furniture they had possessed 
during their lives, the very ground which they had touched, or in 
which their putrified carcasses were laid, were treated with a stu- 
pid veneration, and supposed to retain the marvellous virtue of 
healing all disorders both of body and mind, and of defending such 
as possessed them against all the assaults and devices of Satan. 
The consequence of this wretched notion was, that every one was 
eager to provide himself with these salutary remedies, for which 
purpose great numbers undertook fatiguing and perilous voyages, 
and subjected themselves to all sorts of hardships; while others 
made use of this delusion to accumulate their riches, and to impose 
upon the miserable multitude by the most impious and shocking 
inventions. 

§ 6. — As the demand for relics was prodigious and universal, 
the clergy employed all their dexterity to satisfy these demands, 
and were far from being nice in the methods they* used for that 
end. The bodies of the saints were sought by fasting and prayer, 
instituted by the priest in order to obtain a divine answer, and an 

* Campbell's Lect. on Eccles. Hist., p. 269. 



186 HISTORY OF ROMAXISM. [book iv. 

Insane passion for holy carcasses. Spurious bones. Multiplication of saints. 

infallible direction, and this pretended direction never failed to ac- 
complish their desires; the holy carcass was always found, and that 
always in consequence, as they impiously gave out, of the sugges- 
tion and inspiration of God himself. Each discovery of this kind 
was attended with excessive demonstrations of joy, and animated 
the zeal of these devout seekers to enrich the church still more and 
more with this new kind of treasure. Many travelled with this 
view into the eastern provinces, and frequented the places which 
Christ and his disciples had honored with their presence, that with 
the bones and other sacred remains of the first heralds of the gos- 
pel, they might comfort dejected minds, calm trembling consciences, 
save sinking states, and defend their inhabitants from all sorts of 
calamities. Xor did these pious travellers return home empty ; 
the craft, dexterity, and knavery of the Greeks found a rich prey 
in the stupid credulity of the Latin relic hunters, and made a pro- 
fitable commerce of this new devotion. The latter paid considera- 
ble sums for legs and arms, skulls and jaw-bones, several of which 
were pagan, and some not human, and other things that were sup- 
posed to have belonged to the primitive worthies of the Christian 
church ; and thus the Latin churches came to the possession of 
those celebrated relics of St. Mark. St. James, St. Bartholomew, 
Cyprian, Pantaleon, and others, which they show at this day with 
so much ostentation. " The ardor with which relics were sought 
in the tenth century." observes Mosheim, " surpasses almost all 
credibility ; it had seized all ranks and orders among the people, 
and was grown into a sort of fanaticism and frenzy ; and, if the 
monks are to be believed, the Supreme Being interposed, in an 
especial and extraordinary manner, to discover to doating old wives 
and bare-headed friars the places where the bones or carcasses of 
the saints lay dispersed or interred."' * 

§ 7. — In connection with this insane passion for relics, it may be 
remarked that these dark ages were equally distinguished by the 
multiplication of nem saints and the invention of the most absurd 
legends of the wonders performed by them during their lives. In the 
ninth century, the idolatrous custom became very general of ad- 
dressing prayers almost exclusively to the saints, leaving them to pre- 
sent the petitions of the suppliant to God, nor did any dare to enter- 
tain the smallest hopes of finding the Deity propitious, before they 
had assured themselves of the protection and intercession of some 
one or other of the saintly order. Hence it was that every church, 
and indeed every private Christian, had their particular patron 
among the saints, from an apprehension that their spiritual interests 
would be but indifferently managed by those who were already 
employed about the souls of others; for they judged, in this re- 
spect, of the eaints as they did of mortals, whose capacity is too 
limited to comprehend a vast variety of objects. This notion ren- 
dered it necessary to multiply prodigiously the number of the saints, 

* Mosheim, vol. ii.. p. 406. 



chap. I.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1074. 187 

Legendary lives of saints. Necessity of checking the increase of saints, 

and to create daily new patrons for the deluded people ; and this 
was done with the utmost zeal. The priests and monks set their 
invention at work, and peopled at discretion the invisible world 
with imaginary protectors. They dispelled the thick darkness 
which covered the pretended spiritual exploits of many holy men ; 
and they invented both names and histories of saints that never 
existed, that they might not be at a loss to furnish the credulous 
and wretched multitude with objects proper to perpetuate their su- 
perstition and to nourish their confidence. Many chose their own 
guides, and committed their spiritual interests either to phantoms of 
their own creation, or to distracted fanatics, whom they esteemed 
as saints, for no other reason than their having lived like madmen. 

§ 8. — In consequence of this prodigious increase of saints, it 
was thought necessary to write the lives of these celestial patrons, 
in order to procure for them the veneration and confidence of a de- 
luded multitude ; and here lying wonders were invented, and all 
the resources of forgery and fable exhausted, to celebrate exploits 
which had never been performed, and to perpetuate the memory 
of holy persons who had never existed. We have yet extant a 
prodigious quantity of these trifling legends, the greatest part of 
which were undoubtedly forged after the time of Charlemagne by 
the monastic writers, who had both the inclination and leisure to 
edify the church by these pious frauds. The same impostors who 
peopled the celestial regions with fictitious saints, employed also 
their fruitful inventions in embellishing with false miracles, and 
various other impertinent forgeries, the history of those who had 
been really martyrs or confessors in the cause of Christ. The 
churches that were dedicated to the saints were perpetually crowd- 
ed with supplicants, who flocked to them with rich presents, in 
order to obtain succor under the afflictions they suffered, or deliver- 
ance from the dangers which they had reason to apprehend. And 
it was esteemed also a high honor to be the more immediate 
ministers of these tutelary mediators, who, as it is likewise proper 
to observe, were esteemed and frequented in proportion to their an- 
tiquity, and to the number and importance of the pretended mira- 
cles that had rendered their lives illustrious. This latter circum- 
stance offered a strong temptation to such as were employed by 
the various churches in writing the lives of their tutelar saints, to 
supply by invention the defects of truth, and to embellish their le- 
gends with fictitious prodigies, in order to swell the fame of their 
respective patrons. 

§ 9. — The ecclesiastical councils found it necessary at length to 
set limits to the licentious superstition of the deluded multitude, who, 
with a view to have still more friends at court, for such were their 
gross notions of things, were daily adding new saints to the list of 
their celestial mediators. They accordingly declared, by a solemn 
decree, that no departed Christian should be considered as a 
member of the saintly order before the bishop in a provincial 
council, and in presence of the people, had pronounced hira 



188 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookiv. 

Canonization or saint-making a prerogative of the Pope. The feast of All Saints established in 835 

worthy of that distinguished honor.* This remedy, feeble and 
illusory as it was, contributed in some measure to restrain the 
fanatical temerity of the saint-makers ; but, in its consequences, 
it was the occasion of a new accession of power to the 
Roman pontiff. Even so early as the ninth century many were of 
opinion, that it was proper and expedient, though not absolutely ne- 
cessary, that the decisions of bishops and councils should be con- 
firmed by the consent and authority of the Roman pontiff, whom 
they considered as the supreme and universal bishop ; and " this 
will not appear surprising," says Mosheim, " to any who reflect 
upon the enormous strides which the bishops of Rome made toward 
unbounded dominion in this barbarous and superstitious age, whose 
corruption and darkness were peculiarly favorable to their am- 
bitious pretensions." In the year 993, the Pope assumed and ex- 
ercised alone, for the first time, the right of creating one of these 
tutelary deities in the person of a Saint Udalric, who, with all the 
formalities of a solemn canonization, was enrolled in the number 
of the saints by pope John XV., and thus became entitled to the 
worship and veneration of the superstitious multitude. In the 
twelfth century, pope Alexander III. placed canonization or saint- 
making in the number of the more important acts of authority 
which the sovereign pontiff, by his peculiar prerogative, was alone 
entitled to exercise. 

§ 10. — The consequence of the increase of saints was, of course, 
a vast increase of festivals or saints' days, as well as of the cere- 
monies of worship. The carcasses of the saints transported from 
foreign countries, or discovered at home by the industry and dili- 
gence of pious or designing priests, not only obliged the rulers of 
the church to augment the number of festivals or holidays already 
established, but also to diversify the ceremonies in such a manner, 
that each might have his peculiar worship. And as the authority 
and credit of the clergy depended much upon the high notion which 
was generally entertained of the virtue and merit of the saints they 
had canonized, and presented to the multitude as objects of religi- 
ous veneration, it was necessary to amuse and surprise the people 
by a variety of pompous and striking ceremonies, by images and 
such like inventions, in order to keep up and nourish their stupid 
admiration for the saintly tribe. Hence the splendor and magnifi- 
cence that were lavished upon the churches in this century, and the 
prodigious number of costly pictures and images with which they 
were adorned ; hence the stately altars, which were enriched with 
the noblest inventions of painting and sculpture, and illuminated 
with innumerable tapers at noon day ; hence the multitude of pro- 
cessions, the gorgeous and splendid garments of the priests, and 
the masses that were celebrated in honor of the saints. In the year 
835, the feast of All Saints was established by pope Gregory IV.. 

* Mabillon, Act. Sanctor. Ord. Benedicti, Saec. v., Prof. p. 44. 



i.l POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 189 



Worship of the queen ot* heaven. . The Rosary. Lying legends. 

according to Mabillon, though other authors ascribe the establish- 
ment of this festival to pope Boniface IV. 

§ 1 1. — Among the multitude of saints, it is not to be supposed that 
"the queen of heaven" was neglected. Her idolatrous worship, 
amidst the gloom of the dark ages, received, in the tenth and 
eleventh centuries, new accessions of solemnity and superstition. 
The rosary of the Virgin was probably invented in the tenth cen- 
tury. This is a string of beads consisting of one hundred and fifty, 
which make so many Aves, or hail Marys, every ten beads being 
divided by one something larger, which signifies a Pater, or Lord's 
prayer. Before repeating the rosary, it is necessary for the person 
to take it and cross himself, and then to repeat the creed, after 
which he repeats a prayer to the Virgin for every small bead, and 
a prayer to God for every large one. Thus it is seen that ten 
prayers are offered to the Virgin for every one offered to God ; and 
such continues to be the custom, as we learn from " the Garden of 
the Soul," and other popish books of devotion, down to the present 
time.* In the chaplets, more commonly used, there are only fifty 
Ave Marias, and five Pater nosters. 

Referring to the worship of the Virgin in the dark ages, says the 
calm and philosophic Hallam, "It is difficult to conceive the stupid 
absurdity and the disgusting profaneness of those stories which 
were invented by the monks to do her honor." He then gives, 
upon the authority of Le Grand D'Aussy, the following few speci- 
mens, to confirm his assertions, " lest they should appear to the 
reader harsh and extravagant." The titles are my own. 

(1.) The robber saved from hanging. — " There was a man whose 
occupation was highway robbery ; but, whenever he set out on any 
such expedition, he was careful to address a prayer to the Virgin. 
Taken at last, he was sentenced to be hanged. While the cord was 
round his neck, he made his usual prayer, nor was it ineffectual. 
The Virgin supported his feet " with her white hands," and thus 
kept him alive two days, to the no small surprise of the executioner, 
who attempted to complete his work with strokes of a sword. But 
the same invisible jfaand turned aside the weapon, and the execu- 
tioner was compelled to release his victim, acknowledging the 
miracle. The thief retired into a monastery, which is always the 
termination of these deliverances." 

(2.) The wicked monk admitted to heaven. — " At the monastery of 
St. Peter, near Cologne, lived a monk perfectly dissolute and irreli- 
gious but very devout toward the apostle. Unluckily, he died 
suddenly without confession. The fiends came as usual to seize his 
soul. St. Peter, vexed at losing so faithful a votary, besought God 
to admit the monk into paradise. His prayer was refused, and 

* See " the Rosary of the blessed Virgin" in " the Garden of the Soul," page 
296. The edition of this work, to which I shall again have occasion to refer, is 
that published at New York, 1844, " with the approbation of the Right Rev Dr. 
Hughes." 

13 



190 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book it 

The Virgin's faror to her worshippers and friends. . = of Purgatory. 

though the whole body of saints, apostles, angels, and martyrs 
i at his request to make interest, it was of no avail. In this 
extremity he had recourse to the mother of God. ' Fair lady.' said 
he, ' my monk is lost if you do not interfere for him; but what is 
:.. ; ssible for us, will be but sport to you, if you please to assist us. 
Your Son, if you but speak a word, must yield, since it is in your 
power to command him.'' The queen mother assented, and, follow- 
ed by ail the virgins, moved toward her Son. He who had him- 
self given the precept. ' Honor thy father and thy mother; no 
.: >ner saw his own parent approach, than he rose to receive her, 
and. taking her by the hand, inquired her wishes. The rest may 
be easily conjectured. Compare the gross stupidity, or rather the 
atrocious impiety of this tale, with the pure theism of the Arabian 
Nights, and judge whether the Deity was better worshipped at Co- 
logne or at Bagdad. " 

(3.) The licentious nun, ^c. — "'It is unnecessary to multiply in- 
stances of this kind. In one tale the Virgin takes the shape of a 
nun, who had eloped from the convent, and performs her duties ten 
years. till, tired of a libertine life, she returns unsuspected. This 
was in consideration rf her having never >mitted t: say an Ave as 
she passed the Virgin's image. In another, a gentleman, in love 
with a handsome widow, consents, at the instigation of a sorcerer, 
to renounce God and the saints, but cam:: I '; 3 j ersus ie :. : : _ive up 
the Virgin, well knowing that if he kept her his friend, he should 
obtain pardon through her means. Accordingly, she inspired his 
mistress with bo much passion, that he married her within a tew 
days." 

" These tales,*' adds the historian, "'it may be said, were the pro- 
)n of ignorant men, and circulated among the populace. Cer- 
the — rould have excited contempt and indignation in the 
more enlightened clergy. But I am concerned with the general 
character of religious notions among the people: and for this it is 
better to take such popular compositions, adapted to what the laity 
already believed, than the writings of comparatively learned and 
reflecting men. However, stories of the same cast are frequent in 
the monkish historians. Matthew Paris, me of the most resj : 
bie of that class, and no friend to the sovetousness :r relaxed lives 
of the priesthood, tells of a knight who was on the point of being 
damned for frequenting tournaments, but saved by a donation he 
had formerly made to the Virgin, p. 290."* 

§ 12. — In this dark age. also, the teats of purgatory, of that fire 
that was to destroy the remaining impurities of departed souls, 
were also carried to the greatest height, and exceeded by far the 
terrifying apprehensions of infernal torments ; for the deluded priest- 
ridden multitude hoped to avoid the latter easily, by dying enriched 
with the prayers of the clergy, or covered with the merits and 
mediation of the saints ; while from the pains of purgatory they 

* Haliam's Middle Ages, pages ±65, 466. 



chap. I.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 191 



Festival of All-Souls. Gross fiction from which it originated 

knew there was no exemption. The clergy, therefore, finding these 
superstitious terrors admirably adapted to increase their authority, 
and promote their interest, used every method to augment them, 
and by the most pathetic discourses, accompanied with monstrous 
fables and fictitious miracles, they labored to establish the doctrine 
of purgatory, and also to make it appear that they had a mighty in- 
fluence in that formidable region. 

In the year 993, the famous annual festival of all souls was estab- 
lished. Previous to this time, it had been customary on certain 
days, in many places, to put up prayers for the souls that were con- 
fined in purgatory ; but these prayers were made by each religious 
society, only for its own members, friends, and patrons. The occa- 
sion of the establishment of this festival was as follows : A certain 
Sicilian monk made known to Odilo, abbot of Clugni, that when 
walking near Mount Etna, in Sicily, he had seen the flames 
vomited forth through the open door of hell, in which the reprobates 
were suffering torment for their sins, and that he heard the devils 
wailing most hideously, " plangentium quod animse damnatorum 
eriperentur de manibus eorum, per orationes Cluniacensium oran- 
tium indefesse pro defunctorum requie," that is, " the devils 
howled, because the wailing souls of the condemned were snatched 
from their grasp, by the prayers of the monks of Clugny, praying 
without cessation for the repose of the dead." In consequence of this 
monstrous imposition, as we learn from Mabillon, a Romish author, 
this festival was established by Odilo,* and though at the first, only 
observed by the congregation of Clugni, was afterward, by order of 
the Pope, enjoined upon all the Latin churches. The fact is worthy 
of notice, mentioned by Mosheim (ii., 417), that *in a treatise upon 
festivals, by one of the later popes, Benedict XVL, entitled " De 
festis Jesu Christi, Marise et Sanctorum," the cunning author was 
" artful enough to observe a profound silence with respect to the 
superstitious and dishonorable origin of this anniversary festival. 
This," he adds, " is not the only mark of prudence and cunning to be 
found in the works of that famous pontiff." 

* See Mabillon, Acta SS. Ord. Bened. Saec. vi., part i., page 584, where the 
reader will find the Life of Odilo, with the decree he issued for the institution of 
this festival. 



192 



CHAPTER II. 

PROOFS OF THE DARKNESS OF THIS PERIOD CONTINUED. ORIGIN AND 

FINAL ESTABLISHMENT OF TRANSUB5TANTIATI0N. PERSECUTION OF 

3ERENGER, ITS FAMOUS OPPOSER. POPISH MIRACLES IN ITS PROOF. 

§ 13. — Another evidence of the gross darkness of this midnight 
ol the world, is seen in the invention and open advocacy of that 
absurd dogma, which more than any other doctrine of Popery, is an 
insult to common sense, transubstantiation. This, in the language 
ol the Romish authors, " consists in the transmutation of the bread 
and wine in the communion, into the body and blood, and by con- 
nexion and concomitance, into the soul and divinity of our Lord. 
The whole substance of the sacramental elements is, according to 
this chimera, changed into the true, real, numerical, and integral 
Emmanuel, God and man, who was born of Mary, existed in the 
world, suffered on the cross, and remains immortal and glorious in 
heaven.* The host, therefore, under the form of bread, contains 
the Mediator's total and identical body, soul, and Deity. Nothing 
of the substance of bread and wine remains after consecration. All, 
except the accidents, is transformed into the Messiah, in his god- 
head, with all its perfections, and in his manhood with all its com- 
ponent parts, soul, body, blood, bones, flesh, nerves, muscles, veins 
and sinews. f Our Lord, according to the same absurdity, is not 
only whole in the whole, but also whole in every part. The whole 
God and man is comprehended in every crumb of the bread, and 
in every drop of the wine. He is entire in the bread, and entire in 
the wine, and in every particle of each element. He is entire with- 
out division, in countless hosts, or numberless altars. He is entire 
in heaven, and at the same time, entire on the earth. The whole is 
equal to a part, and a part equal to the whole. J The same sub- 
stance may, at the same time, be in many places, and many sub- 
stances in the same place. § This sacrament, in consequence of 

* Credimus panem converti in earn carnem. quae in cruce pependit. (Lanfranc, 
243.) Sint quatuor ilia. caro. sanguis, anima, et Divinitas Christi. (Labbe, xx., 
619.) Domini corpus quod natum ex virgine in ccelis sedetad dextram Patris.hoc 
sacramento contineri. Divinitatem et totam humanam naturam complectitur. (Cat. 
Trid., 122, 125.) 

| Continetur totum corpus Christi. scilicet, ossa. nerd et alia. (Aquin. iii. 2,76, 
c. i.) Comprehendens carnem. ossa, nervos, &c. (Dens, 5. 276.) 

| Xon solus sub toto. sed totus sub qualibet parte. (Canisius. 4, 463. Bin. 9, 
380. Crabb. 2, 946.) ' 

Ubi pare est corporis, est totum. (Gioeri, 3.331.) Christus totus et integer 
sub qualibet particula divisionis perseverat. (Canisius, 4, 818.) 

Totus et integer Christus sub panis specie et sub quavis ipsius speciei parte, 
item, sub vini specie et sub ejus partibu.:-. existit. (Labb. 20, 32.) 

§ Idem corpus sit simul in pluribus locis. (Faber, 1, 128. Paolo, 1, 530.) Pos- 
sunt esse duo corpora quanta et plura in eodem spatio. (Faber. 1, 136.) Corpus 
non expellat prseexistens corpus. (Faber, 1, 137.) 



chap, il] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 193 

Absurdities of Transubstantiation. Earliest trace of this absurd dogma. 

these manifold contradictions, is, says Ragusa, ' a display of Al- 
mighty power ;' while Faber calls transubstantiation * the greatest 
miracle of omnipotence.' "* " A person," says the learned Edgar, 
in his Variations of Popery, " feels humbled in having to oppose 
such inconsistency, and scarcely knows whether to weep over the 
imbecility of his own species, or to vent his bursting indignation 
against the impostors, who, lost to all sense of shame, obtruded this 
mass of contradictions on man. History, in all its ample folios, 
displays, in the deceiving and the deceived, no equal instance of 
assurance and credulity ."f 

§ 14. — The first faint traces which the page of ecclesiastical his- 
tory unfolds of the doctrine of transmutation of the elements, and 
probably the hint upon which in the following century, Paschasius 
built his preposterous theory, was the language of the council of 
Constantinople, in 754, which decided against the worship of images. 
This council, reckoned by the Greeks, to be the seventh general 
council, " in opposing the worship of images," says the learned arch- 
bishop Tillotson, " did argue thus : ' That our Lord having left 
no other image of himself but the sacrament, in which the sub- 
stance of bread, &c, is the image of his body, we ought to make no 
other image of our Lord.' But the second council of Nice, in 787, 
being resolved to support the image-worship, did, on the contrary, 
declare that the sacrament, after consecration, is not the image and 
antitype of Christ's body and blood, but is properly his body and 
blood. Cardinal Bellarmine tells the same," adds Tillotson, " but 
evidently with a quibble, * None of the ancients,' saith he, ' who 
wrote of heresies, hath put this " error" (of the corporal presence), 
in his catalogue, nor did any of them dispute about this " error " for 
the first six hundred years.'J True," replies the archbishop, to this 
singular argument, " True, for as this doctrine of transubstantiation 
was not in being during the first six hundred years and more, as I 
have shown, there could be no dispute against it."§ 

§ 15. — " The state of the Latin communion at the time," says Ed- 
gar, " was perhaps the chief reason of the origin, progress, and final 
establishment of transubstantiation. Philosophy seemed to have 
taken its departure from Christendom, and to have left mankind to 
grovel in a night of ignorance, unenlightened with a single ray of 
learning. Cimmerian clouds overspread the literary horizon, and 
quenched the sun of science. Immorality kept pace with ignorance, 
and extended itself to the priesthood and to the people. The flood- 
gates of moral pollution seemed to have set wide open, and inunda- 
tions of all impurity poured on the Christian world through the 
Roman hierarchy. • The enormity of the clergy was faithfully 

* Hoc sacramentum continet miraculum maximum, quod pertinet ad omnipoten- 
tiam. (Faber, 1, 126'.) Divina omnipotentia ostenditur. (liagus inCanisius,4, 
818.) 

f See Edgar's Variations, page 347. 

t Bellarmine De Eucharistia, lib. i. 

$ Tillotson on Transubstantiation, Ser. xxvi., page 182. 



194 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



: i 



:.: : :ae: in his a:ei: 
It was in the ear 
whc was i Bened 
France, began to 

eieaieats. In 531, 
aaa Bi::i ;:" Ciaai 
fullv revised and a 
The doctrine advai 



; :.:.: .: 
: ah ":.: 
v. f.-f ;;. 

:i\: : • 



ie:: :; 

_.._ : _t: l ;•: 
and immorality 
id void of infor- 

r e ? embrace 
:. at: — :: i:-.ra- 

aae a-trtetttoui 
::. aa the aiath 
Tnity, which he 

this Paschasias. 
ot of Corbie, in 
taaare - "..: 
.aaae tae - 
ears atter. ear— 
a:ae : : France 
ssedbvtLc : 
deration of Ike 



d :'-" Christ 

:: . ;-V.f 
: tie .'.-::'. 
exeitea the 
"" Rat iaas. 
:: a::a the 

rie: ri th-E 
draw up a 



sc eat: a::. ay corrupted. In this 

rauna :.„.:: :._. aa_ " f:;;-. f: 
their aiv-rsaries. The : a 

aitaeaaia he aaaint: ...: i that ere?..: 
represented the body and blood oi 

tainei an:::: ah" that tiae if?.: aa 

nf th^ nhtrnt Knnv anr? hlnnrl of C 



:.:: araiaisaa :.v aaeist raiests ea tiae haana- ::" 
§ 16.— The lane Rabanus Manrus, afchbisl 

the most famous : i usei : this newly invented logi 
reply to Paschasius. in 547, is so decisive a : : 
this absurd dogma was regarded as a no veil 
:: "."f :.:. a:t_:a. ~ Seaae rersahs.'" says he. n'iatr.n: 
a sound opinion respecting the sacrament of the body 



-■.:-.' 

aesy the parties were : : 

ri'v at "■"annate "vnta 

-am are very confused 

ae. : s syra: :1s : id si^aas 

Scotus, however, main- 
eee the na as aaa. at ::;h 
Jl the other theologians 
a a : hats. L'ate ta aa : c 
aiaiv aaaaatei aaefthe 

: as the worship of the 
tended for, by any of the 
: aaa: t: : rross :":: 

aaa aatiasaiaaai •" aav - 



a of IMentz, 

a. "rittea La 

:a that aaa 

is worthy of 

eateataiaaati: 
aaa t.: : i a: 



chap, ii.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 195 

Stercorianism. Berenger writes against Transubstantiation. Pope Leo opposes and punishes him 

our Lord, have actually ventured to declare that this is the 

IDENTICAL BODY AND BLOOD OF OUR LORD JeSUS ChRIST ; THE IDENTI- 
CAL BODY, tO Wit, WHICH WAS BORN OF THE VlRGIN MaRY, IN WHICH 

Christ suffered on the cross, and in which he arose from the 
dead. This error we have opposed with all our might."* The 
question of Stercorianism (from stercus, dung), arose immediately 
out of these disputes. Paschasius maintained " that bread and wine 
in the sacrament are not under the same laws with our other food, 
as they pass into our flesh and substance without any evacuation." 
Bertram affirmed that " the bread and wine are under the same 
laws with all other food." Some supposed that the bread and wine 
were annihilated, or that they have a perpetual being, or else are 
changed into flesh and blood, and not into humors or excrements to 
be voided.^ Such were the foolish questions and childish absurdi- 
ties which occupied the pens of the gravest divines of this gloomy 
age, and which the professed immutability of the " holy Catholic 
church" prevents them from renouncing even in the present day, 
amidst the light and intelligence of a brighter and happier age. 

§ 17. — It was long, even in this dark period, before so monstrous 
an absurdity as transubstantiation was generally received. In the 
year 1045, Berenger, of Tours, in France, and afterward archdeacon 
of Angiers, one of the most learned and exemplary men of his time, 
publicly maintained the doctrine of Johannes Scotus, opposed 
warmly the monstrous opinions of Paschasius Radbert, which were 
adapted to captivate a superstitious multitude by exciting their 
astonishment, and persevered with a noble obstinacy, in teaching 
that the bread and wine were not changed into the body and blood 
of Christ in the eucharist, but preserved their natural and essential 
qualities, and were no more than figures and external symbols of 
the body and blood of the divine Saviour. This wise and rational 
doctrine was no sooner published, than it was opposed by certain 
doctors in France and Germany ; but the Roman pontiff, Leo IX., 
attacked it with peculiar vehemence and fury, in the year 1050, and 
in two councils, the one assembled at Rome, and the other at Ver- 
celli, had the doctrine of Berenger solemnly condemned, and the 
book of Scotus, from which it was drawn, committed to the flames. 
This example was followed by the council of Paris, which was 
summoned the very same year, by king Henry L, and in which 
Berenger and his numerous adherents, were menaced with all sorts 
of evils, both spiritual and temporal. These threats were executed, 
in part, against Berenger, whom Henry deprived of all his revenues, 
but neither threatenings, nor fines, nor synodical decrees, could 
shake the firmness of his mind, or engage him to renounce the doc- 
trine he had embraced. 

In the year 1054, two different councils assembled at Tours, to 
examine the doctrine held by Berenger, at one of which the famous 

* Raban. Maur. EpiSt. ad. Heribald, c. 33. 

f Sec Dupin's Ecclesiastical History, cent, iw, chap. 7. 



196 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [boos rr. 

Terrified at the monk Hildebrand and pope Nicholas, Berenger is compelled to renounce his doctrines. 

Hildebrand, who was afterward pontiff, under the title of Gregory 
VJULj appeared in the character of legate, and opposed the new 
doctrine of Berenger with the utmost vehemence. Berenger was 
also present at this assembly, and overpowered with threats, rather 
than convinced by reason and argument, he not only abandoned his 
opinions, but. if we may believe his adversaries, to whose testimony 
we are confined in this matter, abjured them solemnly, and in con- 
sequence of this humbling step, made his peace with the church. 
The abjuration of Berenger, who had not firmness and faith enough 
to face death in defence of the truth, was not sincere, for as soon as 
the danger was past, he taught anew, though with greater circum- 
spection, the same doctrine that he had just professed to renounce. 

§ 13. — Upon the news of Berenger s defection reaching the ears 
of pope Nicholas II.. the exasperated pontiff summoned him to 
Rome, A. D. 1059, and terrified him in such a manner in the council 
held there the following year, that he declared his readiness to 
embrace and adhere to the doctrines which that venerable assembly 
should think proper to impose upon his faith. Humbert was accor- 
dingly appointed unanimously by Nicholas and the council, to draw 
up a confession of faith for Berenger, who signed it publicly, and 
confirmed his adherence to it by a solemn oath. In this confes- 
sion, there was, among other tenets equally absurd, the following 
declaration, that " the bread and wine, a:ter consecration, were not 
only a sacrament, but also the real body and blood of Jesus Christ, 
and that this body and blood were handled by the priests, and bruised 
by the teeth of the faithful, ' fideliurn dentibus attriti,' and not in a 
sacramental sense, but in reality and truth, as other sensible objects 
are. v This doctrine was so monstrously nonsensical, and was such 
an impudent insult upon the very first principles of reason, that it 
could have nothing alluring to a man of Berenger's acute and philo- 
sophical turn, nor could it possibly become the object of his serious 
belief, as appeared soon after this odious act of dissimulation ; for 
no sooner was he returned into France, than taking refuge in the 
countenance and protection of his ancient patrons, he expressed the 
utmost detestation and abhorrence of the doctrines he had been 
obliged to-profess at Rome, abjured them solemnly, both in his dis- 
course and in his writings, and returned zealously to the profession 
and defence of his former, which had always been his real opinion. 

In the year 1073, under the popedom of Gregory VII., in a coun- 
cil held at Rome, Berenger was again called on to draw up a new 
confession of faith, and to renounce that which had been composed 
by Humbert, though it had been solemnly approved and confirmed 
by Nicholas II., and a Roman council. In consequence of the 
threats and compulsion of his enemies, Berenger confirmed by an 
oath, - that the bread laid upon the altar, became, after consecration, 
the true body of Christ, which was born of the Virgin, suffered on 
the cross, and now sits on the right hand of the Father : and that the 
wine placed on the altar became, after consecration, the true blood 



chap, il] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 197 

Death of Berenger. Fourth council of Lateran. The poisoned host. 

which flowed from the side of Christ."* Berenger had no sooner got 
out ^f the hands of his enemies, than he maintained his true senti- 
ments, wrote a book in their defence, retreated to the isle of St. 
Cosme, near Tours, and bitterly repented of his dissimulation and 
want of firmness ; until death, in 1088, put an end to his persecutions 
and his life.f 

§ 19. — Yet notwithstanding the death of the able but too timid 
opposer of this monstrous doctrine, it was not till the year 1215, in 
the fourth council of Lateran, that this most characteristic and ap- 
propriate child of the dark ages was duly decreed to be a doctrine 
of the church. Pope Innocent III. having heard with pleasure the 
word transubstantiation, which began to be applied to this subject 
for the first time, about the year 1100, inserted the word in the de- 
cree which he had prepared for the action of the council, and from 
that time the doctrine has always been thus designated. " It is 
certain," says Dupin, " that these canons were not made by the 
council, but by Innocent III., who presented them to the council 
ready drawn up, and ordered them to be read ; and the prelates 
did not enter into any debate upon them, but that their silence was 
taken for an approbation." The decree on transubstantiation is as 

* The absurdity of this monstrous proposition is well illustrated by the following 
well known anecdote. If literally true, it shows also, what 1 am well persuaded 
of, that the priests do not themselves believe the dogma which, to increase their 
own authority and dignity, they impose upon the silly multitude. Whether true 
in all its particulars or not, it may serve as an illustration of the glaring absurdity 
of transubstantiation. I will venture to say that there is not a priest in the land 
who would have faitli enough to submit to such a test of his sincerity. 

" A protestant lady entered the matrimonial state with a Roman Catholic gen- 
tleman, on condition that he would never use any attempts, in his intercourse with 
her, to induce her to embrace his religion. Accordingly, after their marriage, he 
abstained from conversing with her oh those religious topics which he knew would 
be disagreeable to her. He employed the Roman priest, however, to instil his 
popish notions into her mind. But she remained unmoved, particularly on the 
doctrine of transubstantiation. At length the husband fell ill, and during his 
affliction, was recommended by the priest to receive the holy sacrament. The wife 
was requested to prepare the wafer for the solemnity, by the next day. She did so, 
and on presenting it to the priest, said, ' This, sir, you wish me to understand, 
will be changed into the real body and blood of Christ, after you have consecrated 
it.' 

" ' Most certainly, my dear madam, there can be no doubt of it.' 

; ' ' Then, sir, it will not be possible, after the consecration, for it to do any 
harm to the worthy partakers ; for, says our Lord, ' my flesh is meat indeed, and 
my blood is drink indeed,' and ' he that eateth me shall live by me.' 

" ' Assuredly, the holy sacrament can do no harm to the worthy receivers, but, 
so far from it, must communicate great good.' 

" ' The ceremony was proceeded in, and the wafer was duly consecrated ; 
the priest was about to take and eat the host, but the lady begged pardon for 
interrupting him, adding, ' I mixed a little arsenic with the wafer, sir, but as it is 
now changed into the real body of Christ, it cannot, of course, do you any harm.' 
The principles of the priest, however, were not sufficiently Arm to enable him to 
eat it. Confused, ashamed, and irritated, he left the house, and never more ven- 
tured to enforce on the lady the doctrine of transubstantiation.' " 

\ See Elliott on Romanism, vol. i., page 278. Also Dupin and Mosheim, cent. ix. 



19S HISTORY OF ROMANISM. . [eookit. 

Pretended miracles to establish the belie; m fhe mjfcr God. 

follows : " The body and blood of Christ are contained really in 
the sacrament of the altar, under the species of bread and jrine : 
the bres J '. sing transit! sta vtii ted into the t : iy of Jesus Christ, and 
the wine into his blood, by the power of God." ' Cujus corpus 
sanguis in sacramento altaris sub speciebus panis et yini yeraciter 
: ■ ::. oe in corpus, et vino in sanguinem 

potestate divinaJ (Concil Lateran, ix.. cap. 1.) 

2 ). — The means by which the popular belief in the wafer God 

was es: by arttul monks and priests, were worthy of the 

trine itself If we are to believe the wondrous legends of those 

dark ages, which, however, have been reiterated in a thousand 

forms in subsequent centuries, the most marvellous miracles were 

:V sent] roughl tc testify the reality of the wonderful transmu- 

tati'iu effected by those to whom it was given to "create their 
Creator/ 8 Some of them attested upon oath, swearing by their 
sacrc J vestm nts, that they had seen the blood trickle in drops, as 
it does from a human body, from the : osecrated wafer, held in the 
hands of the priests : and others that they had received still more 
ocular demonstration of the reality : the change :f the bread into 
the body of Christ, inasmuch as they had actually seen it thus 
changed into the Saviour himseif. sitting in the form of a little boy 
u : : the altar l % 

To prove that this statement is not made without abundant 
evidence, we will transcribe some few oi these pretended miracles, 
related upon the testimony of celebrated and accredited Roman 
Cath:iie authors. There is a coiiection of no less than seventy- 
three pretended miracles of animals reverencing the consecrated 
fer, colle:: I by a certain Jesuit priest named Father Toussain 
BridouL In the preface to the work, the Jesuit compiler says. 
•• Wherefore without troubling myself to confute these hare-brained 
pie, v : turn a deaf ear to all that the holy fathers have said 
about it (the holy sacrament) ; and having renoun : :. their reason, 
I have resolved to send them to the sc \ool of the beasts, who have 
shown a particular inclination (not without a superior conduct) for 
the honor and defence of this truth." Tee following few instances 
are transcribed, tc which I have taken the liberty of affixing ap- 
propriate tities. 

(1.) The wafer turned into a little boy in the bee hive. — K Petrus Clnniac, lib. 1, 
cap. 1. reports, T:\?r. i certain peasant :: Auvergne. a province in France, per- 
ceiving that his bees were likely to die, to prevent this misfortune, was advised, 
after he had received the communion, to keep the hosi^i and to blow it into one of 
his hives . and, on a sudden, all the bees came forth out of their hives, and ranking 
themselves in good order, lifted the host up from the ground, and carrying it in 
upon their wings, placed it among the combs. (!) After this the man went 

* Among the many prodigies of this kind gravely related as facts by Romish 
authors, the celebrated Cardinal BeUarmine mentions, with several sther miracles, 
one in whieh instead of the wafer, " Christ teas seen in the form of a child.'' {De 
E-.c'-.z-U-iz. Lib. :.. : 3 

f Host The :erm by which the papists designate the consecrated wafer, de- 
lived ::om the 1 >Tin word Hostia, which signifies an animal for sacrifice, a victim. 



chap, il] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MLDNIGHT— 800-1073. 199 

Holy bees worship the host. rfsses and horses kneel to it. The Jew's dog and his master's nose, 

out about his business, and at his return, found that this advice had succeeded 
contrary to his expectation, for all his bees were dead. Nay, when he lifted up 
the hive, he saw that the host (or wafer) was turned into a fair child among the 
honeycombs ; (/.')- and being much astonished at this change, and seeing that this 
infant seemed to be dead, he took it in his hands, intending to bury it privately in 
the church, but when he came to do it, he found nothing in his hands ; for the in- 
fant was vanished away. This thing happened in the county of Clermont, which, 
for this irreverence, was, a while after, chastised by divers calamities, which so 
dispeopled those parts, that they became like a wilderness. From which it ap- 
pears, that bees honor the holy host divers ways, by lifting it from the earth, and 
carrying it into their hives, as it were, in procession." 

(2.) The holy bees who built a popish chapel. — " Caesarius, lib. 9, cap. 8, reports, 
That a certain woman, having received the communion unworthily, carried the 
host to her hives, for to enrich the stock of bees : and afterwards coming again to 
see the success, she perceived that the bees, acknowledging their God in the sa- 
crament, had, with admirable artifice, erected to him a chapel of wax, with its 
doors, windows, bells, and vestry ; (!) and within it a chalice where they laid the 
holy body of Jesus Christ. (! !) She could no longer conceal this wonder. The 
priest, being advertised of it, came thither in procession, and he himself heard har- 
monious music, which the bees made, flying round about the sacrament ; and hav- 
ing taken it out, he brought it back to the church full of comfort, certifying, that 
he had seen and heard our Lord acknowledged and praised by those little crea- 
tures." 

(3.) The holy asses who knelt before the wafer idol. — " P. Orlandi, in his History 
of the Society, torn. 1, lib. 2, No. 27, says, That, in the sixteenth century, within 
the Venetian territories, a priest carrying the holy host, without pomp or train, to 
a sick person, he met, out of the town, asses going to their pasture ; who, perceiv- 
ing by a certain sentiment, what it was which the priest carried, they divided 
themselves into two companies on each side of the way, and/e/Z on their knees. (!) 
Whereupon the priest, with his clerk, all amazed, passed between those peaceable 
beasts, which then rose up, as if they would make a pompous show in honor of 
their Creator ; followed the priest as far as the sick man's house, where they 
waited at the door till the priest came out from it, and did not leave him till he 
had given them his blessing. (! !) Father Simon Rodriguez, one of the first com- 
panions of St. Ignatius, who then travelled in Italy, informed himself carefully of 
this matter, which happened a little while before our first fathers came into Italy, 
and found that all happened as has been told." 

(4.) The Jew's dog who worshipped the host, and bit his master's nose off for 
destroying it. — " Nicholas de Laghi, in his book of the miracles of the holy sacra- 
ment, says, That a Jew blaspheming the holy sacrament, dared to say, that if the 
Christians would give it to his dog, he would eat it up, without showing any re- 
gard to their God. The Christians being very angry at this outrageous speech, 
and trusting in the Divine Providence, had a mind to bring it to a trial : so, spread- 
ing a napkin on the table, they laid on many hosts, among which one only was 
consecrated. The hungry dog being put upon the same table, began to eat them 
all, but coming to that which had been consecrated, without touching it, he kneeled 
down before it, (!) and afterwards fell with rage upon his master, catching him so 
closely by the nose, that he took it quite away with his teeth." (! !) — " The same 
which St. Matthew warns such like blasphemers, saying, ' Give not that which is 
holy unto dogs, lest they turn again and rend y,ou.' " 

(5.) St. Anthony, of Padua, compelling a horse to kneel before the wafer God. — 
" St. Anthony of Padua, disputing one day with one of the most obstinate heretics 
that denied the truth of the holy sacrament, drove him to such a plunge, that he 
desired the saint to prove this truth by some miracle. St. Anthony accepted the 
condition, and said he would work miracles upon his mule. Upon this, the heretic 
kept her three days without eating and drinking ; and the third day, the saint, 
having said mass, took up the host, and made him bring forth the hungry mule, to 
whom he spoke thus : — In the name of the Lord, I command thee to come and do 
reverence to thy Creator, and confound the malice of heretics. (!) While the 



200 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book rr. 

The unbelieving Jew fetches blood from the wjifer. 



saint made this discourse to the mule, the heretic sifted out oats to make the mule 
eat: but the beast having more understand bag Chan b s master, kneeled before the 
host, adoring it as its Creator and Lord. (! !] This miracle comforted all the faith- 
ful, and enraged the heretics ; except turn that - ited with the saint, who was 
converted to the Catholic fa 

In addition to the above marvellous prodigies. I will transcribe 
another pretended miracle of a somewhat different kind, but in- 
tended to prove the same unscriptural and absurd doctrine ; that 
the consecrated wafer is transubstantiated into the very body and 
blood of Christ This instance is related by Friar Leon, and was 
first published at Peris in 1633. wi:h the approbation of two popish 
doctors of theology, and has been reprinted no longer ago than 
the year IS 21. It will be seen that the pretended time of its oc- 
currence is before the end of the century in which the monstrous 
doctrine was first established as an article of faith by pope Innocent 
III., in the council of Lateran. 

(6.) The unbelieving Jew fetches blood from Jhe wafer, which turns into the body 
cf Christ Hying on the cross, . : irns : . . again into a wafer. — ;; In 

the year of" our Lord. 1290. in the reign of Philip the Fair of France, a poor 
woman who had pledged her best gown with a Jew for thirty pence, saw the eve 
of Easter day arrive without the means of redeeming the pledge. Wishing to 
receive the sacrament on that lay, she went and besought the Jew to let her have 
the g-own for that occasion, that she might appear decent at church. The Jew 
said, he would not only consent to give her back the gown, but would also forgive 
her the money lent, provided she would bring him the host, which she would 
receive at the altar. The woman, instigated by the same fend as Judas, promised, 
for thirty pence, to deliver into the hands of a Jew the same Lord as the traitorous 
lisc lie had sold for thirty pieces of silver. 

The next morning she went to church, received the sacrament, and feigning 
devotion, she concealed the host inner handkerchief; went to the Jew's ho\: ; 
and delivered it into his hands. >»o sooner had the Jew received it than he took 
a penknife, and laying the host upon the table, stabbed it several times, and behold 
blood gushed out from the wounds in great abundance. (!) 

The Jew, no way moved by this spectacle, now endeavored to pierce the host 
with i d :■..'-. by lint :f repeated blows with a hammer, and again blood rushed out. 

: ming more daring, he now seized the host, and hung it upon a stake, to inf. 
upon it as many lashes, with a scourge, as the body of Christ received from the 
Jews of old. 

Then, snatching the host from the stake, he threw it into the fire ; and, to his 
astonishment, saw it moving unhurt in the midst of the flames. 

Driven now to desperation, he seized a large knife, and endeavored to cut the 
host to pieces, but in vain. And as if to omit no one of the sufferings endured by 
Jesus on the cress, he seized the host again, hung it in the vilest :lace in the 
he use, and pierced it with the point of a spear, and again blood issued from the 
wound. Lastly, he threw the host^into a cauldron of boiling water, and, instantly, 
the water was turned into blood ; and lo ! the host was seen rising out of the 
water in the form of a. crucifix, and Jesus Christ was again seen ■- m the 
cross. 

The Jew hating crucified the L f afresh, now hid himself in the darkest cel- 

lai : : the house : and a woman having entered the house, beheld the affecting 

asaon of our Lord again exhibited on earth. Moved with fear 

she fell on her knees, and made on her forehead the sign of the cross, when, in a 

* This instance is also related by Cardinal Bellarmine. De Eucharistia, Lib. 
hi., c. S. ul : 



chap, il] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800- 1073. 201 

Cannibalism. Reasons of papists why the host does not look like "raw and bloody flesh." 

moment, the body of Jesus Christ, which was suspended on the cross over the 
cauldron, turned into the host again, and jumped into a dish which the woman 
held in her hand. (!) The woman took it to the priest, told the story I have re- 
peated to you, and the Jew was seized, sent to pri-son, and burnt alive. 

The penknife with which the host was pierced, the blood that flowed from the 
wounds, the cauldron and the dish, are all preserved, as an infallible proof of 
this miracle." 

§ 21. — The evident object of these pretended miracles is to prove 
the real transmutation of the wafer into the real living body, blood, 
soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if this transmu- 
tation were really effected, and this real living body and soul were 
chewed between the teeth and swallowed, is it not plain that those 
who partook of the horrible banquet would be guilty of cannibal- 
ism ? The manducation of the sacramental elements, if transub- 
stantiation be true, makes the communicant the rankest cannibal. 
The patron of the corporeal presence, according to his own sys- 
tem, devours human flesh and blood : and, to show the refinement 
of his taste, indulges in all the luxury of cannibalism. He rival's 
the polite Indian, who eats the quivering limbs and drinks the flow- 
ing gore of the enemy. The papist even exceeds the Indian in 
grossness. The cannibals of America or New Zealand swallow 
only the mangled remains of an enemy, and would shudder at the 
idea of devouring any other human flesh. But the partizans of 
Romanism glut themselves with the flesh and blood of a friend. 
The Indian only eats the dead, while the papist, with more shock- 
ing ferocity, devours the living. The Indian eats man of mortal 
mould on earth. The papist devours God-man, as he exists exalted, 
immortal, and glorious in heaven. It is true that Romish writers 
have exercised a great deal of ingenuity in endeavoring to gild 
over the rank cannibalism of Popery. Admitting the horror that 
would be excited by feeding on raw human flesh and blood in their 
own proper forms, these writers endeavor to disguise, as well as 
they can, the grossness and inhumanity of eating that which, not- 
withstanding its species or form, they admit to be a living human 
body. A few extracts illustrative of these attempts will be given. 
Thus Aimon represents " the taste and figure of bread and wine as 
remaining in the sacrament, to prevent the horror of the communi- 
cant." Similar statements are found in Lanfranc. According to 
this author, " the species remain, lest the spectator should be horrified 
at the sight of raw and bloody fiesh. (!) The nature of Jesus is 
concealed and received for salvation, without the horror which 
; might be excited by blood."* Hugo acknowledges that " few would 
approach the communion, if blood should appear in the cup, and the 

L * Propter sumentium horrorcm, sapor panis et vini remanet ct figura. (Aimon, 

t in Dach. 1. 42.) 

L Reservatis ipsarum rerum speciebus, ct quibusdam aliis qualitatibus ne percipi- 

I entes cruda et cruenta horrerent. (Lanfranc, 244.) 

I Christi natura contegitur, et sine cruoris horrore a digne sumentibus in salutem 

"accipitur. (Lanfranc, 248.) 



202 HISTORY OF ROMANISM, [book iv. 

Shocking expressions of Romanists to gild over the cannibalism of transubstantiation. 

flesh should appear red as in the shambles"* Even hunger itself 
would be disgusted at such bloody food. Durand admits, that 
"human infirmity, unaccustomed to eat maris flesh, would, if the 
substance were seen, refuse participation."t Aquinas avows "the 
horror of swallowing human flesh and blood "X "The smell, the 
species, and the taste of bread and wine remain," says the sainted 
Bernard, "to conceal flesh and blood, which, if offered without dis- 
guise as meat and drink, might horrify human weakness. "\ Ac- 
cording to Alcuin in Pithou, K Almighty God causes the prior form 
to continue in condescension to the frailty of man, who is unused to 
swallow raw flesh and blood." \ According to the Trentine Cate- 
chism, " the Lord's body and blood are administered under the 
species of bread and wine, on account of man's horror of eating 
and drinking human flesh and blood."\ These descriptions are 
shocking, and calculated, in some measure, to awaken the horror 
which they portray.** 

§ '22. — After the reader has examined these disgusting attempts 
of Romish writers to palliate the cannibalism of transubstantiation, 
let him cast his eye once more over the lying legends of pretended 
miracles in proof of it, selected above from hundreds of similar 
ones, gravely related by popish authors as facts, and then let him 
decide whether a religion can be from God, which utters such 
enormities, and requires such outrageous falsehoods to sustain it. 

O anti-Christ ! anti-Christ ! truly and unerringly was thy 
picture drawn by the pen of inspiration, when it was declared 
thy coming should be " after the working of Satan, with all 
power, and signs, and lying wonders and with all deceivableness 
of unrighteousness in them that perish. Mother of harlots, and 
abominations of the eaeth !" Yet, like Babylox of old, " thine 
end shall come, and the measure of thy covetousness !" thy abomi- 
nations are not always to last, nor thy lying wonders to deceive the 
nations for ever. For the same unerring Spirit that drew thy por- 
trait hath also predicted thy fall ; when the mighty angel shall ray 
with a strong voice, " Babylox the great is fallen, is fallen. 
Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, 

* Si cruor in calice fieret manifestos et si in macelio Christi ruberet sua caro. 
rams in terris ilie qui hoc non abhorreret. {Hugo, de corp. 70.) 

f Fragilitas humana, quae suis camibus non consuevit vesci. ipso visu nihil 
hauriat, w quod horreat. {Durand. in Lanfranc, 100.) 

t Non est consuetum hominibus, horribilem carnem hominis comedere et san- 
guinem bibere. {Aquin III. 75. T'. P. 357.) 

] Odor, species, sapor, pondus remanent, nt horror penitns tollatur, ne humana 
innrmitas escum carnis et potum sanguinis in sumptione horreret. {Bernard, 
16S2.) 

il Consulens omnipotens Deus innrmitati nostrae. qui non habemus usum come- 
dere carnem crudam et sanguinem bibere fecit ut in pristina remanens forma ilia 
duo munera. {Alcuin in Pithou. 467.) 

T A communi hominum natura maxime abhorreat humanae carnis esca, aut 
sanguinis potione vesci. sapientissime fecit, ut sanctissimum corpus et sanguis sub 
earum rerum specie panis et vini nobis administraretur. {Cat. Trid. 129.) 

** See Edgar's Variations. 387. 



chap, n.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 203 



Creators of the Creator Horrible blasphemies of a pope and a cardinal 

and that ye receive not of her plagues ! For her sins have reached 
unto heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities. Rejoice 
over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets ; for God 
hath avenged you on her ! And in her was found the blood of pro- 
phets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."* 

§ 23. — The doctrine which requires such pious frauds as above 
related, to gain it credence, is so gross an outrage upon common 
sense, that no arguments are necessary to disprove it.f Its very 
statement is its refutation. But it has been the source of incalcu- 
lable worldly gain to the anti-Christian clergy, whom it elevates to 
the blasphemous dignity of Creators of their Creator, and 
hence the secret of its success. It is almost impossible to quote 
the horrible impiety of pope Urban and cardinal Biel, without 
shuddering. 

" The hands of the pontiff," said Urban in a great Roman Coun- 
cil, " are raised to an eminence granted to none of the angels, of 
creating God the Creator of all things, and of offering him 
up for the salvation of the whole world." " This prerogative," 
adds the same authority, " as it elevates the Pope above angels, 
renders pontifical submission to kings an execration." To all this 
the Sacred Synod, with the utmost unanimity, responded, Amen.J 
Cardinal Biel extends this power to all priests. " He that created 
me" says the cardinal, " gave me, if it be lawful to tell, to create 
himself." This power, Biel shows, exalts the clergy, not only 
above emperors and angels, but which is a higher elevation, above 
Lady Mary herself. " Her ladyship," says the cardinal, " once 

* 2 Thess. ii. 9, 10 ; Jer. li. 13 ; Rev. xvii. 5— xviii. 4, 5, 6, 24. 

f On such a subject as this it is lawful to imitate the satirical and ironical mode 
of disputation adopted by the prophet Elijah, in his contest with the idolatrous 
priests of Baal. (1 Kings, xviii. 27.) The following is translated from a satirical 
poem of George Buchanan, and sets in vivid and striking light the folly and im- 
piety of this idolatry. " A baker and a painter once contended, which of them 
could produce the best specimen of his art ; — whether the former would excel with 
his oven, or the latter with his colors. The painter boasted that he had made a 
god ; the baker replied, It is I who make the true body of God, thou only canst 
produce an image or representation of it. The painter said, thy god is always 
consumed by men's teeth ; thine, rejoined the baker, is corroded by worms. The 
painter affirmed, that one of his making would endure entire for many years, while 
an innumerable quantity of the baker's would be often devoured in an hour. But 
you, said the baker, can scarcely paint one god in a year, while I can produce ten 
thousand in a day. 

Stop, said a priest, and contend no more with words to no purpose ; neither of 
your gods can do anything without me ; and seeing it is I that make each of 
them a god, "both shall be subservient to me : for the picture shall beg for me, and 
the bread be eaten by me." 

\ Dicens, nimis execrabile videri, ut manus, qua? in tantam cminentiam excre- 
verunt, quod nulli angelorum concessum est, ut Deum cuncta creantem suo signa- 
culo creent, et eundem ipsum pro salute totius mundi, Dei Patris obtutibus ofterant. 
Et ab omnibus acclamatum est "Fiat, fiat." (llovedcn, ad Ann. 1099, P. 268. 
Labh, 12, 9G0. Bruy 2, G35.) 



204 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book iy. 

Worship of the wafer God in the nineteenth century. 

conceived the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world ; while 
the priest daily calls into existence the same Deity."* 

If the fact were not beyond dispute, the assertion would be in- 
credible that this impious and idolatrous doctrine of the dark ages 
is still held in the nineteenth century, and in enlightened America 
too !f Yet such is the fact, and whoever wishes to see a Romish 
priest create his wafer God by pronouncing a few mystic Latin 
words,J and the silly multitude worship this bit of bread, as the 
priest holds it up before them, has only to visit a Roman Catholic 
church during the performance of mass. (See Frontispiece.) 

This worship of the wafer God is a stupid and grovelling 
idolatry, of which even an ancient worshipper of Jupiter or Venus, 
or a modern votary of Juggernaut or Vishnu, would be ashamed. 
While most of the rites and ceremonies of Popery can be traced to 
their heathen origin, this alone is too extravagant to find a parallel 

* Qui creavit me, si fas est dicere, dedit mihi creare se. Semel concepit Dei 
filium, eimdem Dei filium advocant quotidie corporaliter. (Biel, Lect. 4. See 
Edgar, 383.) 

f As a proof that this monstrous doctrine of the dark ages is taught in all its 
grossness in the nineteenth century, the following few questions and answers are 
transcribed from Butler's Catechism, a popular Roman Catholic manual in almost 
universal use among papists wherever the English language is used. 

On the Blessed Eucharist. 

Q,. What, is the blessed Eucharist ? A. The body and blood, soul and divinity 
of Jesus Christ, under the appearance of bread and wine ? 

Q,. What do you mean by the appearances of bread and wine ? A. The taste, 
color, and form of bread and wine, which still remain, after the bread and wine 
are changed into the body and blood of Christ. 

Q. Are both the body and blood of Christ under the appearance of bread, and 
under the appearance of wine ? A. Yes ; Christ is whole and entire, true God, 
and true Man, under the appearance of each. 

Q. Did Christ give power to the priests of his church to change bread and 
wine into his body and blood ? A. Yes ; when he said to his apostles at his last 
supper : Do this for a commemoration for me. Luke xxii. 19. 

Q. Why did Christ give to the priests of his church so great a power ? A. 
That his children, throughout all ages and nations, might have a most acceptable 
sacrifice to offer to their Heavenly Father — and the most precious food to nourish 
their souls. 

Q,. What is the sacrifice of the New Law ? A. The Mass. 

Q. What is the Mass ? A. The sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, 
which are really present under the appearances of bread and wine ; and are of- 
fered to God by the priest for the living and the dead. 

Q,. Is the Mass a different sacrifice from that of the Cross ? A. No ; because the 
same Christ, who once offered himself a bleeding victim to his Heavenly Father 
on the cross, continues to offer himself in an unbloody manner, by the hands of 
his priests, on our altars. 

Q. At what part of the Mass are the bread and wine changed into the bodv 
and blood of Christ ? A. At the consecration. 

Q. How are we to be penetrated with a lively faith ? A. By firmly believing 
that the blessed Eucharist is Jesus Christ himself, true God and true Man, 
his very flesh and blood, with his soul and divinity. 

J Hoc est corpus meum (this is my body), from which is doubtless derived 
the cant phrase, Hocus pocus, used by pretended conjurors. 



chap, n.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 205 

Papists worse than the heathen who never devoured the gods they worshipped 

even in the temples of paganism itself. "As to that celebrated act 
of popish idolatry," says Dr. Middleton, " the adoration of the host, 
I must confess that I cannot find the least resemblance of it in any 
part of the pagan worship : and as oft as I have been standing at 
mass, and seen the whole congregation prostrate on the ground, in 
the humblest posture of adoring, at the elevation of this consecrated 
piece of bread ; I could not help reflecting on a passage of Tully 
where, speaking of the absurdity of the heathens in the choice of 
their gods, he says, * Was any man ever so mad as to take that 
which he feeds upon for a god V Ecquem tam amentem esse putas, 
qui illud, quo vescatur, Deum credat esse 1 (Cic. de nat. Deor. 3.) 
This was an extravagance left for Popery alone ; and what an old 
Roman could not but think too gross, even for Egyptian idolatry 
to swallow, is now become the principal part of worship, and the 
distinguishing article of faith in the creed of modern Rome.'** No 
wonder that the old Arabian philosopher, Averroes, when brought 
into contact with this worse than heathenish superstition, exclaimed, 
with surprise and disgust, " I have travelled over the world, and 
seen many people, but none so selfish and ridiculous as Christians, 
who devour the God they worship /" 

After reading the particulars above narrated, and especially the 
horribly blasphemous language of pope Urban and cardinal Biel, 
let the reader remember that the besotted votaries of Rome not 
only receive this doctrine as an article of faith themselves, but pro- 
nounce a most awful curse upon all the world beside, who refuse to 
believe it ! The following are the very words of the canons of"*: 
the celebrated council of Trent, passed in 1551, pronouncing the 
awful anathema, and thus consigning to eternal damnation (if they 
could) the whole protestant world, and all else who refuse to be- 
lieve this monstrous doctrine. The following are extracts from the 
original Latin of the words of the council, with a faithful English 
translation. 

" Sancta haec synodus declarat, per " This holy council declareth — That 

consecrationem panis et vini conversio- by the consecration of the bread and 

nem fieri totius substantia panis in sub- wine, there is effected a conversion of the 

stantiam corporis Christi Domini nostri, whole substance of the bread into the sub- 

et totius substantia vini, in sub stantiam stance of the body of Christ our Lord, 

sanguinis ejus : quae conversio con- and of the wine into the substance of his 

venienter et proprie a sancta catholica blood ; which conversion is fitly and 

ecclesia transubslantiatio est appellata." properly termed by the holy Catholic 

church, Transubstantiation." 

The council then proceed to enact the canons and curses, of 
which the following are the first, second, and third. 

" Canon I. Si quis negaverit in sane- 1. "If any one shall deny that in the 

tissimas eucharistiae sacramento contine- most holy sacrament of the cucharist, 

ri vere, realiter, et subslantialiter, corpus there are contained, truly, really, and 

et sanguinem una cum anima et divini- substantially, the body arul blood, together 

* Dr. Middleton's letter from Rome, p. 179. 
14 



206 HISTORY Of' ROMANISM. [book iv. 

The curses of Trent upon ail who refuse to believe the dogma of Transubstanriation. 

tate Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ac with the soul and dittnttt of our Lord 

proiode totum Christum ; sed ulxeril Jesus Christ; or say that he is in it only 

tantummodo esse in eo ut in signo, vel as in a sign, or figure, or bv his influ- 

flo-ura, aut vixtute ; IT ANATHEMA ence. 3T LET HIM BE ACCURSED ! 

SIT." ' 

■ Canon II. Si quis dixerit in sacro- 2. "If any one shall say that in the 

sancto eucharistias sacramento, remanere sacrament of the eucharist. the sub- 

substantiam panis et vini una cum cor- stance of the bread and wine remains 

pore et sanguine Domini nostri Jesu together with the body and blood of our 

::. negaveritque mirabilem illam et Lord Jesus Christ, and shall deny the 

sinsfularem conversionem fo^zus substan- wonderful and singular conversion of 

rtts in corpus, et tdtnis substantia: the who*,2 substance of the bread into his 

vini in sanguinem, manentibus dumtaxat body, and the whole substance of the wine 

speciebns panis et vini: quam quidem. into his b lood. the appearances only of 

conversionem catholica ecclesia aptissi- bread and wine remaining, which con- 

me Transubstaniionem apDeliat : IT AN- version the catholic church most pro- 

ATHEMA SIT. ; ' perly terms Transubstaniiation.TT LET 

HIM BE ACCURSED 1 

-Canon III. Si quis negaverit in 3. - : If any one shall deny, that in the 

venerabile sacramento eucharistise. s-ub adorable sacrament of the eucharist, 

unaquaque specie, et sub singulis cujus- whole Christ is contained in each element 

que spent \ ...,>. separatione facta, or species, and in the separate paets 

totum Christum contineri ; IT AN- of each element or species, a separation 

ATHEMA SIT."* being made. IT LET HIM BE AC- 
CURSED/' 

§ -24. — Let it be remembered that [hese awful curses were pro- 
nounced by the last general council of the Romish church ever 
assembled ; that, of course, they have never been repealed ; but 
stand down to the year 1545 in flaming characters upon the statute 
book of Rome, an enduring monument of her bigoted intolerance 
and hatred of all who refuse to yield up their common sense and 
reason at the bidding of a corrupt priesthood, whose evident object 
it is to exalt themselves not only above the common herd of the 
laity, but in their own language, i; to an eminence granted to none 
of the angels " — by proclaiming themselves as the " Creators of 
the Creator." In these awful anathemas, of course, are included 
our Baxters, our Bunyans, our Flavels, our Paysons, and all the 
holy and devoted men who have honored the protestant ranks, not 
only in the past, but in the present generation. There have been 
periods, as we have already seen, when the anathemas of Rome 
were something more than an idle breath of air, when they could 
kindle the fires of martyrdom, and fill the dungeons of the inquisi- 
tion with the tortured and helpless victims of popish bigotry and 
cruelty. Blessed be God ! those periods, we trust, are past. God 
forbid that they should ever return ! The spirit of Popery remains 
unchanged. God forbid that the power to make these curses 
effectual (at least by the aid of "the secular arm") should ever 
again return to deluge the world with blood ! 

* Concil Trident., sess. xiii., cap. 4. 



207 



CHAPTER III. 

PROOFS OF THE DARKNESS OF THIS PERIOD CONTINUED. BAPTISM OF 

BELLS, AND FESTIVAL OF THE ASSES. 

§25. — Another of the profane and senseless mummeries of Popery, 
which sprung up in this dark age, and which has been han- 
ded down to the present time, was the consecration or baptism 
of Bells. Cardinal Baronius says this custom was first introduced 
by pope John XIII., who died in 972 ; who gave the name of John 
the Baptist, to the great bell of the Lateran church at Rome.* The 
reason why the name of some saint is given to the bell at its bap- 
tism, says Cardinal Bona, is " in order that the people may think 
themselves called to divine service, by the voice of the saint whose 
name the bell bears."! The following was inscribed upon the con^ 
secrated bells : 

" Colo verum Deum ; plebem voco ; et congrego Clerum : 
Divos adoro ; festa doceo ; defunctos ploro ; i 
Pestem daemones fugo." 

that is, "I adore the true God; I call the people; I collect the 
priests ; I worship the saints ; I teach the festivals ; I deplore the 
dead ; I drive away pestilence and devils." 

This senseless custom of the dark ages, of consecrating and bap- 
tizing bells, has been ever since observed by papists, and still is, 
down to the present time. In a letter of an English traveller, 
inserted in the London Magazine for 1780, there is an interesting 
account of a performance of this ceremony at Naples, in Italy. On 
that occasion a nobleman was godfather to the bell, and a lady of 
quality was godmother. Most of the prayers said on the occasion, 
ended with the following words, ' that thou wouldst be pleased to 
rinse, purify, sanctify, and consecrate these bells with thy heavenly 
benediction.' * Ut hoc tintinnabulum ccelesti benedictione perfundere, 
purificare, sanctificare, et consecrare dignareris.' The following 
were the words of consecration : 'Let the sign be consecrated and 
sanctified, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost.' * Consecretur et sanctificetur signum istud, in nomine 
Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.' The bishop, then turn- 
ing to the people, said, the bell's name is Mary. He had previously 
demanded of the godfather and godmother what name they would 
have put upon the bell, and the lady gave it this name. 

§2G. — A more recent eye-witness of this ceremony in the city of 
Montreal, Canada, describes it as follows : " The two bells were sus- 
pended from a temporary erection of wood in the centre of the church. 
In the vacant space round them, a table and chairs were placed for 

f Bona. Rer. Liturg., Lib. ii., cap. 22. 
* Baronius' Annals, ann. 968. 



208 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookiv. 



Baptism of Bells. Sponsors. An expensive dress for the bell. 

the principal performers. The candles on the altar at the upper end 
of the church, were lighted in readiness for the exhibition, and in a 
short time a door on the left of the altar opened, and forth came the 
procession. At the head of it were two boys dressed in white, 
carrying two immense candles, each of which, with the candlestick, 
might probably measure seven or eight feet. After them came the 
priests, some in gorgeous silken robes, some in white, others in 
black, and some flaring with bright colors and gold ; other boys 
also in white followed, one of whom bore a silver vase with water, 
and another a small vessel of oil. Some of the priests in black took 
their seats near the altar, the rest came forward to the bells ; the 
large candles were placed upon the table, and beside them the vase 
and the vessel of oil. One of the priests, an old man dressed in 
white, then got up into the pulpit at the side of the church, to 
address the people ; after which, descending from the pulpit, he put 
on a robe of various bright colors, and proceeded to the ceremonial. 
After chanting a hymn, he read Latin prayers over the water in the 
basin, and thus, I suppose, consecrated it ; another of the priests 
then carried the basin to the bells, and the first dipped a pretty large 
brush in the water, and with it made the form of a cross upon the 
bell, pronouncing the form of words used on such occasions, * In 
nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti ;' a third priest with 
another brush completed his work, making cross after cross, and 
then carefully brushing the intermediate places till the bell was 
wetted all over ; the second bell was crossed and recrossed in the 
same manner, and immediately large clean towels were produced, 
and the bells were carefully wiped dry. Returning to the table, 
singing and reading of prayers succeeded, and the oil was next 
blessed and made holy ; the principal priest then dipped his finger 
in the oil, and made the sign of the cross on one place on each bell, 
carefully wiping the place with cotton wool ; he then repeated it on 
a great many places on the bells, both inside and outside, carefully 
wiping them as before with cotton. During the singing which fol- 
lowed, one of the boys went out and brought in a silver censer with 
red coals in it ; a small box of incense stood on the table, out of 
which the priest took a spoonful and threw it on the coals, reading 
prayers over it as before ; the incense smoked up and perfumed the 
air ; then, after waving the censer with great solemnity three times, 
he carried it first to the one bell and then to the other, holding it 
under them till they were filled with smoke."* (See Engraving.) 

§ 27. — It is regarded as a very great honor to stand godfather or 
godmother to one of these baptized bells, and rich presents are 
made on these occasions. On another occasion of the kind, which 
took place in the same city only a year or two ago, according to 
the public journals of that city, the velvet and gold cloth in which 
the holy bell was dressed, cost no less a sum than two thousand dol- 
lars. This is understood to be the gift of those who are honored 

* M'Gavin's Protestant, vol. i., page 520. 




Romish Ceremony of the Baptism of Bella. 



I* 



chap, iil] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 211 

Consecration of a bell at Dublin. Senseless and childish mummeries. 

with the office of sponsors. Within a few weeks this absurd and 
senseless mummery has been performed in Marlborough street 
Romish chapel, Dublin. An eye-witness describes the ceremony 
in the Dublin Warder, in the following lively style : " On our en- 
trance," says he, " we beheld the bell occupying the outer railed-in 
place opposite the altar, and elevated on a raised platform covered 
with some red stuff. Its upper periphery was garlanded with festoons 
of fading flowers, while a boquet in an earthenware vase was 
perched in the wood-work of the bell, and seemed to look with 
vegetable vanity on the idol of copper and tin beneath. Some 
thirty or forty priests in vestments were exceedingly busy, bustling 
here and there, to urge on the pageant, and encircled that venerable 
prelate, Doctor Murray, the lord archbishop of Dublin, whom they 
placed on a supposed throne, raised four or five steps from the floor. 
After placing a gilded mitre on his head, and a gold embroidered 
robe on his shoulders, they saluted him with several fantastic genu- 
flexions, and then brought him a silver censer, and stooping under 
the raised platform, whereon the bell reposed, disappeared, and, I 
presume, were employed for some minutes in worshipping and 
fumigating the interior of the bell ! ! After this, four or five priests 
preceded by young boys, robed in red gowns, bearing lighted can- 
dles, perambulated around the bell, and then one of the priests, 
wielding a black-haired brush, dipped it in water, and wet the bell 
profusely ; then arose a lugubrious chant from all the priests, the 
organ occasionally drowning ail accompaniment in its sonorous 
diapason. Doctor Murray was now conducted from his throne, and 
came near the bell, and after reciting certain prayers, a napkin was 
handed him, wherewith he wiped part of the bell. This was the 
signal for about a dozen of napkins, which, in the fists of as many 
priests, began to rub, and scrub, and curry, and wipe the bell on all 
parts of its surface. While this was going on, the organ choir were 
chanting instrumental and vocal exhortations to the bell, to bear 
all patiently. And when the brawny arms and lusty fists of those 
priests had well dried the bell, Doctor Murray was again conducted 
in pontificalibus near the bell, and a small phial of ointment being 
handed to him, he dipped his thumb into it, and rubbed it to various 
parts of the periphery of the bell, crossing it, the priests, organ, and 
choir, meanwhile chanting out triumphant vociferations at what they 
supposed to be its consecration." 

In reading the above accounts of the performance of these 
profane and idolatrous ceremonies in churches called Christian, and 
in the nineteenth century, one can hardly help imagining himself 
carried back some seven or eight centuries, to the gloom of the dark 
ages, when Popery was in its glory ; or living in a heathen land, 
and perusing the account of some imposing ceremony in the idol 
temples of Bramha, Gaudama, or Juggernaut. 

§28. — We cannot better close these remarks on (he baptism of the 
bells, than by the following antique and curious account of the same 



212 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book iv. 

Curious and antique account of the mummery of bell-baptism, from old Philip Stubbes— 1598. 

ceremony, which is valuable, not only for the infoimation it affords, 
and the piquancy of its style, but also as a choice historical relic 
It is taken from an old work, written in 1585, by Philip Stubbes, 
entitled " The Theatre of the Pope's Monarchies 

" The order and manner of christening of belles, with ridicu- 
lous ceremonies used therein by the papists. — When they are 
disposed to christen any bell, first of all there is warnying thereof 
giuen in the church a good while before the day appointed, which 
day being come the people flock thicke and three-fold to see the 
commedie played. The godfathers and godmothers also, being 
warned before the church wardens, are present in all the best ap- 
parrel that they haue. Besides whom you shall haue 2 or 3 others 
present, eury one striuing and contending who shall bee godfathers 
and godmothers to the bell, supposing it a wonderful preferment, a 
mirracilous promotion, and singular credit so to be. Thus all things 
made readie, the bishop in all his masking geare commeth forth like 
a coniuring iugler, and hauing made holy water with salt and other 
fibbersause he sprinkleth all things with the same as a thing of un- 
speakable force. And although it is at noone days, yet must he 
haue his tapers burning round about on eury side ; and then kneel- 
ing down hee very solemnly desireth the people to pray, that God 
would vouchsafe to grannt to this bell a blessed and happie Chris- 
tendom, and with all a lustie sound to driue away diuels and to pre- 
uaile againsfc all kinde of peril and tempests whatsoeuer. This 
prayer ended, the bishop anoynteth the bell in eury place with oyle, 
and chrisme, mumblying to himselfe certaine coniurations and exor- 
cismes, which no man heareth but he alone, and yet do all men 
understande it as well as hee. Then commandeth hee the godfathers 
and godmothers to giue the name to the bell, which being giuen, he 
poureth on water three or four seueral times, anoynting it with 0}de, 
and chrisme, as before, for what cause I know not, except it bee 
either to make his bellie soluble, his ioynts nimble or his colour fare. 
This done, he putteth on the Bell a white linnen chrisome, command- 
ing the godfathers and godmothers to pull it up, from the grounde by 
ropes and engines made for that purpose. Thene fall they downe 
before this new christtened bell, all prostrate upon their knees, and 
offer uppe to this idol, gifts of gold, siluer, frankensence, myrh and 
mayne other things, eury one striuing who shall giue most. These 
sacrifices and offerings to the Dieuell ended, the Bell is hanged uppe 
in the steeple with great applause of the people, euery one reioycing 
that the bell hath receiued such a happie christendome. For ioy 
whereof they celebrate a feast to Bacchus, spending all that day 
and peraduenture 2 or 3 dayes after in danncing and ryotting, in 
feasting and banketting, in swilling and drinking, like filthie epicures, 
tyll they being as drunken as swyne, vomit and disgorge their 
stinking stom aches, worse than any dogges. And thus endeth this 
satyre together with the plaies, enterludes, Pageants, office and 
ceremonies of this suffragan Bishop. 



chap, in.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 213 



The popish Festival of the Ass. ' Ode sung by the priests in honor of the ass. 

" Now whether there bee anything here, either prouable by the 
woorde of God, or by the example of the primitiue Apostolical 
churche, or any particular member of the same euer since the be- 
ginning of the world, I referre it to the judgment of the wyse and 
learned." 

§ 29. — Another proof of the grovelling and worse than senseless 
superstition of this dark period of the world, was a festival called 
the Feast of the Ass. This absurd festival was celebrated in several 
of the Roman Catholic churches of this age, in commemoration of 
the Virgin Mary's flight into Egypt, which was supposed to have 
been made on an ass. Among other places, this Feast was regu- 
larly celebrated at Beauvais, on every 14th of January. Were not 
the fact established upon the most indubitable authority, it could be 
scarcely credited that such disgusting ceremonies were performed 
in places of worship called Christian. The following account of 
this festival is given by the learned Townley, in his " Illustrations 
of Biblical Literature," upon the unquestionable authority of the 
writers cited at the foot of the page. A beautiful young woman 
was chosen, richly attired, and a young infant placed in her arms, 
to represent the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus. She then 
mounted an ass richly caparisoned, and rode in procession, followed 
by the bishop and clergy, from the cathedral to the church of St. 
Stephen, where she was placed near the altar, and high mass com- 
menced. Instead, however, of the usual responses by the people, 
they were taught to imitate the braying of the ass ; and at the con- 
clusion of the service the priest, instead of the usual words with 
wBich he dismissed the people, brayed three times, and the people \ 



brayed or imitated the sounds hinham, hinham, hinham 7 During 
thVceremony the following ludicrous composition, half Latin, half 






French, was sung by the priests and the people, with great vocife- 

TRANSLATION. 



ration, in praise of the ass : 



" Orientis partibus " From the country of the East 

Adventavit asinus ; Came this strong and handsome beast ; 

Pulcher et fortissimus, This able ass beyond compare, 

Sarcinis aptissimus. Heavy loads and packs to bear. 
Hez, Sire Asnes. car chantez ; Now, Signior Ass, a noble bray ; 

Belle bouche rechignez ; That beauteous mouth at large display, 

Vous aurez du foin assez Abundant food our hay-lofts yield, 

Et de 1' avoine a plantez. And oats abundant load the field. 

Lentus erat pedibus, True it is, his pace is slow, 

Nisi foret baculus ; Till he feels the quick'ning blow ; 

Et eum in clunibus Till he feels the urging goad, 

Pungeret aculeus. On his buttock well bestow'd, 
Hez, Sire Asnes, &c. Now, Signior Ass, &c. 

Hie in collibus Sichem, He was born on Shechem's hill ; 

Jam nutritus sub Ruben; In Reuben's vales he fed his fill; 

Transiit per Jordanem, He drank of .Ionian's sacred stream, 

Saliit in Bethlehem. And gamboled in Bethlehem. 
Hez, Sire Asnes, &c. Now, Signior Ass, &c. 



214 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



[book IV 



A braying match in honor of the ass, by his representatives, the priests and the people. 



Ecce magnis auribus ! 
Subjugalis filius ; 
Asinus egregius, 
Asinorum dominus ! 
Hez, Sire Asnes, &c. 

Saltu vincit hinnulos, 
Damas et capreolos, 
Super dromedarios 
Velox Madianeos. 
Hez, Sire Asnes, &c. 

Aurum de Arabia, 
Thus et myrrham de Saba, 
Tulit in ecelesia 
Virtus asinaria. 

Hez, Sire Asnes, &c. 

Dum trahit vehicula 
Multa cum sarcinula, 
Illius mandibula 
Dura terit pabula. 
Hez, Sire Asnes, &c. 

Cum aristis hordeum 
Comedit et carduum ; 
Triticum a palea 
Segregat in area 
Hez, Sire Asnes, &c 

Amen, dicas, asine,* 
Jam satur de gramine : 
Amen, amen, itera ; 
Aspernare vetera. 



See that broad, majestic ear ! 
Born he is the poke to wear ; 
All his fellows he surpasses ! 
He's the very lord of asses ! 
Now, Signior Ass, &c. 

In leaping he excels the fawn, 
The deer, the colts upon the lawn ; 
Less swift the dromedaries ran, 
Boasted of in Midian. 
Now, Signior Ass, &c. 

Gold, from Araby the blest, 
Seba myrrh, of "myrrh the best, 
To the church this ass did bring ; 
We his sturdy labors sing. 
Now, Signior Ass, &c. 

While he draws his loaded wain, 
Or many a pack, he don't complain ; 
With his jaws, a noble pair, 
He doth craunch his homely fare. 
Now, Signior Ass, &c. 

The bearded barley and its stem, 
And thistles, yield his fill of them ; 
He assists to separate, 
When it's thresh'd, the chaff from wheat 
Now, Signior Ass, &c. 

Amen ! bray, most honor'd ass, 
Sated now with grain and grass ; 
Amen repeat, Amen reply, 
And disregard antiquity."! 



Hez va ! hez va ! hez va hez ! 
Bialx Sire Asnes car allez ; 
Belle bouche car chantez."J 

The learned Edgar closes the account which he gives of this 
ridiculous mummery, in the following caustic style : " The worship 
concluded with a braying-match between the clergy and laity, in 
honor of the ass. The officiating priest turned to the people, and in 
a fine treble voice, and with great devotion, brayed three times like 
an ass, whose representative he was ; while the people, imitating his 
example in thanking God, brayed three times in concert. Shades 
of Montanus, Southcott, and Swedenborg, hide your diminished 
heads ! Attempt not to vie with the extravagancy of Romanism. 
Your wildest ravings, your loudest nonsense, your most eccentric 
aberrations have been outrivalled by an infallible church !"§ 

The final chorus, as given by Du Cange, is certainly an imitation 
of asinine braying ; and when performed by the whole congrega- 
tion must have produced a most inharmonious symphony. 

* Here he is made to bend his knees. J Du Cange, Glossarium, v., Festmru 
f Literary Panorama, vol. ii., pp. 585-588 ; and vol. vii., pp. 716-718. 
5 Edgar's Variations, page 19. 



chap, iv.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 215 

Attempts to suppress the Feast of the Ass. Profligate popes and clergy. 

There is another translation of this sacred ode, sung by these dig- 
nified priests to the ass, which exhibits the ludicrousness of the cere- 
mony in a more striking light, than even the translation above given. 
At the risk of provoking a smile, which in such a case may be 
allowable, I will transcribe the first four stanzas. 

TRANSLATION. 

" The Ass did come from Eastern climes ! The Ass was born and bred with long ears* 

Heigh-ho ! my Assy ! Heigh-ho ! my Assy ! 

He's fair and fit for the pack at all times ! And now the Lord of Asses appears, 

Sing, father Ass, and you shall have grass, Grin, father Ass, and you shall get grass, 

And hay, and straw too, in plenty ! And straw, and hay too, in plenty. 

The Ass is slow, and lazy too ; The Ass excels the hind at leap, 

Heigh-ho, my Assy ! Heigh-ho ! my Assy ! 

But the whip and spur will make him go, And faster than hound or hare can trot, 

Sing, father Ass, and you shall get grass, Bray, father Ass, and you shall get grass, 

And hay, and straw too, in plenty. And straw, and hay too, in plenty." 

Attempts were made, at various times, to suppress or to regulate 
these sottish superstitions, by Mauritius, bishop of Paris, Odo of 
Sens, Grosseteste of Lincoln in England, and others. By the latter 
prelate, on account of its licentiousness, it was abolished in Lincoln 
cathedral, where it had been annually observed on the Feast of the 
Circumcision.* On the continent, however, it continued for centuries 
to be celebrated, and was officially permitted by the acts of the 
chapter of Sens, in France, so late as 1517. Still later permissions 
are found, as we learn from Tilliot and the other authorities already 
cited, till at length, unable to stand against the light of the glorious 
reformation, this senseless and disgusting popish festival ceased, 
toward the end of the sixteenth century, f 



CHAPTER IV. 

PROFLIGATE POPES AND CLERGY OF THIS PERIOD. 

§ 30. — The present chapter will be devoted chiefly to a sketch 
of the profligate lives of several of the popes of this gloomy period, 
related not merely upon the testimony of protestant writers, but by 
the standard authors of that apostate church, of which each of 
these monsters of vice was, successively, the crowned and anointed 
head. It would hardly be desirable to stir the black pool of filth 

* Tilliot, Memoires pour servir a 1' histoire de la Fete des Foux, p. 26-32. Lau- 
sanne et Geneve, 1751, 12mo. 

f Illustrations of Biblical Literature, by Rev. James Townley, D. D., vol. i.,p. 249. 



216 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookiv 

Links in the holy apostolic succession. Horrible barbarities of pope John VIII 

composed of the lives of these " successors of the apostles," were 
it not to show the value of the lofty claims now so boldly put forth 
by the votaries of Rome, and all who trace their succession through 
the same polluted channel, to be exclusively the " Holy Apostolic 
Church ;" connected by an unbroken series of links with the apos- 
tle Peter himself; by the uninterrupted chain of "apostolic succes- 
sion," from pope Peter in the first century, through the Johns and 
the Benedicts and the Alexanders, down to the popes and prelates 
of the nineteenth. Let us proceed then to sketch the character of 
a few of these holy links in this chain as related by the pen of im- 
partial history. 

§ 31. — John VIII. — This pope was enriched with a great num- 
ber of costly presents by the emperor Charles the Bald, in return 
for the services of the Pope in causing him to be elected Emperor. 
Upon the death of Louis II., a fierce and bloody contention for the 
empire ensued among the descendants of Charlemagne. Through 
the favor of the Pope, however, Charles, the grandson of Charle- 
magne, was successful. Advancing to Rome, at the invitation of 
the Pontiff, he was crowned by him with great solemnity in the 
church of St. Peter on Christmas day, 875, the same day on which 
his celebrated ancestor had been crowned in the same place, 
seventy-five years before, by pope Leo III. It is worthy of re- 
mark that the artful Pope spoke of this coronation as giving to 
Charles a right to the empire, thus insinuating that he had the 
power of conferring the empire, and from this time forward the 
popes claimed the right of confirming the election of an emperor.* 
In a sentence pronounced by pope John upon a certain bishop 
Formosus, is the following expression : — " He has conspired with 
his accomplices against the safety of the republic, and our beloved 
son Charles, whom we have chosen and consecrated Emperor.^ 
This Pope was a monster of blood and cruelty. He commended 
the unnatural barbarity of Athanasius, bishop of Naples, who put 
out the eyes of his own brother, Sergius, duke of the same city, 
and sent him in that state to the Pope, to answer to a charge of 
rebellion against the Holy See. He applied to Athanasius the 
words of the Saviour, " he that loveth father or mother" (the Pope 
adds " brother ") " more than me, is not worthy of me," and pro- 
mised to send him as a recompense for so meritorious an act, a 
handsome pecuniary reward. J It soon appeared, however, that 
the bishop had more regard to himself than to the Pope in this 
unnatural act, for he soon seized upon the brother's vacant dukedom, 
and in his turn was excommunicated by the Pope. Subdued by 
the terror of the spiritual thunder, the refractory bishop and duke 
sent to implore absolution of the Pope, but the blood-thirsty pontiff 
sent him a reply, that the only terms upon which he would grant 

* Sigonius de reg. Italise, lib. vi. 
f Epist. Joann., 319. 
j Ibid., 66. 



chap, iv.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 217 

Pope Sergius III. the father of pope John XI., the bastard son of the harlot Marozia. 

him absolution were, that he should deliver to his vengeance several 
men, of whose names he sent him a list, and that he should cut the 
throats of the rest, 'jugulatis aliis,' of the Pope's Saracen enemies 
in the presence of his legates.* Such was the cruel spirit of this 
professed disciple of the Prince of Peace, and link in the unbroken 
chain of apostolical succession ! 

§ 32. — Sergius III. — About the commencement of the tenth cen- 
tury, the singular spectacle was presented in Rome of almost the 
whole power and influence being concentrated in the hands of three 
notorious and abandoned prostitutes, Theodora and her two daugh- 
ters, Marozia and Theodora. This extraordinary state of things 
arose from the almost unbounded influence of the Tuscan party in 
Rome, and the adulterous commerce of these wicked women with the 
powerful heads of this party. Marozia cohabited with Albert or 
Adalbert, one of the powerful counts of Tuscany, and had a son 
by him named Alberic. Pope Sergius III., who was raised to the 
papacy in 904, also cohabited with this woman, and by his Holiness 
she had another son named John, who afterward ascended the 
papal throne, through the influence of his licentious mother. Even 
Baronius, the popish annalist, confesses that pope Sergius was " the 
slave of every vice, and the most wicked of men."f Among other 
horrid acts, Platina relates that pope Sergius rescinded the acts of 
pope Formosus, compelled those whom he had ordained to be reor- 
dained, dragged his dead body from the sepulchre, beheaded him as 
though he were alive, and then threw him into the Tiber /J 

§ 33. — John X. — This infamous Pope was the paramour of the 
harlot Theodora. While a deacon of the church at Ravenna, he 
used frequently to visit Rome, and possessing a comely person, as 
we are informed by Luitprand, a contemporary historian, being 
seen by Theodora she fell passionately in love with him, and en- 
gaged him iu a criminal intrigue. He was afterwards chosen 
bishop of Ravenna, and upon the death of pope Lando, in 914, 
this shameless woman, for the purpose of facilitating her adulterous 
intercourse with her favorite paramour, " as she could not live at 
the distance of two hundred miles from her lover,"§ had influence 
sufficient to cause him to be raised to the papal throne. Moshemi 
says the paramour of pope John was the elder harlot Theodora, 
but his translator, Dr. Maclaine, agrees with the Romish historian 
Fleury (who admits these disgraceful facts), in the more probable 
opinion that it was the younger Theodora, the sister of Marozia.|| 

§ 34. — John XL — This Pope was the bastard son of his Holiness 
pope Sergius III., who, as we have seen, was one of the favored 
lovers of the notorious Marozia. The death of pope Stephen in 
931, presented to the ambition of Marozia, says Mosheim (ii., 392), 

* Epist. Joann., 294. 
t Baronius, ad Ann. 908. 

!Platina's Lives of the Popes, vita Sergii III. 
Luitprand, Lib. ii., cap. 12. 
I Mosheim ii., 391, and Fleury 's Ecclesiastical History, bookliv. 



218 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookiv 

Horrible licentiousness of pope John XII. 

" an object worthy of its grasp, and accordingly she raised to the 
papal dignity John XL, who was the fruit of her lawless amours 
with one of the pretended successors of St. Peter, whose adulter- 
ous commerce gave an infallible guide to the Roman church." 

§ 35. — John XII. — This monster of wickedness was a nephew 
of John the bastard, the last named Pope, and through the influence 
of the dominant Tuscan party in Rome, was raised to the popedom 
at the age of eighteen years. His tyranny and debaucheries were 
so abominable, that upon the complaint of the people of Rome, the 
emperor Otho caused him to be solemnly tried and deposed. Upon 
the Emperor's ambassadors coming to that city they carried back 
to their master an account of the notorious scandals of which the 
Pope was guilty ; that " he carried on in the eyes of the whole city 
a criminal commerce with one Rainera, the widow of one of his 
soldiers, and had presented her with crosses and chalices of gold 
belonging to the church of St. Peter ; that another of his concubines 
named Stephania, had lately died in giving birth to one of the 
Pope's bastards ; that he had changed the Lateran palace, once the 
abode of saints, into a brothel, and there cohabited with his own 
father's concubine, who was a sister of Stephania, and that he had 
forced married women, widows, and virgins to comply with his 
impure desires, who had come from other countries to visit the 
tombs of the apostles at Rome." Upon the arrival of Otho, pope 
John fled from the city. Several bishops and others testified to the 
Emperor the above enormities, besides several other offences. The 
Emperor summoned him to appear, saying in the letter he addressed 
to him, " You are charged with such obscenities as would make us 
blush were they said of a stage-player. I shall mention to you a 
few of the crimes that are laid to your charge ; for it would require 
a whole day to enumerate them all. Know, then, that you are 
accused, not by some few, but by all the clergy as well as the laity, 
of murder, perjury, sacrilege, and incest with your own two sisters, 
&c, &c. We therefore earnestly entreat you to come and clear 
yourself from these imputations," &c. To this letter his Holiness 
returned the following laconic answer : — " John, servant of the 
servants of God, to all bishops. We hear that you want to 
make another pope. If that is your design, I excommunicate 
you all in the name of the Almighty, that you may not have it 
in your power to ordain any other, or even to celebrate mass ! ! ! n 
Regardless of this threat, however, the Emperor and council de- 
posed " this monster without one single virtue to atone for his many 
vices," as he was called by the bishops in council, and proceeded 
to elect a successor. Still, be it remembered, this " monster " John 
XII. is reckoned in the regular line of the popes. The next of the 
name is called John the Thirteenth, and he is therefore an essential 
necessary link in the boasted chain of holy apostolical succes- 
sion ! No sooner had the emperor Otho left Rome, than several 
of the licentious women of the city with whom pope John had 
been accustomed to spend the greater portion of his time in con* 



chap, iv.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 219 

Cruelties of pope John XII. Cardinal Baronius's admission of these enormities. 

cert with several persons of rank, conspired to murder the new 
Pope, and to restore John to his See. The former was fortunate 
enough to make his escape to the Emperor then at Camerino, and 
the latter was brought back in triumph to the Lateran palace. 
Upon his return, pope John seized upon several of the clergy who 
were opposed to him, and inflicted on them the most horrible tor- 
tures. Otger, bishop of Spire, was whipped by his command till 
he was almost dead; another, cardinal John, was mutilated by 
having his right hand cut off, and Azo by the loss of his tongue, 
nose, and two fingers. But these horrible enormities were not 
permitted to continue long. Shortly after his return to the city, 
the Pope was caught in bed with a married woman, and killed on 
the spot, as some authors say, by the Devil, but probably by the 
husband in disguise.* 

§ 36. — But decency demands that we should draw a veil over 
the further debaucheries and incests of these boasted successors of 
the prince of the apostles, and their shameless female associates in 
guilt and pollution. Historical fidelity demanded so much of the 
truth to be made known, and certainly the reader will conclude 
here is enough for a specimen. So conclusive is the evidence of 
the historical accuracy of these disgraceful facts, that popish 
writers are constrained to admit their truth. We have already 
referred to the celebrated Fleury, but shall cite the following re- 
markable language of Cardinal Baronius, one of the most powerful 
champions of popery, in reference to these events. 

" Quae tunc facies sanctae Ecclesiae " O ! what was then the face of the 
Romanae ! quam fasdissima cum Romae holy Roman church ! how filthy, when 
dominarentur potentissimae aeque et sor- the vilest and most powerful prostitutes 
didissimcc meretrices ! quarum arbitrio ruled in the court of Rome ! by whose 
mutarentur sedes, darentur Episcopi, et arbitrary sway dioceses were made and 
quod auditu horrendum et infandum est, unmade, bishops were consecrated, and 
intruderentur in Sedem Petri earum — which is inexpressibly horrible to be 
amassii pseudo-pontifices, qui non sint mentioned ! — false topes, their para- 
nisi ad consignanda tantum tempora in mours, were thrust into the chair of 
catalogo Romanorum Pontificum scripti. St. Peter, who, in being numbered as 
Quis enim a scortis hujusmodi intru- popes, serve no purpose except to fill up 
sos sine lege legitimos dicere possit Ro- the catalogues of the popes of Rome, 
manos fuisse Pontifices ? Sic vindica- For who can say that persons thrust into 
verat omnia sibi libido, saeculari poten- the popedom without any law by harlots 
tia freta, insaniens, aestro percita domi- of this sort, were legitimate popes of 
nandi." Rome ? In this manner, lust, support- 

ed by secular power, excited to frenzy, 
in the rage for domination, ruled in all 
things." 

In another passage, Cardinal Baronius, the celebrated annalist of 
the Romish church, expresses his feelings in reference to the horri- 

, * Bower, vita John XII. The above particulars in the life of this vicious Pope 

. are related by Bower, upon the incontestible authority of Luitprand, bishop of 

Cremona, an authentic contemporary historian. His work is frequently referred 

to by the cautious and learned Gieseler. Hist, rerum in Europa suo temp, gesta- 

■ rum, Lib vi. in Muratori Rer. Ital. Script. 






220 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookiv. 

The holy See, according to Baronius, " without spot," yet " blackened with perpetual infamy." 

bly flagitious lives of these popes, and the See which they dishon- 
ored, in the following remarkable language : 

" Est plane, ut vix aliquis credat, im- " It is evident that one can scarcely 

mo, nee vix quidem sit crediturus, nisi believe, without ocular evidence, what 

suis inspiciat ipse oculis, manibusque unworthy, base, execrable, and abominable 

contrectat, quam indigna, quamque turpia things the holy, apostolical See, which is 

atque deformia execranda, insuper, et the pivot upon which the .whole Ca- 

abominanda sit coacta pati sacrosancla tholic church revolves, was forced to 

apostolica sedes in cujus cardine uni- endure, when the princes of this age, 

versa ecclesia Catholica vertitur, although Christian, yet arrogated to 

cum Principes saeculae hujus quantumli- themselves the election of the Roman 

bet Christian], hac tamen ex parte di- pontiffs. Alas, the shame ! Alas, the 

cendi tyranni saevissimi arrogaverunt sibi grief ! what monsters horrible to be- 

tyrannice electionem Romanorum pon- hold, were then, by them, intruded on 

tificum. Quot tunc ab eis, proh pudor ! the holy See, which angels revere ! what 

proh dolor ! in eandem Sedem Angelis evils ensued ! what tragedies did they 

reverendam vtstj horrenda intrusa sunt perpetrate ! with what pollutions was 

monstra ? quot ex eis oborta sunt mala, this See, though itself without spot or 

consummatae tragcediae ? quibus tunc wrinkle, then stained ! with what cor- 

ipsam sine Tnacula et sine ruga contigit ruptions infected ! with what filthiness 

aspergi sordibus, putoribus infici, inqui- defiled ! and by these things blackened 

nati spurcitiis, ex hisque perpetua in- with perpetual infamy."* 

FAMIA DENIGRARI !" 

How the above assertions can be reconciled, that " the holy See 
itself" can be "without spot or wrinkle," and yet "blackened 
with perpetual infamy," must be left for popish casuists to explain. 

" Who can say," asks Baronius, " that persons thrust into the 
popedom, by harlots of this sort, were legitimate popes of Rome f 
Certainly, we answer, they have evidently no more claim to the 
character of bishops or ministers of Christ, than their scarcely more 
wicked master, Beelzebub himself. But then, what becomes of the 
boasted uninterrupted apostolical succession ? What, indeed ! 
After reading the above brief recitals of bat a few instances of 
papal profligacy, presented in this age, the reader will be prepared 
to acknowledge the justice of the remark of Mosheim, in reference 
to the tenth century : " The history of the Roman pontiffs that lived 
in this century," says he, " is a history of so many monsters, and 
not of men, and exhibits a horrible series of the most flagi- 
tious, tremendous, and complicated crimes, as all writers, even 
those of the Romish communion, unanimously confess." (Vol. ii., 390.) 

§ 37. — It would be amusing, were it not painful to witness the 
lame attempts of Roman Catholic writers to reconcile the horrible 
profligacy of many of their popes, with their views in relation to 
apostolical succession, and papal infallibility. Father Gahan, in his 
history of the church, already referred to, which is probably the 
most accessible and popular work of its kind, among the multitude 
of Romanists, after faintly admitting (page 279), that " some unwor- 
thy popes " who had been " thrust into the apostolic chair," by the 

* Baronius Annal., ad Ann. 900, &c. The former of the above passages from 
the Annalist, is cited by Southey, in his Vindicise Anglicanae, page 389. Lon- 
don, 1826. 



CHAP. 



. iv.l POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 221 



Do what they say, and not what they do. Another monster, pope Benedict IX. 

intrigues of " three women of scandalous lives," had " disgraced 
their high station, by the immorality of their lives," proceeds to 
remark as follows : '• Christ promised infallibility," says he, " to the 
great body of her pastors, in their public doctrine, but he has no- 
where promised them impeccability in their conduct. ■ Go, said 
he to them, ' teach all nations : Baptize and teach them to observe 
all that I have ordained, and / will be with you,' &c. In virtue of 
this promise, he is always with the pastors of his church, to guaran- 
tee them from all error in the doctrine of faith, but not to exempt them 
from all vice ; for he did not say, as the great Bossuet observes, ' / 
will be with you practising all that I have commanded, but / will 
be with ye teaching.' Hence, to show that the mark of the true 
faith was attached to the profession of the public doctrine, and not 
to the innocence of their morals, he said to the faithful who are 

taught, ' DO ALL THAT THEY SAY, AND NOT WHAT THEY DO."(! !)* I 

suppose that most of my readers have heard the old anecdote of the 
drinking and fox-hunting English parson, who used to admonish 
his congregation that they must do as he said, and not as he did ; but 
probably few of them ever imagined, before reading the above pre- 
cious specimen of papal reasoning that the parson was indebted for 
his maxim to the Saviour himself. 

§ 38. — Among the popes of the eleventh century, while there were 
some whose lives were decent, there were others, worthy rivals in 
profligacy to their predecessors of the tenth. I shall add, however, 
but one to this disgraceful list, Benedict IX., on account of his pre- 
eminence in vice. He was a son of Alberic, count of Tuscany, and 
was placed on the papal throne, through the money and the influ- 
ence of his father, at the age of eighteen years, A. D. 1033. His 
vicious life can only find a parallel in that of the most debauched 
of the Roman emperors, Heliogabalus, Commodus, or Caligula. 
The Romans, shocked at his daily public debaucheries, more than 
once expelled him from the city, but by means of the emperors, or 
some other powerful friends, he was as often restored. Finding 
himself at length an object of public abhorrence, on account of his 
flagitious crimes, he finally sold the popedom to his successor, 
Gregory VI., and betook himself to a private life, rioting without 
control in all manner of uncleanliness. One of his successors in the 
papal chair, Desiderius, or Victor III., describes pope Benedict as 
" abandoned to all manner of vice. A successor of Simon the sor- 
cerer, and not of Simon the apostle."! No doubt this opinion is 
correct, but again we ask, what becomes of the uninterrupted apos- 
tolical succession ? 

§ 39. — It might, of course, be expected that the examples thus 
set by the occupants of the vaunted Holy See, the boasted suc- 
cessors of St. Peter, would be imitated by the inferior orders of 
clergy, who were taught to regard the popes as their spiritual 

* Gahan's History of the Church, page 280. 
t Desid. Dialog., Lib. iii. 

15 



222 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book iv. 

Licentiousness of the inferior clergy. Concubines of the priests confessing to their paramoura 

sovereign and head, as the vicegerents of God upon earth. Ac- 
cordingly, we find that a universal corruption of morals had in- 
vaded the monks and the clergy. " The houses of the priests and 
monks," says the abbot Alredus, "were brothels for harlots, and 
filled with assemblies of buffoons ; wherein, gambling, dancing, and 
music, amid every nameless crime, the donations of royalty, and 
the benevolence of princes, the price of precious blood, were most 
prodigally squandered."* 

" Atto's language on this topic," says Edgar, " is equally striking. 
He represents some of the clergy as sold in such a degree to their 
lusts, that they kept filthy harlots in their houses. These, in a pub- 
lic manner, lived, bedded, and boarded with their consecrated para- 
mours. Fascinated with their wanton allurements, the abandoned 
clergy conferred on the partners of their guilt, the superintendence 
of their family and all their domestic concerns. These courtezans, 
during the lives of their companions in iniquity, managed their 
households: and, at their death, inherited their property. The 
ecclesiastical alms and revenues, in this manner, descended to the 
accomplices of vile prostitution.! The hirelings of pollution were 
adorned, the church wasted, and the poor oppressed by men who 
professed to be the patrons of purity, the guardians of truth, and 
the protectors of the wretched and the needy. 

§ 40. — " Damian represents the guilty mistress as confessing to the 
guilty priest. J This presented another absurdity and an aggravation 
of the crime. The formality of confessing what the father confessor 
knew, and receiving forgiveness from a partner in sin, was an insult 
on common sense, and presented one of the many ridiculous scenes 
which have been exhibited on the theatre of the world. Confession 
and absolution in this way were, after all, very convenient. The 
fair penitent had not far to go for pardon, nor for an opportunity 
of repeating the fault, which might qualify her for another course 
of confession and remission. Her spiritual father could spare her 
blushes ; and his memory could supply any deficiency of recollec- 
tion in the enumeration of her sins. This mode of remission was 
attended with another advantage, which was a great improvement 
on the old plan. The confessor, in the- penance which he pre- 
scribed on these occasions, exemplified the virtues of compassion 
and charity. Christian commiseration and sympathy took place 
of rigor and strictness. The holy father indeed could not be severe 
on so dear a friend ; and the lady could not refuse to be kind again 
to such an indulgent father. Damian, however, in his want of 

* " Fuisse clericorum domos prostibula meretricum conciliabulum histrionum, 
ubi ales, saltus, cantus, patrimonia regum. eleemosynae principum profligarentur, 
imo pretiosi sanguinis pretium, et alia infanda." (Alredus, cap. ii.) 

f Quod dicere pudet. Quidem in tanta libidine mancipantur, ut obscoenas 
meretriculas sua simul in domo secum habitare, uno cibum sumere, ac publice 
degere permittant. Unde meretrices ornantur, ecclesiae vestantur, pauperes tri- 
bulantur. (Atto, Ep. 9. Dachery, i. 439.) 

| Les coupables se confessent a leurs complices, qui ne leur imposent point de 
penitences convenables. (Damian in Bruy. 2, 356. Giannon, X. \ 2.) 



chap, iv.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 223 

Concubinage openly practised. Regarded as a less crime in a priest than marriage. 

charity and liberality, saw the transaction in a different light ; and 
complained in bitterness of this laxity of discipline, and the insult 
on ecclesiastical jurisdiction and on rational piety. This adultery 
and fornication of the clergy degenerated, in many instances, into 
incest and other abominations of the grossest kind. Some priests, 
according to the council of Mentz in 888, ' had sons by their own 
sisters.'* Some of the earlier councils, through fear of scandal, de- 
prived the clergy of all female company, except a mother, a sister, 
or an aunt, who, it was reckoned, was beyond all suspicion. But 
the means intended for prevention were the occasion of more ac- 
cumulated scandal and more heinous criminality. The interdiction 
was the introduction to incestuous and unnatural prostitution." 
(Edgar, 516, 17.) 

§ 41. — In the tenth and eleventh centuries, concubinage was 
openly practised by the clergy, and it was regarded by popes and 
prelates as a far less crime to keep a concubine than to marry a wife. 
" Any person, clergyman or layman, according to the council of 
Toledo in its seventeenth canon, who has not a wife but a concu- 
bine, is not to be repelled from the communion, if he be content 
with one.f And his holiness pope Leo, the vicar-general of God, 
confirmed, in the kindest manner and with the utmost courtesy, the 
council of Toledo and the act of the Spanish prelacy.J Such was 
the hopeful decision of a Spanish council and a Roman pontiff: 
but, ridiculous as it is, this is not all. The enactment of the coun- 
cil and the Pope has been inserted in the Romish body of the Canon 
Law edited by Gratian and Pithou. Gratian's compilation indeed 
was a private production, unauthenticated by any pope. But 
Pithou published by the command of Gregory XIII., and his work 
contains the acknowledged Canon Law of the Romish church. 
His edition is accredited by pontifical authority, and recognized 
through popish Christendom. Fornication therefore is sanctioned 
by a Spanish council, a Roman pontiff, and the canon law. Forni- 
cation, in this manner, was, in the clergy, not only tolerated but 
also preferred to matrimony. Many of the popish casuists raised 
whoredom above wedlock in the clergy. Costerus admits that a 
clergyman sins, if he commit fornication ; but more heinously if he 
marry. Concubinage, the Jesuit grants, is sinful ; but less aggra- 
vated, he maintains, than marriage. Costerus was followed by 
Pighius and Hosius. Campeggio proceeded to still greater ex- 
travagancy. He represented a priest who became a husband, as 
committing a more grievous transgression than if he should keep 
many domestic harlots.§ An ecclesiastic, rather than marry, 

* Quidam sacerdotum cum propriis sororibus concumbentos, filios ex eis gene- 

rassent. {Bin. 7, 137. Labb. 11, 586.) 
f Christiano habere licitum est imam tantum aut uxorem, aut certe loco uxoris 

concubinam. {Pithou, 47. Giannon,v. 5. Dachery, 1, 628. Canisius, 2, 111.) 
I Confirmatum videtur auctoritate Leonis Papae. (Bin. 1, 737.) 
$ Gravius peccat, si contrahat matrimonium. {Cost., c. 15.) 
Quod saccrdotes riant mariti, multo esse gravius peccatum quam ee plurimas 



224 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book iy. 



Amidst all this profligacy, the power and influence of the popes increased. Causes of dus. 

should, according to this precious divine, keep a seraglio. The 
clergyman, he affirms, who perpetrates whoredom, acts from a per- 
suasion of its rectitude or legality ; while the other knows and 
acknowledges his criminality. The priesthood, therefore, in Cam- 
peggio's statement, are convinced of the propriety of fornication."* 

§ 42. — The most astonishing circumstance of all is, that amidst all 
this abandoned profligacy of popes and priests, their power, and 
wealth, and influence, should have gone on steadily increasing till it 
reached its culminating point during the pontificate of the im- 
perious Hildebrand, who ascended the papal throne under the title 
of Gregory VII., A. D. 1073. 

This strange fact is accounted for in the general ignorance of 
the bible, the supposed authority of the forged decretals, and 
the awful terror of excommunication and interdict. During these 
dark ages, the Scriptures were almost entirely unknown, not only 
among the laity, but even among the great majority of the clergy. 
Those of the 'priests who had some acquaintance with the sacred 
books labored hard to conceal from the eyes of the people a volume 
which so plainly condemned their vicious lives and their anti-scrip- 
tural doctrines and ceremonies. This, it is well known, has ever 
been the policy of popish priests, and down to the present day in 
countries where Popery generally prevails, multitudes of otherw-^se 
well educated people are ignorant even of the existence of the 

bible.t 

§ 43. — During these dark ages, it is to be remembered, the forged 
decretals, and the spurious donation of the emperor Constantine, 
were universally received as genuine, and constantly appealed to in 
proof of the assumptions of the popes. On this point, in addition 
to what has already been said in a former chapter (see above, page 
182, &c), I shall quote a paragraph from the celebrated work oi 
the learned John Daille on " the right use of the fathers." Speak- 
ing of various early forgeries, says he, " I shall place in this rank 
the so much vaunted deed of the donation of Constantine, which 

doni meretrices alimt. Nam illos habere persuasum quasi recte faciant, hos autem 
scire et peccatum agnoscere. ( Campeggio, in Sieidan, 96.) 

* See Edgar, 520. 

f A remarkable and unexceptionable proof of this assertion is found in the 
recent work of George Borrow, entitled "the Bible in Spain." On one occasion, 
he says, " I asked a boy whether he or his parents were acquainted with the 
Scripture and ever read it ; he did not, however, seem to understand me. I must 
here observe that the boy was fifteen years of age, that he was in many respects 
very intelligent, and had some knowledge of the Latin language ; nevertheless, 
he knew not the Scripture, even by name, and I have no doubt, from what I sub- 
sequently observed, that at least two-thirds of his countrymen are on that im- 
portant point no wiser than himself. At the doors of village inns, at the hearths 
of the rustics, in the fields where they labor, at the stone fountain by the way-side, 
where they water their cattle, I have questioned the lower classes of the children 
of Portugal about the Scripture, the Bible, the Old and New Testament, and in no 
one instance have they known what I was alluding to, or could return me a 
rational answer, though on all other matters their replies were sensible enough." 



chap, iv.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 225 

Forged decretals. DaiJle on the fathers. Mysterious terrors of excommunication and interdict 

has for so long a time been accounted as a most valid and authentic 
evidence, and has also been inserted in the decrees, and so pertina- 
ciously maintained by the bishop of Agobio, against the objections 
of Laurentius Valla. Certainly those very men, who at this day 
maintain the donation, do notwithstanding disclaim this evidence as 
a piece of forgery."* 

In reference to the decretal epistles, Daille remarks, " Of the 
same nature are the epistles attributed to the first popes, as Clemens, 
Anacletus, Euaristus, Alexander, Sixtus, Telesphorus, Hyginus, 
Pius, Anicetus, and others, down to the times of Siricius (that is to 
say, to the year of our Saviour 385), which the world read, under 
these venerable titles, at the least for eight hundred years together ; 
and by which have been decided, to the advantage of the church 
of Rome, very many controversies, and especially the most im- 
portant of all the rest, that of the Pope's monarchy. This shows 
plain enough the motive (shall I call it such ?), or rather the purposed 
design of the trafficker that first circulated them. The greatest 
part of these are accounted forged by men of learning ; for indeed 
their forgery appears clear enough from their barbarous style, the 
errors met with at every step in the computation of times and his- 
tory, the pieces they are patched up of, stolen here and there out 
of different authors, whose books we have at this day to show : and 
also by the general silence of all the writers of the first eight cen- 
turies, among whom there is not one word mentioned of them." 

§ 44. — When, in addition to these facts, we call to mind the im- 
mense power wielded by the popes and clergy, in consequence of the 
mysterious terror attached to the thunders of excommunication and 
interdict, we shall no longer be at a loss to account for the growth 
of papal power and assumption during this midnight Of the world. 
During the dark ages, excommunication received that infernal 
power which dissolved all connexions, and the unfortunate or 
guilty victim of this horrid sentence was regarded as on a level 
with the beasts. The king, the ruler, the husband, the father, nay, 
even the man, forfeited all their rights, all their advantages, the 
claims of nature and the privileges of society, and was to be shun- 
ned like a man infected with the leprosy, by his servants, his friends 
or his family. Two attendants only were willing to remain with 
Robert, king of France, who was excommunicated by pope Gre- 
gory V., and these threw all the meats that passed his table into the 
fire. Indeed, the mere intercourse with a proscribed person incur- 
red what was called the lesser excommunication, or privation of 
the sacraments, and required penitence and absolution. Every- 
where the excommunicated were debarred of a regular sepulture, 
which has, through the superstition of consecrating burial-grounds, 

* Daille on the right use of the fathers, Philad., pages 46, 47. 

At the time when Daille wrote this valuable work, A. D. 1631, we see from the 
above sentence there were some who still contended for the genuineness of this 
spurious grant. The arguments of Laurentius Valla have since been universal 
admitted as conclusive, and the point is conceded by Romanists themselves. 



226 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book iv. 

The iron age of the world was the golden age of Popery. 

been treated as belonging to ecclesiastical control. But as excom- 
munication, which attacked only one and perhaps a hardened sin- 
ner, was not always efficacious, the church had recourse to a more 
comprehensive punishment. For the offence of a nobleman, she 
put a county, for that of a prince, his entire kingdom, under an in- 
terdict, or suspension of religious offices. No stretch of her tyran- 
ny was perhaps so outrageous as this. During an interdict, the 
churches were closed, the bells silent, the dead unburied, no rite but 
those of baptism and extreme unction performed. The penalty 
fell upon those who had neither partaken nor could have prevented 
the offence ; and the offence was often but a private dispute, in 
which the pride of a pope or bishop had been wounded. This was 
the mainspring of the machinery that the clergy set in motion, the 
lever by which they moved the world. From the moment that 
these interdicts and excommunications had been tried, the powers 
of the earth might be said to have existed only by sufferance.* 
During the pontificates of Gregory VIL, Innocent III., and their 
successors, while Popery sat on the throne of the earth and wielded 
the sceptre of the world, we shall see that these spiritual weapons 
were employed with tremendous effect. 

§ 45. — It is a fact worthy of attentive observation, that the 
iron age of the world was the golden age of Popery. Its anti- 
Christian doctrines were never more extensively and implicitly re- 
ceived than during these dark ages ; its superstitious rites never 
more reverently performed ; its contemptible festivals never more 
generally observed ; its corrupt and licentious clergy never more 
devoutly honored and munificently enriched ; and its haughty and 
imperious popes never attained a loftier elevation of worldly dig- 
nity than during this intellectual and moral midnight of the world. 
Hence it is not to be wondered at that the Roman Catholic his- 
torian, Dupin, and others, should refer in terms of the highest com- 
placency to this age. Speaking of the tenth century, which was 
the darkest part of this moral midnight, Dupin remarks. " In this 
century there was no controversy relating to the doctrine of faith, 
or points of divinity, because there were no heretics, or persons 
who refined upon matters of religion, and dived into our mysteries. 
However, there were some clergymen in England who would needs 
maintain that the bread and wine upon the altar continued in the 
same nature after the consecration, and that they were only the 
figure of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This error was re- 
futed by a miracle wrought by Odo, archbishop of Canterbury, 
who made the body of Jesus Christ appear visibly in the celebra- 
tion of the holy mysteries, and made some drops of blood flow out 
of the consecrated bread when it was broken. St. Dunstan like- 
wise refuted that error very strenuously in his discourses. In fine, 
there was no council held in this century that disputed any point 

* For a fuller account of these spiritual weapons, see Hallam's Middle Ages 
(chap, vii.) ; Mosheim, ii., 210, note ; and Hume's Hist, of England, chap. xi. 



chap, v.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 227 

Important lesson derived from the history of Popery in the dark ages. Popery in England. 

of doctrine or discipline, which shows us that there was no error 
of faith that was of any consequence, or made any noise in the 
church."* Father Gahan re-echoes the same sentiments. "This 
age," says he, " was indeed happy in this respect, that no consider- 
able heresy arose, or was broached in it, for which reason there 
was no occasion for general councils, nor for so many ecclesiastical 
writers, as in the foregoing ages."f 

Before dismissing the subject of the present chapter, I would 
embrace the opportunity of recording a truth which it behoves 
every protestant, and especially every American protestant, well 
to remember — a truth, written in burning characters upon the dark 
back-ground of the world's midnight, evident as the lines of forked 
lightning upon a dark and cloudy sky — it is this : Ignorance and 

DARKNESS ARE THE NATIVE ELEMENT OF PoPERY. ItS MOST FLOURISH- 
ING DAYS WERE IN THE MIDNIGHT OF THE WORLD. The GREATEST 
BLOW THAT ANTI-CHRISTIAN SYSTEM EVER RECEIVED WAS THE RE- 
VIVAL OF LETTERS AND THE INVENTION OF PRINTING. The GOLDEN 
AGE OF POPERY WAS THE IRON AGE OF THE WORLD, AND ITS UNIVERSAL 
REIGN WOULD BE THE IRON AGE RESTORED ! 



CHAPTER V. 

POPERY IN ENGLAND, PRIOR TO THE CONQUEST. AUGUSTIN THE MIS- 
SIONARY, AND DUNSTAN THE MONK. 

§ 46. — Before proceeding to give a biographical sketch of the 
celebrated Hildebrand or Gregory VIL, under whom the assump- 
tions of the papacy reached their climax, we shall present a concise 
account of the most remarkable events connected with the estab- 
lishment of Popery in Great Britain, and its subsequent history, to 
the Norman conquest. It was under the auspices of the first 
Gregory, bishop of Rome, that the monk Augustin, with his associ- 
ates, arrived in England, near the close of the sixth century, to pro- 
pagate among the rude and hardy Saxons, not the simple and un- 
corrupted gospel of Christ, but the religion of Rome, already cor- 
rupted, as the reader of the foregoing pages is aware, by' the* intro- 
duction of a variety of pagan ceremonies, and false and unscripturnl 
dogmas. A much purer form of the Christian religion and worship 
was already observed in the mountains of Wales and other parts of 
the island, received, as is supposed by some, from the apostle Paul 

* Dupin's Ecclesiastical History, cent. x. 
| Gahan's History of the Church, p. 279. 



228 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book iv. 

Primitive Welsh Christians. Reception of the monk Augustin, by king Ethel bert. 

himself, and by others, from Joseph of Arimathea, who were said to 
have visited Britain ; or as is supposed by others, with more proba- 
bility, from some primitive British-born disciples, who probably 
heard and received the true gospel from the lips of St. Paul, while 
a prisoner at Rome, and returning to their native island, dissemi- 
nated its saving truths among their countrymen. These primitive 
disciples had been driven by the fierce and barbarous invaders of 
the island, chiefly to the mountainous districts of Wales, and not- 
withstanding the zeal of Augustin and other emissaries of Rome, 
steadily refused to admit the authority, or to receive the doctrines or 
the rites of that corrupt and apostate church. 

§ 47. — It was in the year 596, that Augustin, and the other Ro- 
man missionaries, landed in the county of Kent, and despatched one 
of their interpreters to acquaint king Ethelbert with the news and 
design of their coming. After a few days' deliberation, Ethelbert 
went into the island, and appointed a conference to be held in the 
open air. The missionaries advanced in orderly procession, carry- 
ing before them a silver cross, and singing a hymn. The king com- 
manded them to sit down, and to him and his earls they disclosed 
their mission. Ethelbert answered with a steady and not unfriendly 
judgment ; " Your words and promises are fair, but they are new 
and uncertain. I cannot, therefore, abandon the rites which, in 
common with all the nations of the Angles, I have hitherto observed. 
But as you come so far to communicate to us what you believe to 
be most excellent, we will not molest you. We will receive you 
hospitably, and supply you with what you need ; nor do we forbid 
any one to join your society whom you can persuade to prefer it." 
He gave them a mansion at Canterbury, his metropolis, for their 
residence, and allowed them to preach as they pleased. The labors 
of these zealous emissaries of Rome were so successful, that the 
King himself, and vast multitudes of his subjects, were persuaded to 
be baptized, and ten thousand are said to have submitted to that 
rite on the following Christmas day, thus exchanging with the same 
ease as they would exchange one garment for another, the ancient 
Paganism of their Saxon ancestors, for the Christianized Paganism 
of Rome. 

§ 48. — Lest the attachments of the islanders to their pagan cere- 
monies might prove an obstacle to their nominal profession of 
Christianity, Gregory, as before mentioned (see above, page 130), 
wrote to Augustin, now raised to the dignity of archbishop, direct- 
ing him, as we are informed by the venerable Bede, not to destroy 
the heathen temples of the Anglo-Saxons, but only to remove the 
images of their gods, to wash the walls with holy-water, to erect 
altars, and deposit relics in them, and so convert them into Christian 
churches : and this, not only to save the expense of building new ones, 
but that the people might be more easily prevailed upon to frequent 
those places of worship to which they had been accustomed. He 
directs him further to accommodate the Christian worship, as much 
as possible, to those of the heathen, that the people might not be so 



chap, v.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 229 

Growth of popish superstition in Britain. Monkery, relics, pious frauds. 

much startled at the change ; and, in particular, he advises him to 
allow the Christian converts, on certain festivals, to kill and eat a 
great number of oxen to the glory of God, as they had formerly 
done to the honor of the devil. In the course of the seventh century, 
monasteries, in great abundance, were founded in all parts of Eng- 
land, and rich endowments bequeathed them. To encourage per- 
sons to adopt the monastic life, the impious doctrine now began to 
be broached, that " as soon as any person put on the habit of a 
monk, all the sins of his former life were forgiven him." This 
engaged many princes and great men, who have as many sins as 
their inferiors, to put on the cowl, and end their days in monasteries. 
In fact, superstition, in various forms, made rapid strides in England 
in the seventh century ; among which may be mentioned a ridicu- 
lous veneration for relics, in which the clergy of the church of Rome 
had for some time been driving a gainful trade — a traffic which 
never can be carried on, except between knaves and fools. Few 
persons, in those days, thought themselves safe from the machina- 
tions of the devil, unless they carried the relics of some saint about 
them ; and no church could be dedicated without a decent quantity 
of this sacred trumpery. Stories of dreams, visions, and miracles, 
were propagated by the clergy, without a blush, and believed with- 
out a doubt by the laity. Extraordinary watchings, fastings, and 
other arts of tormenting the body, in order to save the soul, became 
frequent and fashionable ; and it began to be believed that a pil- 
grimage to Rome was the most direct road to heaven.* 

§ 49. — During the eighth century in England, no less than in 
Italy, ignorance and superstition advanced with rapid strides. The 
clergy became more knavish and rapacious, and the laity more 
abject and stupid than at any former period. Of this, the trade in 
relics alone affords abundant proof. The monks were daily making 
discoveries, as they pretended, of the precious remains of some 
departed saint, which they soon converted into gold and silver. In 
this traffic they had all the opportunities they could desire of impos- 
ing counterfeit wares upon their customers, seeing it was no easy 
matter for the laity to distinguish the tooth or the toe-nail of a saint, 
from that of a sinner, after it had been some centuries in the grave. 
The place where the body of Albanus, the protomartyr of Britain, 
lay, is said to have been revealed to Offa, king of Mercia, in vision, 
A. D. 794 ! The body was accordingly taken up, with all imagi- 
nable pomp and ceremony, in the presence of three bishops, and a 
vast number of people of all ranks, and lodged in a rich shrine, 
adorned with gold and precious stones. To do the greater honor 
to the memory of the holy martyr, king Offa built a stately monas- 
tery at the place where his body was found, which he called by his 

* Bede, Epist. ad Egbert. Spelman, Concil, Tom. i., p. 99, as cited by William 
Jones, the venerable continuator of Russell's Modern Europe, to whoso lectures 
on Ecclesiastical History I am indebted for many of the facts relative to the pre- 
ss of Popery in Britain. See Lect. xxx.-xxxiv. London, 1834. 



230 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookiv. 

Cunning of the Pope to raise a tribute in England. An archbishop of the school of Hildebrand 

name, St. Al ban's, and in which he deposited his remains, enriching 
it with many lands and privileges. As to the character of Offa, the 
monarch to whom the clergy were indebted for this ridiculous piece 
of pious fraud, it may suffice to say, that his life was disgraced by 
the commission of not a few very horrible crimes ; to atone for 
which he made a pilgrimage to Rome, where he lavished his money 
upon the Pope and the clergy, to procure the pardon of his sins. In 
particular, he made a grant of three hundred and sixty-five mancus- 
ses (pieces of money of the value of 135. 4d. each), being one for 
each day in the year, to be disposed of by the Pope to certain chari- 
table and pious uses. The Roman pontiff consented to become his 
almoner ; but cunningly contrived to convert it into an annual tax 
upon the English nation, and in the most imperious manner, demand- 
ed it as a lawful tribute, and mark of subjection of the kingdom of 
England to the church of Rome. So early and so rapidly did the 
proud pontiffs of Rome strive to extend their dominion over the 
nations of the earth. 

§ 50. — We have already seen in the case of Theodore (see above, 
page 135), how artfully the Pope contrived to extend and strengthen 
his power in England, by appointing a creature of his own to the 
dignity of archbishop of Canterbury, and we shall soon see that 
these lordly prelates were ready enough to imitate the pride and 
presumption of those to whom they were originally indebted for 
their dignity. In 934, the See of Canterbury was filled by a pre- 
late of the name of Odo, who acted the primate with a very high 
hand, of which the following is a fair specimen. He issued a pas- 
toral letter to the clergy and people of his province (commonly 
called the Constitutions of Odo), in which he addresses them in this 
magisterial style : " I strictly command and charge that no man 
presume to lay any tax on the possessions of the clergy, who are 
the sons of God, and the sons of God ought to be free from all taxes 
in every kingdom. If any man dares to disobey the discipline of 
the church in this particular, he is more wicked and impudent than 
the soldiers who crucified Christ. I command the King, the princes, 
ard all in authority, to obey, with great humility, the archbishops, 
and bishops, for they have the keys of the kingdom of heaven," &c. 
If this Odo had lived a century or two later, we might have well 
supposed that he had stolen an arrow from the quiver of the impe- 
rious Hildebrand. 

§ 51. — Of all the primates of England, none has obtained greater 
notoriety than the celebrated Saint Dunstan, so famous, or rather 
so infamous for his zeal in the cause of priestly celibacy, and for his 
pretended wonderful miracles. Dunstan, we are informed, was 
bora in the year of our Lord, 925, near Glastonbury, and was de- 
scended from a respectable family who resided there. He was put 
to school, and his parents encouraged his application to learning, in 
which he is said to have made wonderlul proficiency, such as 
evinced superior abilities. Having run with rapidity through the 
course of his studies, he obtained an introduction into the ecclesias- 



chap, v.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 231 

St. Dunstan's pretended miracles. Pulling the devil's nose with red hot tongs. Glastonbury abbey. 

tical establishment at the celebrated abbey of Glastonbury, where 
he continued his application to learning with commendable diligence, 
so that he seems to have attained all the knowledge that was within 
his reach. Having, by the persuasions of an uncle, embraced the 
monkish life, he made with his own hands a subterraneous cave, or 
cell, adjoining the church wall of Glastonbury. It was five feet 
long, and two and a half wide, and nearly of a sufficient height for a 
man to stand upright in the excavation. Its only wall was its door, 
which covered the whole, and in this a small aperture to admit light 
and air. One of the legendary tales which have been used to exalt 
his fame, shows the arts by which he gained it. In this cave Dun- 
stan slept, studied, prayed, and meditated, and sometimes exercised 
himself in working on metals. One night all the neighborhood was 
alarmed by the most terrific howlings, which seemed to issue from 
his abode. In the morning, the people flocked to inquire the cause ; 
he told them the devil had intruded his head into his window to 
tempt him while he was heating his work — that he had seized him 
by the nose, with his red hot tongs, and that the noise was Satan's 
roaring at the pain ; and such was the credulity of the age, that the 
simple people believed him, and venerated the recluse for this 
amazing exploit ! 

§ 52. — In 941, the fame of Dunstan's sanctity and miracles was 
such that the King bestowed upon him the rich abbey of Glaston- 
bury, the most ancient, and down to the time of king Henry VIII., 
the most celebrated monastic institution of the kingdom ; and per- 
mitted him to make free use of the royal treasury to rebuild and to 
adorn it. While Dunstan was abbot of this monastery, he filled it 
with Benedictine monks, to which order he belonged, and of which 
he was a most active and zealous patron. On an adjoining page is 
a correct and beautiful view of the remains of Glastonbury abbey, 
the scene of many of his legendary miracles, which is situated in 
Somersetshire, England, and which continues to be an object of 
deep interest to travellers and antiquaries. We learn from an accu- 
rate writer,* that the foundation plot upon which this vast fabric 
and its immense range of offices were erected, included a space of 
not less than sixty acres, and was surrounded on all sides by a lofty 
wall of wrought freestone. The principal building, the great 
abbey church, consisted of a nave of two hundred and twenty feet 
in length, aud forty-five in breadth ; a choir of one hundred and 
fifty-five feet ; and a transept of nearly one hundred and sixty feet ; 
and with the chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea, which stood at the 
West end, one hundred and ten feet in length, by twenty-four in 
breadth, its extreme length measured the vast extent of five hun- 
dred and thirty feet. Adjoining the church on the south side, was 
a noble cloister, forming a square of two hundred and twenty loot. 
The church contained five chapels, St. Edgar's, St. Mary's, St. \n- 
drew's, the chapel of our Lady of Loretto, and the chapel of the 

* Collinson, in his history of Somersetshire. 



232 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book iv. 

Dunstan's persecution of the married clergy. Miraculous images speaking to reprove the guilt of matrimony. 

holy Sepulchre. St. Joseph's chapel, which is the prominent object 
in the engraving, is still pretty entire, excepting the roof and floor, 
and must be admired for the richness of the finishing, as well as for 
the great elegance of the design. The communication with the 
church was by a spacious portal. There are doors also to the 
North and South ; one is ornamented with flower-work, the other 
with very elaborate flourishes and figures. The arches of the 
windows are semi-circular, and adorned with the lozenge, zigzag, 
and embattled mouldings ; underneath appears a series of compart- 
ments of interlaced semi-circular arches, springing from slender 
shafts, and also ornamented with zigzag mouldings, and in their 
spandrils are roses, crescents, and stars. Altogether this is one ot 
the most remarkable remains of antiquity in the world. (See En- 
graving.) 

§ 53. — In 980, the former abbot of Glastonbury was made arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, and assured of the favor of king Edgar, pre- 
pared to execute the grand design which he had long meditated — 
of compelling the secular canons to put away their wives, and 
become monks ; or of driving them out, and introducing Benedictine 
monks in their room. With this view he procured the promotion 
of his intimate friend, Oswald, to the See of Worcester, and of 
Ethelwald to that of Winchester ; two prelates who were them- 
selves monks, and animated with the most ardent zeal for the 
advancement of their order. This trio of bishops, the three great 
champions of the monks, and enemies of the married clergy, now 
proceeded by every possible method of fraud or force, to drive the 
married clergy out of all the monasteries, or compel them to put 
away their wives and children. Rather than consent to the latter, 
by far the greatest number chose to become beggars and vagabonds, 
for which the monkish historians give them the most opprobrious 
names. To countenance these cruel, tyrannical proceedings, Dun- 
stan and his associates held up the married clergy as monsters of 
wickedness for cohabiting with their wives, magnified celibacy as 
the only state becoming the sanctity of the sacerdotal office, and 
propagated a thousand lies of miracles and visions to its honor. 
Among other popish contrivances, hollow crosses or images were 
constructed sufficiently large to conceal a monk, which, when 
appealed to by Dunstan, miraculously spoke in a human voice, and 
declared in the hearing of the gaping and astonished multitudes, the 
horrible guilt of those who claimed to be priests, and yet chose also 
to be husbands and fathers. 

§ 54. — In the year 969, a commission was granted by king Edgar, 
who appears to have been an obedient tool of Dunstan, to the three 
prelates, to expel the married canons out of all the cathedrals and 
larger monasteries, promising to assist them in the execution of it 
with all his power. On this occasion he made a flaming speech, in 
which he painted the manners of the married clergy in the most 
odious colors, calling upon them to exert all their power in conjunc- 
tion with him, to exterminate those abominable wretches who kept 



chap, v.] POPERY IN ITS GLORY— WORLD-MIDNIGHT— 800-1073. 235 

St range penance for a libertine king. Death of St. Dunstan . 

wives. In the conclusion of his speech he thus addressed Dunstan : " I 
know, O holy father Dunstan ! that you have not encouraged those 
criminal practices of the clergy. You have reasoned, entreated, 
threatened. From words it is now time to come to blows. All the 
power of the crown is at your command. Your brethren, the ven- 
erable Ethelwald, and the most reverend Oswald, will assist you. 
To you three I commit the execution of this important work. Strike 
boldly ; drive those irregular livers out of the church of Christ, and 
introduce others who will live according to rule." And yet this 
furious champion for chastity had, some time before the delivery 
of this harangue, ravished a nun, a young lady of noble birth, and 
great beauty, at which his holy father confessor was so much offend- 
ed, that he enjoined him, by way of penance, not to wear his crown 
for seven years ; to build a nunnery, and to persecute the married 
clergy with all his might — a strange way of making atonement for 
his own libertinism, by depriving others of their natural rights and 
liberties. 

§ 55. — At length this famous Saint Dunstan died in the year 988, 
and England was relieved of one of the most cunning and success- 
ful impostors, and obedient tools of Rome, the world ever saw. 
When it is mentioned that Dunstan pretended to many other mira- 
cles, about equal in probability and absurdity to that already men- 
tioned, of pulling the devil's nose with his red hot tongs, this judg- 
ment will not be regarded as unduly severe. As, however, Dunstan 
was mainly instrumental in restoring and promoting the monastic 
institutions, the grateful monks, who were almost the only historians 
of those dark ages, have loaded him with the most extravagant 
praises, and represented him as the greatest miracle-monger and 
highest favorite of heaven, that ever lived. To say nothing of his 
many conflicts with the devil, in which we are told he often bela- 
bored that enemy of mankind most severely, the following short 
story, which is related with great exultation by his biographer, will 
give some idea of the astonishing impiety and impudence of those 
monks, and of the no less astonishing blindness and credulity of 
those unhappy times. " The most admirable, the most inestimable 
father Dunstan," says his biographer, " whose perfections exceeded 
all human imagination, was admitted to behold the mother of God, 
and his own mother, in eternal glory ; for before his death he was 
carried up into heaven, to be present at the nuptials of his own 
mother with the Eternal King, which were celebrated by the angels 
with the most sweet and joyous songs. When the angels reproached 
him for his silence on this great occasion, so honorable to his mo- 
ther, he excused himself on account of his being unacquainted with 
those sweet and heavenly strains ; but being a little instructed by 
the angels, he broke out into this melodious song ; ' O King and 
Ruler of nations, &c.'" The original author of this impious fiction 
was Dunstan himself, who, upon his pretended return from this 
celestial visit, summoned a monk to commit the heavenly song to 
writing from Dunstan' s lips, and the morning after, all the monks 



236 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book iv. 

Conquest of England, by William of Normandy — A. D. 1066. 

were commanded to learn and to sing it, while Dunstan loudly de- 
clared the truth of the vision. 

In the year 1066, an event occurred, which constitutes an impor- 
tant epoch, both in the civil and ecclesiastical history of England. 
That event was the conquest by William of Normandy. The con- 
sequences upon Popery in England, of this memorable revolution, as 
they belong chiefly to the succeeding period, must be reserved for a 
future chapter. 



237 



BOOK V. 



POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT. 



FROM THE ACCESSION OF POPE GREGORY VII., A. D. 1073, TO THE DEATH Oi 
BONIFACE VIH., A. D. 1303. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE LIFE AND REIGN OF POPE HILDEBRAND OR GREGORY VII. 

§ 1. — One of the most extraordinary characters on the page of 
history, and probably the most conspicuous person in the history of 
the eleventh century, was the famous monk Hildebrand, now 
reverenced by papists as Saint Gregory VIL, who ascended the 
papal throne in 1073, and who carried the assumptions of the 
papacy to a height never before known, claimed supreme dominion 
over all the governments of the world, and attempted to bring all 
emperors, kings, and other earthly rulers, under his authority as his 
vassals and dependents. This artful and ambitious monk had suc- 
ceeded in obtaining an almost unlimited influence at Rome long be- 
fore his election to the pontificate, and the attempts of the three or 
four popes who preceded him, to exercise their haughty sway over 
the sovereigns of the earth, is to be attributed chiefly to his influence 
and counsels. So early as previous to the accession of pope Victor 
II. in 1055, the authority of Hildebrand was such that he was em- 
powered by the people and clergy of Rome to go to Germany, and 
to select by his own unaided judgment, in their name, a successor 
to the preceding Pope, Leo IX., by performing which trust to the 
satisfaction of all, he greatly increased his own popularity and 
power. 

During the reign of Victor, a complaint was received from the 
emperor Henry III., that Ferdinand of Spain had assumed the title 
oi Emperor, and begging that unless he would immediately re- 
linquish the title, Ferdinand might be excommunicated, and his 
kingdom put under on interdict. Hildebrand saw at once that 
this would be a favorable opportunity of advancing the scheme he 
had doubtless already formed of reducing all earthly sovereigns to 
subjection to the papal power, and accordingly persuaded the Pope 
to dispatch legates into Spain, threatening Ferdinand with the thun- 
ders of excommunication and interdict unless he immediately obeyed 
10 



238 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Hildebrand and tho Pope persuade Robert of Normandy to acknowledge himself a vassal of Rome. 



the papal mandates and renounced a title which had been conferred 
by the Holy See only on Henry. The terrified prince was glad to 
maintain his peace with the spiritual tyrants of Rome, by submis- 
sive obedience to his commands. 

§ 2. — A few years later, Hildebrand and pope Nicholas II., who 
was elected in 1059, had the address to prevail upon Robert Guiscard, 
the famous Norman conqueror, in consideration of the Pope's con- 
firming to him certain territories he had conquered, and to which 
neither Nicholas nor Robert had a particle of right, to own himself 
a vassal of the Holy See, and to take an oath of allegiance to the 
Pope, which is transcribed by Cardinal Baronius, from a volume in 
the Vatican library, in the following terms : — " I, Robert, by the 
grace of God and St. Peter, duke of Apulia and Calabria, and future 
duke of Sicily, promise to pay to St. Peter, to you, pope Nicholas. 
my lord, to your successors, or to your and their nuncios, twelve 
deniers, money of Pavia, for each yoke of oxen, as an acknowledg- 
ment for all the lands that I myself hold and possess, or have given 
to be held and possessed by any of the Ultramontanes ; and this 
sum shall be yearly paid on Easter Sunday by me, my heirs and 
successors, to you, pope Nicholas, my lord, and to your suc- 
cessors. So help me God, and these his holy Gospels." When 
Robert had taken this oath, the Pope acknowledged him for law- 
ful duke of Apulia and Calabria, confirmed to him and his suc- 
cessors for ever the possession of those provinces, promised to con- 
firm to him in like manner the possession of Sicily, as soon as he 
should reduce that island, and putting a standard in his right hand, 
declared him vassal of the apostolical See, and standard-bearer of 
the holy church. From this time Robert styled himself « dux 
Apulise and Calabriee and futurus Sicilian.'* 

§ 3. — Soon after the election of pope Nicholas, and probably by 
the advice of Hildebrand, an important decree was issued rela- 
tive to the manner of the election of future popes. Before his time, 
there had been no settled rules accurately defining the electors of 
the popes, but they had been chosen by the whole Roman clergy, 
nobility, burgesses, and assembly of the people. The consequence 
of such a confused and jarring multitude uniting in the election 
was, that animosities and tumults, sometimes accompanied with 
bloodshed, frequently occurred in consequence of the collisions of 
the different contending factions ; each party striving to secure the 
election of its own favorite candidate to the honor of being the suc- 
cessor of St. Peter and the vicar of God upon earth. To prevent 
these disorders in future, as well as to enhance the power of the 
higher clergy at Rome, Nicholas issued his decree that the power 
of electing a pope should be henceforth vested in the cardinal 
bishops (cardinales episcopi), and the cardinal clerks or presbyters 
(cardinales clerici). By the cardinal bishops we are to understand 
the seven bishops, who belonged to the city and territory of Rome, 

* Leo Ostiens., 1. ii., c. 16. 



chap. I.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 239 

Decree confining the election of Pope to the cardinals. Hildebrand becomes Pope. 

whom Nicholas calls, in the same edict, comprovinciales episcopi ; 
and by the cardinal clerks, the ministers of twenty-eight Roman 
parishes or provincial churches. These were to constitute in future 
the college of electors, and were henceforward called the college of 
Cardinals, in a new and unusual sense of the term, which is pro- 
perly the origin of that dignity in its modern sense. 

It was customary for bishops in these ages, to be consecrated by 
the metropolitan, but (in the swelling and bombastic language of 
the papal edict), " Since the apostolic See cannot be under the 
jurisdiction of any superior or metropolitan, the cardinal bishops 
must necessarily supply the place of a metropolitan, and fix the 
elected pontiff on the summit of apostolic exaltation and em- 
pire."* All the rest of the clergy, of whatever order or rank they 
might be, were, together with the people, expressly excluded from 
the right of voting in the election of the pontiff, though they were 
allowed what is called a negative suffrage, and their consent was 
required to what the others had done. In consequence of this new 
regulation, the cardinals acted the principal part in the creation of 
the new pontiff; though they suffered for a long time much oppo- 
sition both from the sacerdotal orders and the Roman citizens, who 
were constantly either reclaiming their ancient rights, or abusing 
the privilege they yet retained of confirming the election of every 
new pope by their approbation and consent. In the following cen- 
tury there was an end put to all these disputes by Alexander III., 
who was so fortunate as to finish and complete what Nicholas had 
only begun, and who, just one hundred years after the decree of 
Nicholas, transferred and confined to the college of cardinals the 
sole right of electing the popes, and deprived the body of the peo- 
ple and the rest of the clergy of the right of vetoing the choice of 
the cardinals left them by the decree of pope Nicholas. To ap- 
pease the tumults occasioned by these acts, the popes, at various 
times, added other individuals to the college of Cardinals, and in 
subsequent ages, an admission to this high order of purpled pre- 
lates, the obtaining of a cardinal's hat, was regarded, next to the 
papal chair, as the highest object of Romish sacerdotal ambition, 
and moreover a necessary step to all aspirants to the dignity of 
sovereign pontiff, as no one but a cardinal can be elected pope.f 

§ 4. — At length in the year 1073, Hildebrand was himself chosen 
Pope, and assumed the title of Gregory VII., and his election was 
confirmed by the emperor Henry IV., to whom ambassadors had 
been sent for that purpose. This prince indeed had soon reason to 
repent of the consent he had given to an election which became so 
prejudicial to his own authority, so fatal to the interests and liber- 
ties of the church, and so detrimental, in general, to the sovereignty 

* "Quia sedes apostolica super sc metropolitanum habere non potest ; cardi- 
nal episcopi metropolitani vice procul dubio fungantur, qui olectum antistatem 
ad apostolici culminis apiccm provebant." (Edict of Nicholas, in Baluzins iv.,62.) 

t See a learned dissertation on Cardinals in Mosheim, cent, xi., part ii. 



240 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Inordinate ambition of Gregory VII. His plans for universal empire. 

and independence of kingdoms and empires. Hildebrand was a 
man of uncommon genius, whose ambition in forming the most 
arduous projects was equalled by his dexterity in bringing them 
into execution ; sagacious, crafty, and intrepid, nothing could 
escape his penetration, defeat his stratagems, or daunt his courage; 
haughty and arrogant beyond all measure ; obstinate, impetuous, 
and intractable ; he looked up to the summit of universal empire 
with a wishful eye, and labored up the steep ascent with uninter- 
rupted ardor, and invincible perseverance ; void of all principle, 
and destitute of every pious and virtuous feeling, he suffered little 
restraint in his audacious pursuits, from the dictates of religion or 
the remonstrances of conscience. Such was the character of 
Hildebrand, and his conduct was every way suitable to it ; for no 
sooner did he find himself in the papal chair, than he displayed to 
the world the most odious marks of his tyrannic ambition. IS'ot 
contented to enlarge the jurisdiction, and to augment the opulence 
of the See of Rome, he labored indefatigably to render the univer- 
sal church subject to the despotic government and the arbitrary 
power of the pontiff alone, to dissolve the jurisdiction which kings 
and emperors had hitherto exercised over the various orders of the 
clergy, and to exclude them from all part in the management or 
distribution of the revenues of the church. Nay, this outrageous 
pontiff went still farther, and impiously attempted to submit to his 
jurisdiction the emperors, kings, and princes of the earth, and to 
render their dominions tributary to the See of Rome. 

§ 5. — The views of Hildebrand, or Hellbrand, as from his insane 
ambition he has been appropriately styled, were not confined to 
the erection of an absolute and universal monarchy in the church ; 
they aimed also at the establishment of a civil monarchy equally ex- 
tensive and despotic ; and this aspiring pontiff, after having drawn 
up a system of ecclesiastical canons for the government of the 
church, would have introduced also a new code of political laws, 
had he been permitted to execute the plan he had formed. His 
purpose was, says Mosheim, to engage in the bonds of fidelity and 
allegiance to St. Peter, i. e., to the Roman pontiffs, all the kings 
and princes of the earth, and to establish at Rome an annual assem- 
bly of bishops, by whom the contests that might arise between 
kingdoms or sovereign states were to be decided, the rights and 
pretensions of princes to be examined, and the fate of nations and 
empires to be determined. The imperious pontiff did not wholly 
succeed in his ambitious views, for had his success been equal to 
his plan, all the kingdoms of Europe would have been this day 
tributary to the Roman See, and its princes, the soldiers or vassals 
of St. Peter, in the person of his pretended vicar upon earth. But 
though his most important projects were ineffectual, yet many of 
his attempts were crowned with a favorable issue ; for from the 
time of his pontificate the face of Europe underwent a considerable 
change, and the prerogatives of the emperors and other sovereign 
princes were much diminished. It was particularly under the ad- 



chap, l] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 241 

Pope Gregory's contest with Henry IV. Dispute about investitures 

ministration of Gregory, that the emperors were deprived of the 
privilege of ratifying, by their consent, the election of the Roman 
pontiff; a privilege of no small importance, and which they never 
recovered. (Mosh., ii., 484.) 

§ 6. — The contest which Gregory carried on for several years 
with the unfortunate emperor Henry IV. affords an instructive com- 
ment upon the deep-laid plans of this most imperious and am- 
b.tious pope. Soon after his election, Gregory was informed that 
So!omon, king of Hungary, dethroned by his brother Geysa, had 
fled to Henry for protection, and renewed the homage of Hungary 
to the empire. Gregory, who favored Geysa, exclaimed against 
this act of submission ; and said in a letter to Solomon, " You 
ought to know, that the kingdom of Hungary belongs to the Roman 
church ; and learn that you will incur the indignation of the Holy 
See, if you do not acknowledge that you hold your dominions of 
the Pope, and not of the Emperor !" This presumptuous declaration, 
and the neglect it met with, brought the quarrel between the em- 
pire and the church to a crisis. It was directed to Solomon, but 
intended for Henry. And if Gregory could not succeed in one 
way, he was resolved that he would in another : he therefore re- 
sumed the claim of investitures, for which he had a more plausible 
pretence ; and as that dispute and its consequences merit particular 
attention we shall relate briefly the origin and history of this 
protracted quarrel between the Pope and the emperors. 

§ 7. — The investiture of bishops and abbots commenced, un- 
doubtedly, at that period of time when the European emperors, 
kings, and princes, made grants to the clergy of certain territories, 
lands, forests, castles, &c. According to the laws of those times, 
laws which still remain in force, none were considered as lawful 
possessors of the lands or tenements which they derived from the 
emperors or other princes, before they repaired to court, took the 
oath of allegiance to their respective sovereigns as the supreme 
proprietors, and received from their hands a solemn mark by which 
the property of their respective grants was transferred to them. 
Such was the manner in which the nobility, and those who had dis- 
tinguished themselves by military exploits, were confirmed in the 
possessions which they owed to the liberality of their sovereigns. 
J) ut the custom of investing the bishops and abbots with the ring 
and the crosier, which are the ensigns of the sacred function, is of 
a much more recent date, and was then first introduced, when the 
European emperors and princes assumed to themselves the power 
of conferring on whom they pleased the bishoprics and abbeys that 
became vacant in their dominions ; nay, even of selling them to the 
highest bidder. 

This power, then, being once usurped by the kings and princes 
of Europe, they at first confirmed the bishops and abbots in their 
dignities and possessions, with the same forms and ceremonies that 
were used in investing the counts, knights, and others, in their 
feudal tenures, even by written contracts, and the ceremony of 



242 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Ceremony of investing bishops with the ring and crosier. 

presenting them with a wand or bough. And this custom of in- 
vesting the clergy and the laity with the same ceremonies would 
have undoubtedly continued, had not the clergy, to whom the right 
of electing bishops and abbots originally belonged, eluded artfully 
the usurpation of the emperors and other princes by the following 
stratagem. When a bishop or abbot died, they who looked upon 
themselves as authorized to fill up the vacancy, elected immediately 
some one of their order in the place of the deceased, and were 
careful to have him consecrated without delay. The consecration 
being thus performed, the prince, who had proposed to himself the 
profit of selling the vacant benefice, or the pleasure of conferring 
it upon some of his favorites, was obliged to desist from his pur- 
pose, and to consent to the election, which the ceremony of conse- 
cration rendered irrevocable. No sooner did the emperors and 
princes perceive this artful management, than they turned their at- 
tention to the most suitable means of rendering it ineffectual, and 
of preserving the valuable privilege they had usurped. For this 
purpose they ordered, that as soon as a bishop expired, his ring and 
crosier should be transmitted to the prince to whose jurisdiction his 
diocese was subject. For it was by the solemn delivery of the 
ring and crosier of the deceased to the new bishop that his election 
was irrevocably confirmed, and this ceremony was an essential part 
of his consecration : so that when these two badges of the episco- 
pal dignity were in the hands of the sovereign, the clergy could 
not consecrate the person whom their suffrages had appointed to 
fill the vacancy. 

Thus their stratagem was defeated, as every election that was 
not confirmed by the ceremony of consecration might be lawfully 
annulled and rejected ; nor was the bishop qualified to exercise 
any of the episcopal functions before the performance of that im- 
portant ceremony. As soon therefore as a bishop drew his last 
breath, the magistrate of the city in which he had resided, or the 
government of the province, seized upon his ring and crosier, and 
sent them to court.* The emperor or prince conferred the vacant 
See upon the person whom he had chosen by delivering to him these 
two badges of the episcopal office, after which the new bishop, 
thus invested by his sovereign, repaired to his metropolitan, to 
whom it belonged to perform the ceremony of consecration, and 
delivered to him the ring and crosier which he had received from 
his prince, that he might receive it again from his hands, and be 

* " Nee multo post annulus cum virga pastorali Bremensis episcopi ad aulam 
regiam translata. Eo siquidem tempore ecclesia liberam electionem non habe- 
bant . . . sed cum quilibet antistes viam universse carnis ingressus fuisset, mox 
capitanei civitatis illius annulum et virgam pastoralem ad Palatium transmittebant, 
sicque regia auctoritate, communicato cum aulicis consilio, orbatae plebi idoneum 
constituebat praesulem . . . Post paucos vero dies rursum annulus et virga pas- 
toralis Bambenbergensis episcopi Domino imperatori transmissa est. Quo audito, 
multi nobiles ad aulam regiam confluebant, qui alteram harum prece vel pretio 
sibi comparare tentabant." (Ebbo's Lite of Otho, bishop of Bamberg, Lib. i., 
§ 8, 9, in A :tis Sanclor. mensis Julii, torn, i., p. 426.) 



chap, i.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 243 

Gregory VII. anathematizes lay investitures. Excommunicates and deposes the emperor Henry IV. 

thus doubly confirmed in his sacred function. It appears therefore 
from this account, that each new bishop and abbot received twice 
the ring and the crosier ; once from the hands of the sovereign, and 
once from those of the metropolitan bishop, by whom they were 
consecrated.* 

§ 8. — Considering the character of Gregory VIL, it is no won- 
der that he could ill brook this conduct of the emperors in thus se- 
curing to themselves the right of confirming the election of bishops 
by the ceremony of investing them with the ring and the crosier. 
Accordingly, we find that in 1075, Gregory assembled a council at 
Rome, in which he excommunicated certain favorites of Henry, 
and pronounced a formal " anathema, or curse, against whoever 
received the investiture of a bishopric or abbacy from the hands of 
a layman, as also against those by whom the investiture should be 
performed" This decree was doubtless aimed chiefly at the Em- 
peror, who strenuously insisted on his asserted right of investiture, 
which his predecessors had enjoyed. As Henry continued to dis- 
regard the Pope's decree, Gregory sent two legates to summon 
him to appear before him as a delinquent, because he still con- 
tinued to bestow investitures, notwithstanding the apostolic decree 
to the contrary ; adding, that if he should fail to yield obedience to 
the church, he must expect to be excommunicated and dethroned. 
Incensed at that arrogant message from one whom he considered as 
his vassal, Henry dismissed the legates with very little ceremony, 
and convoked an assembly of all the German princes and dignified 
ecclesiastics at Worms ; where, after mature deliberation, they 
concluded, that Gregory having usurped the chair of St. Peter by 
indirect means, infected the church of God with many novelties 
and abuses, and deviated from his duty to his sovereign in several 
scandalous attempts, the Emperor, by that supreme authority de- 
rived from his predecessors, ought to divest him of his dignity, 
and appoint another in his place. 

§ 9. — Henry immediately dispatched an ambassador to Rome 
with a formal deprivation of Gregory ; who, in his turn, convoked 
a council, at which were present a hundred and ten bishops, who 
unanimously agreed, that the Pope had just cause to depose Henry, 
to dissolve the oath of allegiance which the princes and states had 
taken in his favor, and to prohibit them from holding any cor- 
respondence with him on pain of excommunication. And that sen- 
tence was immediately fulminated against the Emperor and his 
adherents. " In the name of Almighty God, and by your author- 
ity," said Gregory, alluding to the members of the council, " I pro- 
hibit Henry, the son of our emperor Henry, from governing the 
Teutonic kingdom and Italy ; / release all Christians from their oath 
of allegiance to him ; and / strictly forbid, all persons from serving 
or attending him as king" Thus, says Hal lam, Gregory VII. ob- 

* For a full and learned dissertation on the subject of investilnres, see Mosheim, 
vol. ii., pp. 494-503, with references to, and quotations from, original authorities. 



244 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

The Emperor stands three days at the gate of the Pope's palace, before he is admitted to his presence. 

tained the glory of leaving all his predecessors behind, and as- 
tonishing mankind by an act of audacity and ambition which the 
most emulous of his successors could hardly surpass. 

The first impulses of Henry's mind on hearing this denunciation 
were indignation and resentment. But, like other inexperienced 
and misguided sovereigns, he had formed an erroneous calculation 
of his own resources. A conspiracy long prepared, of which the 
dukes of Swabia and Carinthia were the chiefs, began to manifest 
itself; some were alienated by his vices, and others jealous of his 
family ; the rebellious Saxons took courage ; the bishops, intimidated 
by excommunications, withdrew from his side ; and he suddenly 
found himself almost insulated in the midst of his dominions. In 
this desertion he had recourse, through panic, to a miserable ex- 
pedient. He crossed the Alps with the avowed determination of 
submitting, and seeking absolution from the Pope. Gregory was 
at Canossa, a fortress near Reggio, belonging to his faithful ad- 
herent, the countess Matilda. (A. D. 1077.) It was in a winter of 
unusual severity. The Emperor was admitted, without his guards, 
into an outer court of the castle, and three successive days re- 
mained, from morning till evening, in a woollen shirt and with 
naked feet, while Gregory, shut up with the tender and loving 
countess, refused to admit him to his presence. (See Engraving.) 

At length, after continuing for three days in the cold month 
of January, barefoot and fasting, the humbled Emperor was ad- 
mitted into the palace, and allowed the superlative honor of kissing 
the Pope's toe ! The haughty pontiff condescended to grant him 
absolution, but only upon condition of appearing on a certain day 
to learn the Pope's decision, whether or no he should be restored to 
his kingdom, until which time the Pope forbad him to wear the orna- 
ments or to exercise the functions of royalty. Intoxicated with 
his triumph, Gregory now regarded himself as lord and master of 
all the crowned heads of Christendom, and boasted in his letters 
that it was his duty ,; to pull dowx the pride of kings !*' 

§ 10. — The pusillanimous conduct of the Emperor excited the 
indignation of a large portion of the nobility and other subjects of 
the empire, and they would probably have deposed him in reality, 
if he had not softened their resentment by violating his promise to 
the imperious pontiff, and immediately resuming the title and the 
ensigns of royalty. The princes of Lombardy especially could 
never forgive either the abject humility of Henry, or the haughty 
insolence of Gregory. A bloody war ensued between the domestic 
German enemies of Henry, headed by Rodolph, duke of Swabia, 
whom, in consequence of the Pope's sentence of deposition, they 
had crowned as Emperor at ATeiitz, on the one side : and the Lom- 
bard princes who, impelled by compassion for the humbled monarch, 
and indignation against the lordly Pope, had rallied round the Em- 
peror on the other. As the result of this war appeared extremely 
doubtful for a time, Gregory assumed an appearance of neutrality, 
affected to be displeased that Rodolph had been consecrated as Em- 




The Emperor Henry IV. doing Penance at the Gate of the Pope's Palace. 



chap. I.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 247 



Henry retracts his submission to the Pope. Gregory excommunicates him a second time. 

peror without his order, and avowed his intention of acknowledging 
that one of the competitors who should be most submissive to the 
Holy See. Henry had already learned too much of the character 
of pope Gregory to place much dependence on his generosity, and 
therefore, with renewed courage and energy, he marched against 
his enemies, and defeated them in several engagements, till Gregory, 
seeing no hopes of submission, thundered out a second sentence of 
excommunication against him, confirming at the same time the 
election of Rodolph, to whom he sent a golden crown, on which 
the following well known verse, equally haughty and puerile, was 
written : 

Petra dedi Petro, petrus diadema Rodolpho. 

This donation was also accompanied with a prophetic anathema 
against Henry, so wild and extravagant, as to make one doubt 
whether it was dictated by enthusiasm or priestcraft. After de- 
priving him of strength in combat, and condemning him never to be 
victorious, it concludes with the following remarkable apostrophe 
to St. Peter and St. Paul : " Make all men sensible that, as 

YOU CAN BIND AND LOOSE EVERYTHING IN HEAVEN, YOU CAN ALSO UPON 
EARTH TAKE FROM, OR GIVE TO, EVERY ONE ACCORDING TO HIS DESERTS, 

EMPIRES, KINGDOMS, PRINCIPALITIES LET THE KINGS AND PRINCES OP 

THE AGE THEN INSTANTLY FEEL YOUR POWER, THAT THEY MAY NOT 
DARE TO DESPISE THE ORDERS OF YOUR CHURCH ; LET YOUR JUSTICE 
BE SO SPEEDILY EXECUTED UPON HeNRY, THAT NOBODY MAY DOUBT 
BUT THAT HE FALLS BY YOUR MEANS, AND NOT BY CHANCE." ThllS 

had Popery now assumed the character of Despot of the world. 

§ 11. — Before proceeding to relate a few other proofs of pope 
Gregory's determination to reduce all the kingdoms of the world 
and their sovereigns under his absolute sway, we will dismiss the 
case of Henry, by briefly relating the sequel of his remarkable life. 
With the hopes of shielding himself from the effects of this second 
excommunication, the Emperor assembled a council at Brixen, in 
the Tyrol, which resolved that Hildebrand, by his misconduct and 
rebellion, had rendered himself unworthy of the pontifical throne, 
and elected in his stead, Guibert, archbishop of Ravenna, who 
assumed the name of Clement III., and was at length consecrated 
at Rome, but is not reckoned by Romanists in the line of popes. 
Notwithstanding the temporary triumph of Henry over the papal 
tyranny, he at last became its victim. After the death of Gregory, 
the succeeding pope, Urban II., and Paschal II., unable to forgive 
or forget his rebellion against the holy See, seduced two sons of the 
unfortunate emperor, first Conrad, and afterward Henry, to take up 
arms against their father. Paschal, who was a. worthy successor 
<>i Hildebrand, after the death of Conrad, excited the young Henry 
to rebel against his father, under pretence of defending the cause of 
the orthodox ; alleging that he was bound to take upon himself the 
reins of government, as he could neither acknowledge a king nor a 



248 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Papal cruelty to Henry IV. Unnatural conduct of his son. 

father that was excommunicated.* In vain did the Emperor use 
every paternal remonstrance to dissuade his son from proceeding to 
extremities : the breach became wider and wider, and both pre- 
pared for the decision of the sword. But the son, dreading his 
father's military superiority, and confiding in his tenderness, made 
use of a stratagem equally base and effectual. He threw himself 
unexpectedly at the Emperor's feet, and begged pardon for his un- 
dutiful behavior, which he imputed to the advice of evil counsellors. 
In consequence of this submission, he was immediately taken into 
favor, and the Emperor dismissed his army. The ungrateful youth 
now bared his perfidious heart: he ordered his father to be confined; 
while he assembled a diet of his own confederates, at which the 
Pope's legate presided, and repeated the sentence of excommuni- 
cation against the emperor Henry IV., who was instantly deposed, 
and the parricidous usurper, Henry V., proclaimed Emperor in 
his stead. 

§ 12. — Upon the perpetration of this unnatural act, two worthy 
servants of the church, the archbishops of Mentz and Cologne, very 
readily undertook the grateful office of waiting upon the old Em- 
peror, and demanding his crown and other regalia. The unfortu- 
nate monarch besought them not to become abettors of those who 
had ungratefully conspired his ruin, but finding them inexorable, he 
retired and put on his royal ornaments ; then returning to the 
apartment he had left, and seating himself on a chair of state, he 
renewed his remonstrance in these words : " Here are the marks of 
that royalty, with which we were invested by God and the princes 
of the empire : if you disregard the wrath of heaven, and the eter- 
nal reproach of mankind, so much as to lay violent hands on your 
sovereign, you may strip us of them. We are not in a condition to 
defend ourselves." This speech had no more effect than the former 
upon the unfeeling prelates, who instantly snatched the crown from 
his head ; and, dragging him from his chair, pulled off his royal 
robes by force. While they were thus employed, Henry exclaimed, 
" Great God !" — the tears trickling down his venerable cheeks — 
"thou art the God of vengeance, and wilt repay this outrage. I 
have sinned, I own, and merited such shame by the follies of my 
youth ; but thou wilt not fail to punish- those traitors, for their per- 
jury, insolence, and ingratitude." To such a degree of wretched- 
ness was this unhappy prince reduced by the barbarity of his son, 
that, destitute of the common necessaries of life, he entreated the 
bishop of Spire, who owed his office to him, to grant him a canoni- 
cate for his subsistence, representing that he was capable of per- 
forming the office of" chanter or reader !" Being denied that hum- 
ble request, he shed a flood of tears, and turning to those who were 
present, said with a deep sigh, " My dear friends, at least have pity 
on my condition, for I am touched by the hand of the Lord !" The 

* Dithmar. Hist. Bell, inter Imp. et Sacerdot. 



chap, n.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 249 



Pope Gregory claims Spain as belonging to St. Peter. 



hand of man, at least, was heavy upon him, for he was not onfy in 
want, but under confinement. 

After the death of the unfortunate and deeply afflicted old man, 
which occurred soon after, his unnatural son, Henry V., was de- 
praved enough to gratify the papal vengeance still further, by the 
barbarous and hypocritical act of digging up the dead body of his 
poor old father, from consecrated ground in the cathedral of Spire, 
and causing it to be cast with indignity into a cave at Spire. Such 
is popish morality, and such is the terrible vengeance which anti- 
Christian Rome, in those days of her glory, exhibited toward such 
as resisted her authority, or disobeyed her mandates !* 



CHAPTER II. 

LIFE OF GREGORY VII. CONTINUED. OTHER INSTANCES OF HIS TY- 
RANNY AND USURPATION. 

§13. — The life of Hildebrand abounds with instances of his 
haughty insolence and tyranny, over earthly sovereigns and nations, 
almost equalling in atrocity the above related history of his conduct 
toward Henry IV. We shall proceed to mention a few of these as 
related by Bower, upon the authorities cited at the foot of the page. 

Not satisfied with pulling down and setting up princes, kings, 
and emperors, at his pleasure, Gregory, as King of Kings, mo- 
narch of the world, and sole lord, both spiritual and temporal, 
over the whole earth, claimed the sovereignty of all the kingdoms 
of Europe, as having once belonged to St. Peter, whose right was 
unalienable. Thus, being informed in the very beginning of his 
pontificate that count Evulus, a man of wealth and power, had 
formed a design of recovering the countries, which the Moors had 
seized in Spain, and was levying forces with that view, he sent car- 
dinal Hugh, surnamed the White, to let him know that Spain be- 
longed to St. Peter before it was conquered by the Moors ; that 
though the infidels had subdued that country, and held it for a long 
course of years, the right of St. Peter still subsisted, there beinu;- no 
prescription against that apostle or his church, and that he, as 
supreme lord of the whole kingdom, not only approved of the count's 
design, but granted him all the places he should recover from the 
barbarians, upon condition that he held them of St. Peter and his 
See. In the letter which he wrote at this time, addressed to all 
who were disposed to join in driving the Saracens out of Spain, he 

* See Russell's Modern Europe, Part i., Letter 22. 



250 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Claims Peter-pence in France. Claims Hungary also, as belonging to the holy See. 

forbids any to enter that country, who is not resolved to hold of St. 
Peter what acquisitions he may make, as he had rather it should 
remain in the hands of the infidels, than that the holy Roman and 
universal church should be robbed of her undoubted right by her 
own children ; # that is, that he had rather Christians in Spain should 
continue under the oppressive yoke of those infidels, than be rescued 
from it by a prince, who did not pay homage, as a vassal, to the 
apostolic See. This letter, dated the last of April, 1073, and con- 
sequently written a few days after his election, shows what senti- 
ments Gregory brought with him to the pontifical chair. Four 
years after he wrote again to the kings and princes of Spain, re- 
newing his claim to their respective kingdoms and principalities, as 
having belonged to his See when the Saracens seized them, and 
requiring those, who held them, to pay the tribute they owed to 
St. Peter as their sovereign lord.f 

§ 14. — With reference to the kingdom of France, Gregory pre- 
tended that formerly each house in that kingdom paid at least a penny 
a year to St. Peter, as their father and pastor, and that this sum was, 
by order of Charlemagne, collected yearly at Puy in Velai, at Aix 
la Chapelle, and at St. Giles. For this custom the Pope quotes 
a statute of that Emperor, lodged, as he says, in the archives of St. 
Peter's church. But as that statute is to be found nowhere else, it 
is universally looked upon as a forgery, and by some even thought 
to have been forged by Gregory himself. However, he ordered his 
legates in France to exact that sum, and insist upon its being paid 
by all, as a token of their subjection to St. Peter and his See.J 

The legitimate sovereign of Hungary, Solomon, being driven 
from his throne by Geisa, his cousin, had recourse to the Emperor, 
whose sister he had married, and was by him restored to his king- 
dom, upon condition that he should hold it of him as his feudatory. 
This Gregory no sooner understood than he wrote to Solomon, 
claiming the kingdom of Hungary as belonging to St. Peter, to 
whom he pretended it had been given by Stephen, the first Christian 
king of the country. The elders of your country, said he, in his 
letter to the king, will inform you that the kingdom of Hungary is 
the property of the holy Roman church, ' sanctse Romanse ecclesiae 
proprium est ;' that king Stephen, upon his conversion, offered it to 
St. Peter, and that the emperor Henry, of holy memory, having 
conquered the country, sent the lance and the crown, the ensigns of 
royalty, to the body of St. Peter. If it be true therefore that you 
have agreed to hold your kingdom of the king of the Germans, and 
not of St. Peter, you will soon feel the effects of the apostle's just 
indignation, for we, who are his servants and ministers, cannot 
tamely suffer the honor that is due to him, to be taken from him 
and given to others. § Solomon was again driven out by Geisa, 

* Gregorii, lib. i., epist. 7. 
f Gregorii, lib. iv., epist. 28. 
I Gregorii, lib. viii., epist. 25. 
$ Gregorii, lib. ii., epist. 13. 



chap, ii.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 25] 

The Pope claims Corsica and Sardinia as the patrimony of St. Peter. Dalmatia and Russia. 

which Gregory construed into a judgment for the injustice he had 
done to St. Peter, telling the usurper that the prince of the apostles 
had given the kingdom to him, as Solomon had forfeited all right to 
it by rebelling against the holy Roman church, and paying that 
homage to the king of Germany, which was due to none but her and 
her founder.* Geisa, thus countenanced by the Pope in his usurpa- 
tion, held the kingdom of Germany until the hour of his death, which 
happened in 1077. He was succeeded by Ladislaus, who, to avoid 
the disturbances which he was sensible the Pope would raise and 
foment among his subjects, if he held not his kingdom of him, imme- 
diately acknowledged himself for his vassal, declaring that he owed 
his power to God, and under him to none but St. Peter, whose com- 
mands he should ever readily obey, when signified to him by his 
successors in the apostolic See. 

§ 15. — The two islands of Corsica and Sardinia he claimed as 
the patrimony of St. Peter, pretending that they had been formerly 
given, nobody knows when nor by whom, to the apostolic See. 
Hence he no sooner heard that the Christians had gained consider- 
able advantages in Corsica over the Saracens, and recovered 
great part of that island, than he sent a legate to govern the coun- 
tries, which they had recovered, as the demesnes of his See, to en- 
courage them in so laudable an undertaking, and assure them that 
he would assist them, to the utmost of his power, with men as well 
as with money, till they had reduced the whole island, provided 
they engaged to restore it to its lawful owner, St. Peter.\ 

In order to subject Dalmatia to the Roman See, Gregory confer- 
red the title of king upon Demetrius, duke of that country, obliging 
him, on that occasion, to swear allegiance to him and his successors 
in the See of St. Peter. That oath the Pope's legate required upon 
delivering to the duke, in the Pope's name, a standard, a sword, a 
sceptre, and a royal diadem. The new king at the same time 
promised to pay yearly on Easter-day two hundred pieces of silver 
to the holy pope Gregory, and his successors lawfully elected as 
supreme lords of the kingdom of Dalmatia ; to assist them, when 
required, to the utmost of his power ; to receive, entertain, and obey 
their legates ; to reveal no secrets that they should trust him with, 
but to behave on all occasions, as became a true son of the holy 
Roman church, and a faithful vassal of the apostolic See. J 

Demetrius was at that time king of Russia, and his son coming 
to Rome to visit the tombs of the apostles, Gregory made him 
partner with his father in the kingdom, requiring him on that occa- 
sion, to take an oath of fealty to St. Peter, and Ins successors. This 
step the Pope pretended to have taken at the request of the son, 
who, he said, had applied to him, being desirous to receive the king- 
dom from St. Peter, and to hold it as a gift of that apostle. The 



* Gregorii, lib. ii., cpist. 2. 
f (Jregorii, lib. v., epist. 24. 
t Baron, ad An. 1076 



252 HISTORY OF ROMAMSM 

Pope added in his letter : : the King, that he had complied with the 
re roe si rf his son, not doubting but it would be approved of by him 
and all the lords of his kingdom, since the prince of the apostles 
would thenceforth l^ok upon their country and defend it as his oxcju* 

The iespotie views of this lordly pontiff were attended with 

less success in England, than in any other country. William the 

prince of great spirit and resolution, extremely 

jealous ;:" his rights, and tenacious :: the prerogatives he 

as sovereign and independent monarch, and accordingly, when 

■-, : rote him a letter demanding the arrears of the Peter- 

r . and at the same time summoning him to do homage for the 

kingdom of England, as a fief of the apostolic See. William granted 

the former, bit: refhsed the latter, with a bold obstinacy, declaring 

that he held his kingdom of bis God only, and Ins : wn sw rd-f 

| 16. — Mr. Bower rentes ? idis.: ::.r..-..: -.-= :: jregory*s haughty 
assumption toward the - a signs :: Denmark. Poland, Saxony, as 
well as various principalities of Italy, whc were compelled by the 
sj ritual tyrant tc acknowledge themselres as bis vassals, but the 
above are certainly sufficient to demonstrate the all-grasping ambi- 
tion of this : irtifij and his settled plan of reducing all kingdoms into 
one vast 1 monarchy. ::' the prince of the apostles should be 

the sovereign and head. 

•Gregory was," remarks the same historian, "to do him jus- 
tice, a man of most extraordinary parts, of most uncommon abili- 
ties, both natural and acquired, and would hare had at least as 
good a claim:: the surname :: _: .:. as either Gregory or Leo, 
had he not, led by an ambition the world never heard of before, 
grc ssly misapplie the se rreat talents to the most wicked purposes, 
to the establishing :: an uncontrolled tyranny r mankin 
making himself the sole lord, spiritual and temporal, over the whole 
earth, becoming by that means sole disposer, not only of all ec : lea :- 
astical die:: ties and preferments, bu: :■:' En: r. ires. Stites. ?.n Krinz- 
loms. That he had nothing less in his view sufficiently ap 
from his whole conduct, from his letters, and from a famous piece 
entitle Dictatus Papae, containing hi s maxims." J T : is piece, which 
:: and in the 55th letter of the second boo V : : Gr 3g rys epistles, 
contains his twenty-seveD : elebrated propositions, among which are 
the ::'.'.: wing : 

The Roman rontiff alone should of right be stvled Uxivebsai 
Bishop. 

* Grerrri: 1: : . =pist 74. 

- 7:: the !rt:er ::' vTilli-iz: E-ee Cz.lier's E::Ifsis*=:::-i'. H : \ 'si :i= '. 
ion of Records, at the en : : : the first volame, p. 713, Nc 12. u Hubertus lega 
b me." says Hog William, to the audacious pontiff i; admonnit me, qnatenus tibi et 
5-:cr==::i:-i= :~:= zir\.:i:izi fiieren. e: de pe:"iz!i. :;:~ i-re :r=5:-re= -f. i: 
e::'.zs'. .~ ~ r.ere e:^::::. ~ei:^= ::r ::i:r~. U:.i~ = :~:s:. lm::~ z:z s-inis: 
Kdelitalem focese nohii nee v ote/ 3 ice. 

% Bowei in vita Greg. MI. 



chat, n.J POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 253 

Dictates of Hildebrand. Advocated and defended by Romanist authors. 

No man ought to live in the same house with persons excommu- 
nicated by the Pope. 

The Pope alone can wear the imperial ornaments. 

All princes are to kiss his foot, and pay that mark of distinction 
to him alone. 

It is lawful for him to depose emperors. 

No general council is to be assembled without his order. 

His judgment no man can reverse, but he can reverse all other 
judgments. 

He is to be judged by no man. 

No man shall presume to condemn the person that appeals to the 
apostolic See. 

The Roman church has never erred, nor will she ever err, ac- 
cording to Scripture. 

He can depose and restore bishops without assembling a synod. 

The Pope can absolve subjects from the oath of allegiance which 
they have taken to a bad prince. 

§ 17. — The genuineness of these dictates of Hildebrand, as they 
are called, is testified by several of the most famous of the Roman 
Catholic writers, Harduin, Baronius, Lupus and others. Cardinal 
Baronius (An. 1076) not only admits the genuineness of these sen- 
tences, but says that the same doctrine was received in the Romish 
church down to his day (about 1609). His words are, " Istas 
hactenus in ecclesise catholicse usu receptas fuisse." Lupus, 
another Romish writer, has given an ample commentary on them, 
and regards them as both authentic and sacred.* Whether, how- 
ever, they were written in this present form by Gregory, or were 
extracted by some other author from his epistles, as Mosheim seems 
to suppose, is a matter of but small importance. The whole life 
of that haughty and imperious spiritual and temporal despot, is a 
proof that he believed and acted upon these principles. In the 
epistles of Gregory, he more than once undertakes a labored de- 
fence of the doctrine that all earthly governments, nations, sove- 
reigns and rulers are subject to the Pope, and after referring to 
several instances in which he asserts this subjection had been pre- 
viously recognized and acted upon, he proceeds to prove it by the 
following reasons : 

(1.) The apostolic See has received of our Saviour the power of 
judging spiritual matters, and consequently that of judging tem- 
poral concerns, which is a power of an inferior degree. 

(2.) When our Saviour said to St. Peter, Feed my sheep, when 
he granted him the power of loosing and binding, he did not except 
kings. 

(3.) The episcopal dignity is of divine institution ; the royal is 
the invention of men, and owes its origin to pride and ambition. 
As bishops therefore are above kings as well as above all other 
men, they may judge them as well as other men.f 

* Lupus — Notarc ot Dissertationcs in Concilia, torn, iv., p. 164. 
t Greg, epist., Lib. ii., epist. 10, 11, 12. yj 



254 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

The tyrannical doctrines of Hildebrand advocated in the nineteenth century. 

Many popish writers of eminence have advocated these doc- 
trines. Thus Bellarmine asserts that though Christ exercised no 
temporal power himself, yet he vested St. Peter, the prince of the 
apostles and his successors, with all temporal as well as spiritual 
power, leaving him and them at full liberty to exert it, when thought 
expedient and necessary for the good of his church. Probably 
amidst the light and intelligence of the nineteenth century it is not 
thought expedient for the good of the church to advocate or prac- 
tise these doctrines of the infallible pope Gregory, at least in the 
United States. Yet it ought to be known, that so late as the year 
1819, a volume appeared, from the pen of an Italian Catholic, Be 
Maistre, which has since often been reprinted, advocating to the 
fullest extent the doctrines of pope Gregory, maintaining that kings 
are but delegates of the Holy See ; that the Roman pontiffs have 
power to depose them at will, and even prescribing a form of peti- 
tion which nations should address to his holiness, when they wish 
their sovereign to be dethroned. It is worthy to be known also by 
Americans, that this spiritual despot who maintained the right of the 
Roman See to trample at will upon the governments of the earth 
is enrolled in the Roman Catholic calendar as a Saint, and as 
such reverenced and honored, even in the land of Washington, 
with all due worship on a day annually set apart for that purpose. 
In an edition of that standard popish book of devotion, called " the 
Garden of the Soul/'" now lying before me, published in Xew York, 
1844, " with the approbation of the Right Reverend Dr. Hughes, 
bishop of Xew York/' in the calendar of the saints' days, I find the 
twenty-fifth of May designated as the day set apart in honor of 
Saint Gregory VII I* 

§ IS. — We have now traced the march of priestly and popish 
usurpation from the earliest attempts of ambitious ecclesiastics to 
domineer over their brethren, and to usurp the prerogatives of HDI 
who has said, •' one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are 
brethren/' We have seen the gradual steps by which the power 
of ambitious prelates in general, and of the bishop of Rome in 
particular, was increased, till the spiritual supremacy of the Pope 
was established in the early part of the seventh century. We have 
followed these haughty tyrants in their career of ambition, till a 
century and a half later they united the crown to the mitre, the 
sceptre to the crosier, and took their place among the temporal 
sovereigns of the world, till at last in the eleventh century they 
reached the climax of their power and usurpation, under the reign 
of Saint Gregory VII. We cannot better close the present chap- 
ter than by quoting from the learned Deylingius the following 
eleven propositions in relation to the rise of this power ; which he 
has sustained, beyond contradiction, by a vast amount of erudition 
and research in a disquisition occupying 117 pages. The reader 
will perceive, that though quoted in the language of another, these 



* See also the Acta Sanctorum, Antwerp, ad d. xxv. Maii. 



chap. ii.j POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 255 

The learned Deylingius's account of the gradual rise of the popes' tyrannical power. 

propositions constitute a comprehensive summary of the historical 
account, which we have given in the preceding pages, of the gra- 
dual and successive steps by which the despotic power of the popes 
was eventually established. 

" Proposition 1. Christ did not institute in his church any sacred 
dominion, and much less a monarchical government, such as the 
Roman prelates during a long period have claimed and usurped, 

"2. In the beginning, all the ministers of the church were equal; 
and bishops before the second century, after the birth of Christ, 
were not exalted above presbyters ; nor did they arrogate to them- 
selves any peculiar duties or privileges of the sacred office. 

" 3. Although the government and the jurisdiction of the church 
at that period were not in bishops alone, but the presbyters and 
deacons, with the whole assembly, participated in the rule and de- 
termination of affairs ; yet the authority of the prelates gradually 
and rapidly obtained a large increase. 

" 4. All bishops then were equal, nor had the Roman bishop or 
any other the least right or precedence over his brethren. 

" 5. In the third century after the Saviour, metropolitans arose ; 
who were placed in the principal city of the province, so that the 
other prelates in the same province by degrees became subject to 
their jurisdiction. 

"6. Whatever prerogatives of bishops, and distinction of au- 
thority and power, then were admitted, were derived solely from 
the dignity of the city where they presided. 

" 7. Although the metropolitan dignity was supreme after the 
council of Nice (in 325), yet there were three chiefs, the Roman, 
Alexandrian, and the Antiochian, each of whom ruled his own dio- 
cese unrestricted, and neither of them possessed any right or power 
more than the others. 

" 8. In the fourth century of the Christian church, the Roman 
pontiff was not patriarch of all Western Europe, much less was he 
head and monarch of the whole church ; but only a particular pre- 
late, not superior to other metropolitans, exarchs, or primates. 

" 9. After the peace granted to the churches by Constantine, the 
luxury and pomp of the bishops greatly increased ; and especially 
the ambition, authority, and power of the Roman prelate were ex- 
tended, so that they could not be restrained within the limits of the 
suburban cities ; but by various artifices, they continually became 
more amplified. 

u 10. At length the Roman prelates, not content with having ob- 
tained the primacy of order among the other hierarchs, endeavored 
to establish their authority in both divisions of the empire. After 
long and severe strife with the Constantinopolitan patriarch, by the 
parricide of Phocas, they obtained the title of Universal Bishop ; 
and extended their jurisdiction, but could not grasp domination over 
ail the church, because they were opposed by the authority of em- 
perors and councils. 

"11. Finally, in the eleventh century after Christ, the power of 



256 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Sprinkling with ashes on Ash-Wednesday. 

the Roman pontiff, by the ferocity of pope Gregory VII., was car- 
ried to its utmost extent ; and the nominal Christian church, through 
the debasement of the imperial and royal prerogatives, were forced 
to submit their necks to the yoke of the despotic court of Rome."* 



CHAPTER III. 

POPE URBAN AND THE CRUSADES. 

§ 19. — Upon the death of pope Gregory, which took place at Sa- 
lernum, in 1085, the faction which supported his measures proceeded 
to the election of a successor, who assumed the title of Victor III., 
while Clement III., who, as we have already remarked, had been 
elected by the Emperor's party at the council of Brixen, was ac- 
knowledged as pope by a great part of Italy, and continued to main- 
tain his pretensions to the papal throne till his death, in 1100, that 
is, during the whole of the pontificates of Victor III. and Urban II. 
Thus, as in many other instances, both in earlier and later times, 
were there rival competitors for the popedom, hurling defiance and 
anathemas at each other, and each at the same time claiming to be 
the vicegerent of God upon earth, and the infallible and authoritative 
interpreter of the will of God to man. 

During the pontificate of Urban, in the year 1091, it was enacted 
in a council held at Benevento, among other superstitious ceremo- 
nies, that on the Wednesday which was the first day of the fast of 
Lent, the faithful laymen as well as clerks, women as well as men, 
should have their heads sprinkled with ashes, " a ceremony," says 
Bower, " that is observed to this day."f Ash- Wednesday, so called 
from the ceremony of giving the ashes, is the fortieth day be- 
fore Easter Sunday, and the Romish fast of Lent continues 
during the whole of this interval. The ashes used at this ceremony 
must be made from the branches of the olive or palm that was 
" blessed " (to use the unmeaning language of Popery), on the Palm 
Sunday of the preceding year. The priest blesses the ashes by 
making on them the sign of the cross, and perfuming them with 
incense. The ashes are first laid on the head of the officiating 
priest in the form of a cross, by another priest. After he has re- 
ceived the ashes himself, he then gives them to his assistants and 
the other clergy present, after which the congregation, women as 
well as men, one after another, approach the altar, kneel before the 
priest, and receive this " mark of the beast " on their foreheads. 
(See Engraving.) 

* Deylingii Observationum Sacrarum, pars i., exercit. 6. 
\ Bower, in vita Urban II. 




Marking the Foreheads of the People with Ashes on Ash- Wednesday. 




chap, ni.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 259 

Ceremony of incensing a cross. Councils of Placentia and Clermont, in 1095 

The other engraving represents the popish custom of incensing a 
new cross. All crosses designed for public places, for high roads 
and cross ways, as they are seen in popish countries, and for the 
tops of Romish chapels, where one is always placed, are conse- 
crated with much ceremony. Candles are first lighted at the foot 
of the cross, after which the celebrant, having on his pontifical orna- 
ments, sits down before the cross, and makes a discourse to the 
people upon its excellence ; after which prayers and anthems fol- 
low. Then he sprinkles and afterward incenses the cross, as repre- 
sented in the engraving ; which being performed, candles are set 
upon the top of each arm of the cross. In the engraving, two of 
the attendants are seen with the candles lighted and prepared, when 
the childish and unmeaning ceremony is over, to affix them on the 
two arms of the cross. How long the candles remain there, before 
the piece of wood is regarded as sufficiently holy for its contem- 
plated destination, I am unable to say. 

§ 20. — Pope Urban, though inferior in ability and courage to the 
imperious Hildebrand, was yet fully equal to him in pride and arro- 
gance. At a council held at Placentia, in 1095, he confirmed all 
the laws and anathemas enacted by Gregory, to terrify and to crush 
the rebels to the holy See, and at the council of Clermont, held in 
November of the same year, Urban proceeded a step further than 
even Gregory had done, by enacting a decree forbidding the bish- 
ops and the rest of the clergy to take the oath of allegiance to their 
respective kings or governments. * Ne episcopus vel sacerdos regi 
vel alicui laico in manibus ligiam fidelitatem faciunt.' The council 
of Clermont, just mentioned, has become celebrated in history from 
the fact that through the persuasions of Peter the hermit, pope Urban 
resolved, on this occasion, upon the commencement of those expe- 
ditions to the holy land called the Crusades. , 

The object of these holy wars, which occupy so conspicuous a 
figure in the history of the period of which we are now treating, was 
the recovery of the city of Jerusalem, and the holy sepulchre, from 
the hands of the Turkish infidels, by whom it had been taken in the 
year 1065. For centuries past, the practice had prevailed of mak- 
ing pilgrimages to Jerusalem. In the tenth century, this custom 
had much increased, and had become almost universal, from a gen- 
eral belief which prevailed of the near approach of the end of the 
world, arising from a misinterpretation of Rev., chap, xx., 2-5. 
Toward the conclusion of the century, crowds of men and women 
flocked from all parts of Europe, to Jerusalem, in the frantic hope 
of expiating their sins by the long and painful journey to the Holy 
land. When the dreaded epoch assigned by these misguided indi- 
viduals, for the end of the world, had passed by, the current of 
pilgrimages still continued to flow on in the direction it had taken, 
and that too in spite of the heavy tax of a piece of gold per head 
laid upon the pilgrims, and the brutal cruelties and indignities to 
which they were often exposed, from the barbarians and infidel 
conquerors of the holy city. Thus it appears that among the causes 
which eventually gave birth to the Crusades, was the wide-spread 



260 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Popular and wide spread panic of the end of the world, in the year 1000. 

delusion of the immediate conflagration of the world, in the year 
one thousand of the Christian era.* 

* The language in which Mosheim relates the effects of this wide-spread delusion, 
is so striking, and the lesson it teaches so important, viz. : the folly of attempting 
to be wise above what is written, or to fathom what God has wisely concealed, 
viz.: the time of the end of the world, that I shall embrace the opportunity of 
quoting it in the present note. Speaking of the darkness of the tenth century,, 
when this opinion was propagated, he says, " That the whole Christian world was 
covered at this time, with a thick and gloomy veil of superstition, is evident from 
a prodigious number of testimonies and examples which it is needless to mention. 
This horrible cloud, which hid almost every ray of truth from the eyes of the mul- 
titude, furnished a favorable opportunity to the priests and monks of propagating 
many absurd and ridiculous opinions, which dishonored so frequently the Latin 
church, and produced from time to time such violent agitations. None occasioned 
such a universal panic, nor such dreadful impressions of terror and dismay, as the 
notion that now prevailed, of the immediate approach of the day of judgment. 
Hence prodigious numbers of people abandoned all their civil connexions, and their 
parental relations, and giving over to the churches or monasteries all their lands, 
treasures, and worldly effects, repaired with the utmost precipitation to Palestine, 
where they imagined that Christ would descend from heaven to judge the world. 
Others devoted themselves by a solemn and voluntary oath to the service of the 
churches, convents, and priesthood, whose slaves they became, in the most rigor- 
ous sense of that word, performing daily their heavy tasks ; and all this from a 
notion that the Supreme Judge would diminish the severity of their sentence, and 
look upon them with a more favorable and propitious eye, on account of their hav- 
ing made themselves the slaves of his ministers. When an eclipse of the sun or 
moon happened to be visible, the cities were deserted, and their miserable inhabit- 
ants fled for refuge to hollow caverns, and hid themselves among the craggy 
rocks, and under the bending summits of steep mountains. The opulent attempted 
to bribe the Deity, and the saintly tribe, by rich donations conferred upon the 
sacerdotal and monastic orders, who were looked upon as the immediate vicege- 
rents of heaven. In many places, temples, palaces, and noble edifices, both public 
and private, were suffered to decay, nay, were deliberately pulled down, from a 
notion that they were no longer of any use, since the final dissolution of all things 
was at hand. In a word, no language is sufficient to express the confusion and 
despair that tormented the minds of miserable mortals upon this occasion. This 
general delusion was indeed opposed and combated by the discerning few, who 
endeavored to dispel these groundless terrors, and to efface the notion from which 
they arose, in the minds of the people. But their attempts were ineffectual ; nor 
could the dreadful apprehensions of the superstitious multitude be entirely removed 
before the conclusion of this century." As an undeniable evidence, both of the 
existence of this panic, and of its profitable results to its artful propagators and 
fomenters, may be mentioned the fact that almost all the donations that were made 
to the church about this time, assign as the cause of the donation, and the motive 
of the donor, the fact that the end of the world was just now at hand, and that 
therefore, of course, the property would be no longer of value. They generally 
commenced with these words : " Appropinquante mundi termino, c^c." i. e., the 
end of the world being now at hand, tf-c. {Mosheim, ii., page 410.) Similar panics 
to the above, originating from the presumption of ignorant and visionary men, who 
have predicted the day and the hour, or at least the year of the world's conflagra- 
tion, are not peculiar to the dark ages. They have been produced to a more limited 
extent in different countries and in various ag*es of the world, but in no one in- 
stance on record has the delusion been so universal as amid the gloom of this mid- 
night of the world. The extent to which such infatuations have prevailed, has in- 
variably been proportioned to the degree of the darkness and ignorance existing in 
the field of their propagation. Amid the enlightenment of the nineteenth century, 
there is but little danger of delusions of this kind shaking the universal foundations 
of society as they did in the tenth, or, if they exist at all, extending beyond the very 
narrow circle of the credulous and unenlightened portion of the community. 



chap, in.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 261 

Peter the hermit returns from Palestine, and engages pope Urban to sanction a Crusade. 

Of many thousands who passed into Asia, says a recent histo- 
rian of the Crusades,* a few isolated individuals only returned ; but 
these every day, as they passed through the different countries of 
Europe, on their journey back, spread indignation and horror by 
their account of the dreadful sufferings of the Christians in Judea. 
Various letters are reported as having been sent by the emperors of 
the East, to the different princes of Europe, soliciting aid to repel 
the encroachments of the infidel ; and if but a very small portion of 
the crimes and cruelty attributed to the Turks by these epistles, were 
believed by the Christians, it is not at all astonishing that wrath and 
horror took possession of every chivalrous bosom. The lightning 
of the crusade was in the people's hearts, and it wanted but one 
electric touch to make it flash forth upon the world. 

§21. — At this time a man, of whose early days we have no 
authentic knowledge, but that he was born at Amiens, and from a 
soldier had become a priest, after living for some time a hermit, 
became seized with the desire of visiting Jerusalem. Peter the 
hermit was, according to all accounts, small in stature and mean in 
person ; but his eyes possessed a peculiar fire and intelligence, and 
his eloquence was powerful and flowing. Peter accomplished in 
safety his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, paid the piece of gold demanded 
at the gates, and took up his lodging in the house of one of the 
pious Christians of the holy city. Here his first emotion seems to 
have been indignant horror at the barbarous and sacrilegious bru- 
tality of the Turks. The venerable prelate of Tyre represents 
him as conferring eagerly with his host upon the enormous cru- 
elties of the infidels, even before visiting the general objects of 
devotion. Doubtless the ardent, passionate, enthusiastic mind of 
Peter had been wrought upon at every step he took in the holy 
land, by the miserable state of his brethren, till his feelings and 
imagination became excited to almost frantic vehemence. 

Upon the return of Peter to Italy, he immediately sought the pon- 
tiff Urban, and laid before him such a touching recital of the suffer- 
ing pilgrims in the holy land, as brought tears from his eyes ; the 
general scheme of the crusade was sanctioned instantly, by his 
authority ; and, promising his quick and active concurrence, he sent 
the pilgrim to preach the deliverance of the holy land, through all 
the countries of Europe. Peter wanted neither zeal nor activity — - 
from town to town, from province to province, from country to 
country, he spread the cry of vengeance on the Turks, and deliver- 
ance to Jerusalem ! The warlike spirit of the people was at its 
height ; the genius of chivalry was in the vigor of its early youth ; 
the enthusiasm of relig'on had now a great and terrible object be- 
fore it, and all the gates of the human heart were open to the elo- 
quence of the preacher. That eloquence was not. exerted in vain ; 
nations arose at his word, and grasped the spear, and it only want- 
ed some gnc to direct and point the great enterprise that was 

* James, in his History of Chivalry and the Crusades. 



262 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Pope Urban's eloquent speech, urging the people to engage in the Crusades. 

already determined, and this was accomplished by the eloquence 
and zeal of pope Urban, at the council of Clermont. 

§ 22. — The following account of the address which the Pope 
delivered on this occasion, is derived from the relation given by 
Robert the monk, who was present. After having com: 
the other business of the council, and which occupied the delibera- 
tions of seven days, pope Urban came forth from the church into 
one of the public squares, as no public building was large enough to 
hold the immense concourse of people, and addressing the multitude 
as me peculiarly favored of God, in the gifts oi courage, strength, 
and the true faith, he began to depict in glowing terms the mis . i 
of the Christian pilgrims in the holy land. He told them that their 
brethren there were trampled under the feet of the infidels, to whom 
God had not granted the light of his Holy Spirit — that fire, plunder, 
and the sword, had desolated the fair plains of Palestine — that her 
children were led away captive, or enslaved, or died under tortures 
too horrible to recount — that the Christian females were subjected 
to the impure passions of the pagans, and that God's own altar, the 
symbols of salvation, and the precious relics oi the saints, were all 
desecrated by the gross and filthy abomination of a race of heathens. 
To whom, then, he asked — to whom did it belong to punish such 
crimes, t a wipe away such impurities, to destroy the oppressor 
and to raise up the oppressed I To whom, if not to those who heard 
him, who had received from God strength, and power, and great- 
ness of soul ; whose ancestors had been the prop of Christendom, 
and whose kings had put a barrier to the progress of infidels ? 
u Think !" he cried. " of the sepulchre of Christ, oar Saviour, pos- 
sessrd by the foul heathen ! — think of all the sacred places dishon- 
ored by their sacrilegious impurities ! That land, too, the Redeemer 
of the human race rendered illustrious by his advent, honored by 
his residence, consecrated by his passion, re-purchased by his death, 
signeiized by his sepulture. That royal city, Jerusalem — situated 
in the centre of the world — held captive by infidels, who deny the 
God that honored her — now calls on you and prays for her deliver- 
ance. From you — from you, above all people, she looks for comfort, 
and she hopes for aid ; since God has granted to you, beyond other 
nations, glory and might in arms. Take, then, the road befbr : 
in expiation of your sins, and go. assured that, after the honor of 
this world shall have passed away, imperishable glory shall await 
you even in the kingdom of heaven !'" 

§ 23. — At this point in the oration of the Pope, loud shouts are 
said to have burst simultaneously from the assembled multitude, as 
if impelled by inspiration, u It is the will of God! It is the will of 
God F — words regarded as so remarkable, that they were employed 
as the signal of rendezvous, and the watchword of battle in their 
future adventures. Skilfully seizing upon this simultaneous 
of enthusiasm, and turning it to good account, the pontiff proceeded, 
as soon as silence was obtained. "Brethren, if the Lord God had not 
been in your souls, you would not all have pronounced the same 



' 



chap, in.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 263 

The Crusades resolved on. General enthusiasm of the people, and desire to engage in them. 

words ; or, rather, God himself pronounced them by your lips, for 
he it was that put them in your hearts. Be they, then, your war- 
cry in the combat, for those words came forth from God. Let the 
army of the Lord, when it rushes upon his enemies, shout but that 
one cry, ' God wills it ! God wills it !■ " Then exhorting them to 
engage in this holy crusade, he exclaimed, " Let the rich assist the 
poor, and bring with them, at their own charge, those who can 
bear arms to the field. Still, let not priests nor clerks, to whatever 
place they may belong, set out on this journey, without the permis- 
sion of their bishop ; nor the layman undertake it without the bless- 
ing of his pastor, for to such as do, their journey shall be fruitless. 
Let whoever is inclined to devote himself to the cause of God, make 
it a solemn engagement and bear the cross of the Lord either on his 
breast or on his brow till he set out ; and let him who is ready to 
begin his march place the holy emblem on his shoulders, in mem- 
ory of that precept of the Saviour — ' He who does not take up his 
cross and follow me, is not worthy of me.' "* 

When Urban had concluded his oration, the vast multitude pros- 
trated themselves before him, and repeated, after one of the cardi- 
nals, the general confession of sins ; upon which the Pope pronounc- 
ed absolution of their sins, and bestowed on them his benediction. 
The people then returned to their homes, to prepare immediately 
for the expedition to the holy land, to which they had thus solemnly 
devoted themselves. 

§ 24. — "As soon as the council of Clermont was concluded," says 
Guibert of Nogent, another cotemporary writer and eye-witness of 
these scenes, " a great rumor spread through the whole of France, 
and as fame brought the news of the orders of the pontiff to any 
one, he went instantly to solicit his neighbors and his relations to 
engage with him in the way of God, for so they designated the pur- 
posed expedition. The counts Palestine were already full of the 
desire to undertake this journey, and all the knights of an inferior 
order felt the same zeal. The poor themselves soon caught the 
flame so ardently, that no one paused to think of the smallness of 
his wealth, or to consider whether he ought to yield his house, and 
his fields, and his vines ; but each one set about selling his property, 
at as low a price as if he had been held in some horrible captivity, 
and sought to pay his ransom without loss of time. At this period, 
too, there existed a general dearth. The rich even felt the want of 
corn ; and many, with everything to buy, had nothing, or next to 
nothing, wherewithal to purchase what they needed. The poor 
tried to nourish themselves with the wild herbs of the earth ; and, 
as bread was very dear, sought on all sides food heretofore un- 
known, to supply the place of corn. The wealthy and powerful 
were not exempt ; but finding themselves menaced with the famine 
which spread around them, and beholding every day the terrible 
wants of the poor, they contracted their expenses, and lived with 

* Robertus IVlonaclius, lib. i., as cited in James' History of Chivalry and the 
Cru^des, chap. iii. See also Mill's History of the Crusades. 



264 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Guibert's account of the multitudes that engaged in the Crusades. 

the most narrow parsimony, lest they should squander the riches 
that now became so necessary. 

" The ever insatiable misers rejoiced in days so favorable to their 
covetousness ; and casting their eyes upon the bushels of grain 
which they had hoarded long before, calculated each day the profits 
of their avarice. Thus some struggled with every misery and 
want, while others revelled in the hopes of fresh acquisitions. No 
sooner, however, had Christ inspired, as I have said, innumerable 
bodies to seek a voluntary exile, than the money which had been 
hoarded so long, was spread forth in a moment ; and that which 
was horribly dear while all the world was in repose, was on a sud- 
den sold for nothing, as soon as every one began to hasten toward 
their destined journey. Each man hurried to conclude his affairs, 
and, astonishing to relate, we then saw — so sudden was the diminu- 
tion in the value of everything — we then saw seven sheep sold for 
five deniers. The dearth of grain, also, was instantly changed into 
abundance, and every one, occupied solely in amassing money for 
his journey, sold everything that he could, not according to its real 
worth, but according to the value set upon it by the buyer. 

" In the mean while, the greater part of those who had not deter- 
mined upon the journey, joked and laughed at those who were thus 
selling their goods for whatever they could get ; and prophesied 
that their voyage would be miserable, and their return worse. Such 
was ever the language of one day ; but the next — suddenly seized 
with the same desire as the rest — those who had been most forward 
to mock, abandoned everything for a few crowns, and set out with 
those whom they had laughed at, but a day before. Who shall tell 
the children and the infirm, that, animated with the same spirit, 
hastened to the war ? Who shall count the old men and the young 
maids who hurried forward to the fight ? — not with the hope of 
aiding, but for the crown of martyrdom to be won amid the swords 
of the infidels. ' You, warriors,' they cried, * you shall vanquish by 
the spear and brand ; but let us, at least, conquer Christ by our 
sufferings.' At the same time, one might see a thousand things 
springing from the same spirit, which were both laughable and 
astonishing : the poor shoeing their oxen, as we shoe horses, and 
harnessing them to two-wheeled carts, in which they placed their 
scanty provisions and their young children ; and proceeding on- 
ward, while the babes, at each town or castle they saw, demanded 
eagerly whether that was Jerusalem."* 

§ 25. — The history and exploits of the vast multitudes who ad- 
vanced like clouds of locusts, over Hungary, Thrace, and Asia, 
under the fanatical Peter the hermit, or the more disciplined troops 
that were led to the scene of conflict, by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bald- 
win, Raimond, and other leaders in successive expeditions, of the 
taking of Jerusalem in 1099, and the establishment of a Christian 
kingdom in that city, are too well known, and besides, are too re- 

* Guibert of Nogent, see James, chap. iv. 



chap, in.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 265 



Effects of the Crusades. Enriched the clergy. Introduced vast quantities of pretended relics 

motely connected with the history of Romanism, to demand a place 
in the present work. Whatever were the motives which prompted 
Urban II. and other pontiffs to engage in these holy wars, whether 
of superstition, of policy, of avarice, or ambition, there can be no 
doubt that they tended vastly to increase the influence and authority 
of the Roman pontiffs ; they also contributed, in various ways, to 
enrich the churches and monasteries with daily accessions of wealth, 
and to open new sources of opulence to all the sacerdotal orders. 
For they who assumed the cross disposed of their possessions, as if 
they were at the point of death, on account of the imminent and 
innumerable dangers they were to be exposed to in their passage 
to the holy land, and the opposition they were to encounter there 
upon their arrival. They, therefore, for the most part made their 
wills before their departure, and left a considerable part of their 
possessions to the priests and monks, in order to obtain, by these 
pious legacies, the favor and protection of the Deity. Nor were 
these the only pernicious effects of these holy expeditions. For 
while whole legions of bishops and abbots girded the sword to their 
thigh, and went as generals, volunteers, or chaplains into Palestine, 
the priests and monks who had lived under their jurisdiction, and 
were more or less awed by their authority, threw off all restraint, 
lived the most lawless and profligate lives, and abandoning them- 
selves to all sorts of licentiousness, committed the most flagitious 
and extravagant excesses without reluctance or remorse. 

§ 26. — Another effect of the expeditions to the holy land, was 
the introduction of vast quantities of old bones of saints and other 
reputed relics. The inhabitants of the country were aware of the 
passion of the crusaders for these articles, and strove to make the 
gullibility of Christians as large a source of profit as possible to 
themselves. Upon their return from Palestine, after the taking of 
Jerusalem, they brought with them a vast number of pretended relics, 
which they bought at a high price from the cunning Greeks and 
Syrians, and which they considered as the noblest spoils that 
could crown their return from the holy land. These they com- 
mitted to the custody of the clergy in the churches and monas- 
teries, or ordered them to be most carefully preserved in their fami- 
lies irom generation to generation. 

Among others of these pretended relics, Matthew Paris relates 
that the Dominican friars brought a white stone in which they 
asserted Jesus Christ had left the impression of his feet. A hand- 

j kerchief said to have been Christ's is worshipped at Bezancon, 
which was brought by the crusaders from the holy land ; and the 
Genoese pretend to have received from Baldwin, second king of 

i Jerusalem, the very dish in which the paschal lamb was served up 
to Christ and his disciples, at the last supper, though this famous 
dish excites the laughter of even father Labat in his travels in Spain 
and Italy.* The Greeks and Syrians, whose avarice and fraud 

* Labat, Voyages en Espagne ct en Italic. Tom ii., p. 63. 



266 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Popery in England. William of Noruiundj. 

were excessive, imposed upon the credulity of the simple and 
ignorant Latins, and often sold them fictitious relics at enormous 
prices. The sacred treasures of musty bones and rags which 
the French, German, and other European nations preserved for- 
merly with so much care, and show " even in our times with such 
pious ostentation," says iMosheim (ii., 441), " are certainly not more 
ancient than these holy wars, but were then purchased at a high 
rate from these cunning traders in superstition." There are other 
incidents in the life of pope Urban, which are worthy of relation, as 
exhibiting the pomp and pride of the popes in this age of the world, 
but as they are chiefly connected with the history of Popery in 
England, the relation of them will be deferred to the next chapter, 
which is to be devoted to that department of our subject. 



CHAPTER IV. 

POPERY IX EXGLAXD AFTER THE CONQUEST. ARCHBISHOPS AXSELM 
AXD THOMAS A BECKET. 

§ 27. — The successors of Hildebrand, as we have seen, were by 
no means slow to copy the example left by him of tyrannizing over 
the sovereigns and governments of the earth. As several of the 
most remarkable instances of papal assumption, during the eleventh 
and two following centuries, occurred in Great Britain, we shall 
again invite the attention of the reader for a chapter or two to the 
history of affairs in that island. About the middle of the eleventh 
century, a most important revolution occurred in the government 
of England. William, duke of Xormandy, afterwards surnamed 
the Conqueror, had long looked with a greedy eye upon England. 
Before undertaking its conquest, however, William thought it pru- 
dent to secure the powerful alliance of the Pope, who, says Hume, 
in his History of England, " had a mighty influence over the an- 
cient barons, no less devout in their religious principles than valor- 
ous in their military enterprises. It was a sufficient motive to 
Alexander II., the reigning Pope, for embracing William's quarrel, 
that he alone had made an appeal to his tribunal, but there were 
other advantages winch that pontiff foresaw must result from the 
conquest of England by the iXormans. That kingdom maintained 
still a considerable independence in its ecclesiastical administration, 
and forming a world within itself, entirely separated from the rest 
of Europe, it had hitherto proved inaccessible to those exorbitant 
claims which supported the grandeur of the papacy. Alexander 
therefore hoped that the French and Norman barons, if successful 



chap, iv.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 267 

A ring with one of St. Peter's hairs. King William's resistance to priestly usurpation 

in their enterprise, might import into that country a more devoted 
reverence for the Holy See. He, therefore, declared immediately 
in favor of William's claim, pronounced the legitimate king Harold 
a perjured usurper, denounced excommunication against him and 
his adherents, and the more to encourage the duke of Normandy in 
his enterprise, sent him a consecrated banner, and a ring with one 
of St. Peter's hairs (!) in it."* 

§ 28. — Upon the accession of Gregory VII., that imperious pon- 
tiff wrote to king William, requiring him to fulfil his promise of 
doing homage for the kingdom of England to the See of Rome, 
and to send him over that tribute which his predecessors had been 
accustomed to pay to the vicar of Christ (meaning Peter's Pence, 
a charitable donation of the Saxon princes, which the court of 
Rome construed into a badge of subjection acknowledged by the 
kingdom). William coolly replied, that the money should be remitted 
as formerly, but that he neither had promised to do homage to 
Rome, nor entertained any thoughts of imposing that servitude on 
his kingdom. Nay, he went so far as to refuse the English bishops 
liberty to attend a general council, which Gregory had summoned 
against his enemies. The following anecdote shows, in a still 
stronger light, the contempt of this prince for ecclesiastical do- 
minion. Odo, bishop of Bayeux, the king's maternal brother, whom 
he had created earl of Kent, and intrusted with a great share of 
power, had amassed immense riches ; and, agreeable to the usual 
progress of human wishes, he began to regard his present eminence 
as only a step to future grandeur. He aspired at nothing less than 
the papacy, and had resolved to transmit all his wealth to Italy, and 
go thither in person, accompanied by several noblemen, whom he 
had persuaded to follow his example, in hopes of establishments 
under the future pope. William, from whom this object had been 
carefully concealed, was no sooner informed of it than he accused 
Odo of treason, and ordered him to be arrested ; but nobody would 
lay hands on the bishop. The king himself was therefore obliged 
to seize him ; and when Odo insisted, that, as a prelate, he was ex- 
empted from all temporal jurisdiction, William boldly replied, "/ 
arrest not the bishop, I arrest the earl /" and accordingly sent him 
prisoner into Normandy, where he was detained in custody, during 
this whole reign, notwithstanding the remonstrances and menaces 
of Gregory. 

The fact is, that the haughty Pope found it a more difficult 
matter to break down the proud spirit of these sturdy Normans, 
than of any of the monarchs whom he aimed to reduce to his sway 
In the following reign, William Rufus, the son and successor of the 
Conqueror, upon the death of Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, 
in 1089, refused for five years to appoint a successor, and kept the 
temporalities of the archbishopric in his own hands. During this 
interval the bishops and clergy tried various methods to prevail 



* Hume's History of England, p. 42 ; one vol. edition London. 



268 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Anselra elected archbishop of Canterbury. His quarrel with the King 

upon the king to appoint a primate, in vain. At one time, when 
they presented a petition, that he would give them leave to issue a 
form of prayer, to be used in all the churches of England — that 
God would move the heart of the king to choose an archbishop, he 
returned this careless answer: — '''You may pray as you please ; I 
will do as I please" 

§ 29. — At length, in a fit of sickness, the king consented to the 
election of Anselm, who soon after requested permission to go to 
Rome to receive his pall, or robe of office, from the Pope. Angry 
at this request, William summoned a council to consider of it, 
which, after due deliberation, returned for an answer, that " unless 
he yielded obedience to the king, and retracted his submission to 
pope Urban, they would not acknowledge or obey him as their pri- 
maet." On hearing this sentence, the archbishop lifted up his eyes 
and hands to heaven, and with great solemnity, appealed to St. 
Peter, whose vicar he declared he was determined to obey, rather 
than the king ; and upon the bishops declining to report his words, 
he rushed into the council, and pronounced them before the king 
and his nobility. 

This was the .time of schism mentioned in a previous chapter, 
between the two rival popes, Urban and Clement, and king Wil- 
liam hoping to conquer the obstinacy of Anselm by violence, had 
recourse to stratagem, and privately dispatched two of his chap- 
lains to Rome, with an offer to Urban, of acknowledging him as 
Pope, if he would consent to the deposition of Anselm, and send a 
pall to the King, to be bestowed on whom he pleased. Urban, 
transported with joy at the accession of so powerful a prince, 
promised everything, and sent Walter, bishop of Alba, his legate, 
into England with a pall. The legate passed through Canterbury, 
without seeing the archbishop ; and arriving at court, prevailed 
upon the King to issue a proclamation, commanding all his subjects 
to acknowledge Urban II. as lawful Pope. But no sooner had the 
King performed his engagements, and began to speak of proceeding 
to the deposition of the archbishop, and demanded the pall, that he 
might give it to the prelate who should be chosen in his room, than 
the legate changed his tone, and with a perfidiousness characteristic 
of Popery, declared plainly, that the Pope would not consent to 
the deposition of so great a saint, and so dutiful a son of the church 
of Rome : and moreover, that he had received orders to deliver 
the pall to Anselm ; which he accordingly performed, with great 
pomp, in the cathedral church of Canterbury. 

§ 30. — During the absence of Anselm on a visit to Rome, the 
King seized all his estates and revenues, but the most extraordinary 
honors were paid to the Archbishop on his arrival in that city. 
The Pope addressed him in a long speech before the whole court, 
in which he lavished the highest encomiums upon him, called him 
the pope of another world, and commanded all the English who 
should come to Rome to kiss his toe. He further promised to sup- 
port him with all his power, in his disputes with the king of Eng- 



chap, iv.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 269 

Honors paid to Anselm at Rome by the Pope. Henry I. succeeds William Rufua. 

land, to whom he wrote a letter, commanding him to restore all 
that he had taken from Anselm. While at Rome, the Archbishop 
was present at a papal council, held in 1098, in which it was de- 
clared by pope Urban, that the king of England deserved to be ex- 
communicated for his conduct towards Anselm ; but, at the request 
of that prelate, the execution of the sentence was postponed. At 
this council, the famous canon against lay-investitures was con- 
firmed, denouncing excommunication against all laymen who pre- 
sumed to grant investitures of any ecclesiastical benefices, and 
against all clergymen who accepted of such investitures, or did 
homage to temporal princes. The reason assigned for this canon 
by the Pope, as related by one who was present in the council, and 
heard his speech, is horrid and impious in the highest degree. " It 
is execrable," said his holiness, " to see those hands which create 
God, the Creator of all things — a power never granted to angels — 
and offer Him in sacrifice to the Father, for the redemption of the 
whole world — put between the hands of a prince, stained with 
blood, and polluted day and night with obscene contacts !" To 
which all the fathers of the council responded, " Amen ! — Amen !" 
" At these transactions," said Eadmer, " I was present, and all these 
things I saw and heard." 

§ 31. — William Rufus was succeeded on the throne of England 
in 1100 by Henry I., whose reign extended to the long period of 
five-and-thirty years. He was the youngest son of William the 
Conqueror, and got the reins of government into his hands by sup- 
planting his elder brother Robert ; but, having succeeded, he set 
himself with all his might to conciliate all those who were likely 
either to support or disturb him in the possession of the prize he 
had obtained, and especially the Pope and court of Rome. With 
a view to this, he recalled the archbishop of Canterbury from his 
exile ; and accordingly Anselm landed at Dover on the 23d Sep- 
tember, a. d. 1100. A few days after, he was introduced to the 
King, at Salisbury, who received him with every possible mark of 
affection and respect. But the cordiality w r as of short continuance. 
The King was far from being of an amiable character : Anselm, 
too, was the same unbending prelate still ; and the instant he was 
called upon to do homage to the King for the temporalities of his 
j See, he met it with a flat refusal, and produced the canon of the late 
council of Rome in vindication of his conduct, at the same time 
■ declaring, that, if the King insisted on his pretensions to the homage 
of the clergy, he could hold no communion with him, and would 
immediately leave the kingdom. This threw the King into great 
perplexity ; for, on the one hand, he was very reluctant to resign 
; the right of bestowing ecclesiastical benefices, and of receiving the 
homage of the prelates, and, on the other, he dreaded the departure 
of the Archbishop, who might take part with his brother Robert, 
t then in Normandy, and preparing to assert his right to the throne 
r of England. In this critical conjuncture, the King proposed, or 
, rather begged, a truce, till both parties could send ambassadors to 
IS 



270 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Pope Pascal's lofty pretensions. Anselm's opposition to the will of the King. 

the Pope, to know his final determination ; to which Anselm, at the 
solicitations of the nobility, consented. 

§ 32. — In due time the messengers who had been despatched to 
Rome returned with letters from pope Pascal II., who had suc- 
ceeded Urban, in which his holiness asserted in the strongest terms, 
that the church and all its revenues belonged to St. Peter and his 
successors ; and that emperors, kings, and princes had no right to 
confer the investiture of benefices on the clergy, or to demand 
homage from them. This he endeavored to prove by several texts 
of Scripture, most grossly misapplied, and by other arguments, 
which are either blasphemous or nonsensical, of which take this 
specimen : — " How abominable is it for a son to beget his father, 
and a man to create his God 1 and are not priests your fathers and 
your Gods ?* The effect of this curious piece of papal reasoning 
was not precisely such as his holiness anticipated. The King was 
rather irritated than convinced by it. For, the first time Anselm 
appeared at court, Henry, in a somewhat peremptory tone, required 
him to do homage to him for the revenues of his See, and to con- 
secrate certain bishops and abbots, according to ancient custom, or 
to quit the kingdom ; adding, " I will suffer no subject to live in my 
dominions who refuses to do me homage." The Archbishop boldly 
replied, " I am prohibited by the canons of the council of Rome to 
do what you require. I will not leave the kingdom, but stay in my 
province, and perform my duty ; and let me see who dares to do me 
an injury ;" on saying which, he abruptly quitted the court, and 
returned to Canterbury. 

The King had suffered so much from the opposition and ob- 
stinacy of Anselm, that upon the death of that prelate, which took 
place in 1109, he was in no haste to appoint a successor, but kept 
the See of Canterbury vacant no less than five years. At length, 
after a warm contest between the monks of the cathedral and the 
prelates of the province, Radulphus, bishop of Rochester, was 
elected primate, 26th April, 1114. As all this had been done 
without consulting the Pope, the latter was not a little enraged, and 
wrote a long letter to the King and bishops, in which many texts of 
Scripture are quoted to prove that no business of any importance 
ought to be transacted in any nation of Europe without the know- 
ledge and direction of the Pope ; it also contained the strongest ex- 
pressions of resentment against the King and prelates of England 
for their late neglect of the Holy See, with threats of excommuni- 
cation if they did not behave in a more dutiful manner in time to 
come. The King was not a little offended with the insolent strain 
of this epistle, and sent the bishop of Exeter to Rome to expostu- 
late with the Pope on that and some other subjects. 

One of the most specious and successful arts employed by the 
court of Rome to subject the several churches of Europe to her 
dominion, was that of sending legates into all countries, with com- 

* Eadmer, p. 61. 



i 



chap, iv.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 21\ 

National councils. Cardinal Crema, the Pope's legate to England, detected in gross licentiousness 

missions to hold national councils, in the name and by the authority 
of the Pope. Hitherto the kings of England had successfully re- 
sisted this ; but the policy of Rome was still upon the watch to 
seize the first favorable opportunity for renewing these attempts. 
Such an opportunity presented itself at this time, when the king of 
England was engaged in a dangerous war upon the continent, and 
stood in need of the favor of the court of Rome ; and it was not 
neglected. 

§ 33. — Honorins II., who then filled the papal chair, granted a 
commission, April 13th, 1126, to John de Crema, a cardinal priest, 
to be his legate in England and Scotland.* The Legate, in passing 
through France, waited on king Henry, then in Normandy, and at 
length, with much difficulty, obtained his permission to pass over 
into England, where he gratified his pride and avarice, with little 
regard to decency. Among other things, he presided in a national 
council at Westminster, on the 9th of September, in which both 
the archbishops, twenty bishops, forty abbots, and an innumerable 
multitude both of the clergy and people were present. In this 
council no fewer than seventeen canons were made, in the name 
and by the authority of the Pope alone ! In these canons there 
was little new, except the edicts enjoining the strictest celibacy to 
the clergy of every order. At the conclusion of the council, the 
legate summoned the archbishops of Canterbury and York to re- 
pair immediately to Rome to plead the cause about the preroga- 
tives of their respective Sees, which was depending before the 
Pope. To such a height had the usurpations of Rome, and the in- 
solence of the papal legates, then arrived ! 

In the night which succeeded the conclusion of this council, 
an incident occurred which made a prodigious noise throughout 
England, and brought no little scandal on the Roman clergy. John 

* de Crema, the Pope's legate, who had declaimed with great warmth 
in the council, the day before, in honor of immaculate chastity, and 
inveighed, with no less vehemence, against the horrid impurity of 

' the married clergy, was actually detected in bed with a common 
prostitute ! The detection was so undeniable, and soon became so 
public, that the Legate was both ashamed and afraid to show his 
face ; but sneaked out of England with all possible secrecy and 

• precipitation. f This incident gave a temporary triumph to the 
married clergy, who had probably been the detectors, and thus 

1 rendered the canon of the late council against them abortive and 
contemptible. 
§ 34. — Yet so intent was the court of Rome on making good its 

* Spolman, Concil., t. ii., pp. 32, 33. 

f 11. Iloveden, p. 274 ; II. Knyghton, col. 2382 ; Chron. Homingford, 1. i., c. 

"48. J. Brompt, col. 1015; Hon. Hunt., 1. vii., p. 219. It is remarkable, says 

"Mr. Hume, referring to this disgraceful occurrence, that the last cited author, H. 

Huntingdon, who was a clergyman, makes an apology for using such freedom 

with the fathers of the church, but says that the fact was notorious, and ought not 

to be concealed, (Hist, of Eng., p. G8.) 



272 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Cruel measures against the married clergy. The Pope gives Ireland to king Henry. 

right to the character of anti-Christ by prohibiting marriage, that, 
in the following year (1127), a national synod was convened at 
Westminster, on the 17th May, in the canons of which the marriage 
of the clergy is styled " the plague of the church," and all digni- 
taries are commanded to exert their most zealous efforts to root it 
out. The wives of priests and canons were not only to be sepa- 
rated from them, but to be banished out of the parish ; and if they 
ever after conversed with their husbands, they were to be seized by 
the ministers of the church, and subjected to ecclesiastical disci- 
pline, or reduced to servitude, at the discretion of the bishop ; and 
if any persons, great or small, attempted to deliver these unhappy 
victims out of the hands of the ministers of the church, they were 
to be excommunicated. Such were the violent and cruel measures 
necessary to be employed in order to compel the clergy to do vio- 
lence to the laws of nature, and by breaking up all the domestic 
relations, to render them the more willing, subservient, and devoted 
tools of Rome. 

In the year 1156, which was the year after the accession of 
Henry II. to the throne of England, that monarch inadvertently 
contributed to exalt the power and pretensions of the Pope, under 
which he and his successors so severely smarted, by accepting a 
grant of the kingdom of Ireland, from pope Adrian IV. Little was 
Henry aware of what he was doing in this instance ; for the solicit- 
ing, or even accepting this grant, was a plain and virtual acknow- 
ledgment, that the Pope had a right to deprive the Irish princes of 
their dominions, and bestow them upon whom he pleased ; and in 
the body of the grant, his holiness takes care to mention this ac- 
knowledgment. " For it is undeniable," says he, " and your majesty 
acknowledges it, that all islands on which Christ, the sun of righte- 
ousness, hath shined, and which have received the Christian faith, 
belong of right to St. Peter, and the most holy Roman church."* 

§ 35. — Shortly after this, at the instigation of the popish priests, 
king Henry was prevailed upon to disgrace his reign by the first 
instances of death for heresy that ever occurred in England from 
the landing of the emissaries of Rome on her shores. There ex- 
isted, at that dark period, when " all the world wondered after the 
beast," a numerous body of the disciples of Christ, Who took the 
New Testament for their guidance and direction in all the affairs of 
religion, rejecting doctrines and commandments of men. Their 
appeal was from the decisions of councils, and the authority of 
popes, cardinals, and prelates, to the law and the testimony — the 
words of Christ and his holy apostles. Egbert, a monkish writer 
of that age, speaking of them, says, that he had often disputed with 
these heretics, whom he terms cathari, or puritans ; " a sort of peo- 

f)le," he adds, " who are very pernicious to the catholic faith, which, 
ike moths, they corrupt and destroy. They are armed," says he, 
"with the words of Scripture which in any way seem to favor their 

* M. Paris, Hist. p. 67. 



chap, iv.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 273 

First instances of death for heresy in England. 

sentiments, and with these they know how to defend their errors, 
and to opposs the catholic truth. They are increased to great mul- 
titudes throughout all countries, to the great danger of the church 
(of Rome) ; for their words eat like a canker, and, like a flying 
leprosy, run everyway, infecting the precious members of Christ."* 

These people went under different names in different countries ; 
but their faith was substantially one and the same. They invaria- 
bly protested against the corruptions of the church of Rome ; such 
as the doctrine of purgatory, offering alms for the dead, and cele- 
brating masses, the ringing of bells, and praying for the dead, &c, 
&c. Throughout the whole of the twelfth century, they were ex- 
posed to severe persecution; and in the year 1159, a company of 
them, amounting to thirty in number, partly men and partly women, 
all of whom spoke the German language, made their appearance in 
England, hoping, no doubt, to find an asylum here from the rage of 
bigotry and intolerance to which they were exposed in their own 
country. They appear to have constituted a small Christian church 
in their native place ; and their pastor, whose name was Gerard, 
was a person of some learning and talent. They are said to have 
been the disciples of Arnold, of Brescia. Taking up their resi- 
dence in the neighborhood of Oxford, they were not long in attract- 
ing notice, by the strangeness of their language, and the singularity 
of their religious practices. They were, consequently, taken up, 
and brought before a council of the clergy at Oxford. When in- 
terrogated as to who and what they were, their leader answered in 
their name, that they were Christians, and believed the doctrines 
of the apostles. On a more particular inquiry, it was found that 
they denied several of the received doctrines of the Catholic 
church ; such as purgatory, prayers for the dead, and the invoca- 
tion of saints : and refusing to abandon these " damnable heresies," 
as the clergy were pleased to call them, they were condemned as 
incorrigible heretics, and delivered to the civil magistrates to be pun- 
ished. The King, at the instigation of the clergy, commanded 
them to be branded with a red-hot iron on the forehead ; to be 
whipped through the streets of Oxford ; and, having their clothes 
cut short by the girdles, to be turned into the open fields ; all per- 
sons being forbidden to afford them either shelter or relief, under 
the severest penalties. This cruel sentence was executed in its ut- 
most rigor ; and taking place in the depth of winter, they all per- 
ished through cold and famine ! Would that, as these instances of 
popish persecution were the first that had ever been witnessed in 
England, they had also been the last ! then we might be spared the 
task, painful though necessary, of tracing the blood-red footsteps 
of the Babylonish " mother of harlots " (Rev. xvii., 5), as she has 
reeled on in the career of ages over the fair fields of Britain, 
u drunk with trie blood of the saints." 

§ 3G. — A disagreement occurred A. D. 1161, between king Henry 

* Serm. I. in Bib. Patrum, p. 898, Cologne edit. 



274 HISTORY OF ROMAMSM. [book v. 

Two kings lead the Pope's horse. Quarrel between king Henry and Thomas a Becket 

II. of England, and Louis VII. of France, which would proba- 
bly have resulted in a war, had it not been for the mediation 
and authority of pope Alexander III., at that time residing in 
France, having been driven from Rome by the successful rival- 
pope, Victor IV. " That we may form an idea,'' says Hume, u of 
the authority possessed by the Roman pontiffs daring those ages, it 
may be proper to observe, that the two kings had, the year before, 
met the Pope at the castle of Toici, on the Loire ; and they gave 
him such marks of respect, that they both dismounted to receive 
him, and holding, each of them, one of the reins of his bridle, 
walked on foot by his side, and conducted him in that submissive 
manner into the castle."* In relating this circumstance, Cardinal 
Baronius is in ecstasies of delight ; " a spectacle this,"' says he, #i to 
God, to angels, and to men ; and such as had never before been ex- 
hibited in the world l''j (See Engraving.) 

§ 37. — The submissive homage of king Henry on this occasion did 
not prevent pope Alexander from engaging in a warm dispute 
with Mm si)on after, which was occasioned by the arrogance of 
Thomas a Becket, archbishop of Canterbury. In the year 1163, 
the hostilities commenced between the Sovereign and the Primate. 
Various instances of the most scandalous impunity of atrocious 
crimes, perpetrated by the clergy, had recently occurred. Some 
of these had reached the King's ears, before he returned to Eng- 
land, and he was greatly incensed at them. One abominable in- 
stance brought the King and Becket into direct collision on this 
point. A clergyman in Worcester had debauched the daughter of 
a respectable man, and, for her sake, had murdered the father. The 
King demanded that he should be brought before his tribunal, to 
answer for the horrible act. Becket resisted this, and gave him 
into the custody of his Bishop, that he might not be delivered to 
the King's justice. The King, who had seen repeated instances of 
the clergy permitting their offending brethren to escape with im- 
punity, and as their crimes, instead of being repressed, became 
daily more flagrant, was the more intent upon accomplishing his 
important object. He justly imputed these atrocities to the ex- 
emption of the clergy from trial before the secular courts, while 
the ecclesiastical tribunals, to whom they were subject, had no 
power to inflict capital, or, indeed, any adequate punishment. With 
a view to redress this crying evil, king Henry summoned a great 
council at Westminster, which he opened with an excellent speech, 
in which he complained of the mischiefs occasioned by the thefts, 
robberies, and even murders committed by the clergy, who were 
suffered to g3 unpunished; and he concluded with requiring, that 
the Arclioishop and the other bishops would consent that when a 
clergyman was degraded for any crime, he should be immediately 
delivered up to the civil power, that he might be punished for the 

* History of England, reign of Henry II., An. 1161. 
| Baronius 's Annals, Ann. 1160. 




e=^gr£3^ ^ ^kz^^^^SS&Z^!^ 




~<. ,-x «— - - -=» ■ LOSSING- 

Two Kings leading the Pope's Horse, at the Castle of Toici, in France. 



chap, iv.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 277 

Bccket swears to obey the Constitutions of Clarendon. The Pope absolves him from his oath, 

crime, according to the laws of the land. Becket, at first, refused 
to comply with this reasonable demand, but in the following year 
he solemnly swore to obey the " Constitutions of Clarendon/' by 
which all clergymen guilty of criminal offences were rendered 
amenable to the civil law. 

As it was with manifest reluctance that Becket had sworn to 
obey those hated Constitutions, so he soon began to give indications 
of his repentance, by extraordinary acts of mortification, and by 
refraining from performing the sacred offices of his function. He 
dispatched a special messenger to the Pope, apprising him of what 
had been done. The latter sent him a bull, releasing him from the 
obligation of his oath, and enjoining him to resume the duties of 
his sacred office. But though this bull reconciled his conscience to 
the violation of his oath, it did not dispel his fears of the King's in- 
dignation — to avoid which, he determined to retire privately out 
of the kingdom. With this intention he went down to Romney, 
accompanied by two of his friends, and there embarked for France ; 
but being twice put back by contrary winds, he landed, and re- 
turned to Canterbury. About the same time the King's officers 
came to that city with orders to seize his possessions and revenues ; 
but on his showing himself, they retired, without executing their 
orders. Conscious that he had transgressed those laws which he 
had sworn to observe, by attempting to leave the kingdom without 
permission, he waited upon the King at Woodstock, who received 
him without any other expression of displeasure than merely ask- 
ing him if he had left England because he thought it too little to 
contain them both. 

§ 38. — Soon after this interview, fresh misunderstandings arose 
between the King and the Primate, who publicly protected the clergy 
from those punishments which their crimes deserved, and flatly re- 
fused to obey a summons to attend the King's court. Henry was 
so much enraged at these daring insults on the laws and the royal 
authority, that he determined to call him to account before his peers, 
in a parliament which he summoned to meet at Northampton, on 
the 17th October, 1164. This parliament was unusually full, the 
whole nation being now deeply interested in the issue of this con- 
test between the crown and the mitre. On the first day, the King 
in person accused the Archbishop of contumacy, in refusing to at- 
tend his court when he was summoned ; against which accusation, 
having made only a very weak defence, he was unanimously found 
guilty by the bishops, as well as by the temporal barons, and all his 
goods and chattels were declared to be forfeited. Many of the 
bishops waited upon Becket, and earnestly entreated him to resign 
his office, assuring him that if he did not he would be tried for per- 
jury and high treason. Becket, however, was made of sterner 
stuff — he reproached them bitterly for deserting him in his contest 
— charged them not to presume to sit in judgment upon their Pri- 
mate — and declared, that though he should be burnt alive, he would 
not abandon his station, nor forsake his flock ! Having celebrated 



278 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Boldness, obstinacy, and rebellion of Becket. 

mass, he set out from his residence, dressed in his pontifical robes, 
with a consecrated host in one hand ; and when he approached the 
hall where the King and parliament sat, he took the cross from the 
bearer, and carried it in the other hand. When the King was in- 
formed of the posture in which Becket was advancing, he retired 
hastily into an inner room, commanding all the bishops and barons 
to follow him. Here he complained of the insufferable annoyance 
of Becket ; and was answered by the barons, " That he had always 
been a vain and obstinate man, and ought never to have been raised 
to so high a station ; that he had been guilty of high treason, both 
against the King and the kingdom ; and they demanded that he 
should be immediately punished as a traitor." The clamors of 
the barons against Becket became so loud and vehement, that the 
archbishop of York, fearing they would proceed to acts of violence, 
hastily retired, that he might not be a spectator of the tragical 
scene. The bishop of Exeter went into the great hall, where the 
Primate sat almost alone, and, falling at his feet, conjured him to 
take pity on himself and on his brethren, and preserve them all 
from destruction, by complying with the king's will. But, with a 
stern countenance, he commanded them to begone. 

§ 39. — The bishops, apprehensive of incurring the indignation of 
the Pope if they proceeded to sit in judgment on their Primate, and 
of the King and barons if they refused, begged that they might be 
allowed to hold a private consultation, which w T as granted. After 
deliberating some time, they agreed to renounce all subjection to 
Becket as their Primate ; to prosecute him for perjury before the 
Pope ; and, if possible, to procure his deposition. This resolution 
they reported to the King and barons, who, not knowing that 
Becket had already obtained a bull from the Pope, absolving him 
from h's oath, too rashly gave their consent ; and the bishops went 
into the hall in a body, and intimated their resolutions to the Arch- 
bishop. The latter not deigning to give them any answer, except 
" I hear," a profound silence ensued. In the mean time the King 
and barons came to a resolution, that if the Primate did not give in 
his accounts without delay, they would declare him guilty of perjury 
and treason, and deputed certain barons to communicate this reso- 
lution. The earl of Leicester, who was at the head of these 
barons, addressing himself to Becket, said, " The King commands 
you to come immediately, and give in your accounts, or else hear 
your sentence." " My sentence !" exclaimed Becket, starting on 
his feet, " No ! my son, hear me first. I was given to the church 
free, and discharged from all claims when I was elected arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, and therefore I never will render any ac- 
count. Besides, my son, neither law nor reason permits sons to 
judge their father. I decline the jurisdiction of the King and 
barons, and appeal to God, and my lord the Pope, by whom alone 
I am to be judged. For you, my brethren and fellow bishops, I 
summon you to appear before the Pope, to be judged by him for 
having obeyed man rather than God. I put myself, the church of 



chap, v.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 279 

Becket's violent death. Pretended miracles at his shrine. 

Canterbury, and all that belongs to it, under the protection of God 
and the Pope ; and under their protection I depart hence." Having 
said this, he walked out of the hall in great state, leaving the 
spectators so much disconcerted by his boldness, that not an indi- 
vidual had the courage to stop him. 

§ 40. — The tragical result of this controversy is well known. The 
haughty but courageous Primate was assassinated December 29th, 
1171, by four gentlemen of king Henry's court, in consequence of 
a passionate exclamation they had heard drop from the lips of 
their royal master, and was soon after his death canonized as a 
saint of the very highest rank. Endless were the panegyrics pro- 
nounced on his virtues ; and the miracles wrought by his relics, 
according to the popish historians, were more numerous, more non- 
sensical, and more impudently attested, than those which ever filled 
the legend of any saint or martyr. His shrine not only restored 
dead men to life ; it also restored cows, dogs, and horses. Presents 
were sent, and pilgrimages performed, from all parts of Christen- 
dom, in order to obtain his intercession with Heaven : and it was 
computed that, in one year, above a hundred thousand pilgrims ar- 
rived at Canterbury, and paid their devotions at his tomb.* 

The following quaint verse in relation to the throngs of pilgrims 
that came to pay their devotions at the shrine of St. Thomas a 
Becket, in Canterbury Cathedral, is from Chaucer, one of the most 
ancient of our English poets, who was born about a century and a 
half after the death and canonization of the saint. 

" And specially from every shire's end 
Of Engle-land to Canterbury they wend, 
The holy blissful martyr for to seek, 
That them hath holpen when that they were sick." 



CHAPTER V. 

POPERY IN ENGLAND CONTINUED POPE INNOCENT AND KING JOHN. 

§ 41. — The most remarkable exhibition of priestly tyranny and 
successful papal arrogance that has ever occurred in Great Britain, 
and perhaps in the world, was that which signalized the pontificate 
of Innocent III., a pope that carried out the policy of Hildebrand 
to an unprecedented extent in his treatment of the kingdom of 
England, and its weak and contemptible king John, in the early 
part of the thirteenth century. It is justly remarked by the his- 

* Russell's Modem Europe, i., 168. 



280 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 



The Pope and the King compared to the Sun and the Moon. Impertinent interference of Innocent III. 

torian of the middle ages, that " the pontificate of Innocent III. may 
be regarded as the meridian or noonday of papal usurpation." In 
each of the three leading objects which Rome had pursued — name- 
ly, independent sovereignty, supremacy over the Christian church, 
and control over the princes of the earth — it was the fortune of 
this pontiff to conquer. The maxims of Gregory VII. were now 
matuivd by more than a hundred years, and the right of trampling 
upon the necks of kings had been received, at least among church- 
men, as an inherent attribute of the papacy. " As the sun and the 
moon are placed in the firmament," says the pontiff, " the greater 
as the light of the day, and the lesser of the night ; thus are there 
two powers in the church — the pontifical, which, as having the 
charge of souls, is the greater ; and the royal, which is the less, 
and to which the bodies of men only are intrusted."* Intoxicated 
with these conceptions, the result of successful ambition, he thought 
no quarrel of princes beyond the sphere of his jurisdiction. On 
every side the thunders of Rome broke over the heads of princes. 
At h.s pleasure, he would place a kingdom under an interdict, and 
instantly public worship is suspended, and the dead lie unburied. 
If the clergy complain to him that the people, cut off from the 
offices of religion, refuse to pay tithes, and go to hear the sectaries, 
he consents that divine service shall be performed with closed doors, 
but denies them the rites of sepulture.")" 

§ 42. — Pope Innocent commenced his course of lordly arrogance 
towards England almost as soon as he ascended the papal throne, 
and during the reign of Richard Cceur de Lion, the predecessor of 
John. In order to counteract the influence of the monks of Can- 
terbury in the election of the primates, and to place future elections 
more under the royal influence, king Richard authorized the erec- 
tion of an episcopal palace at Lambeth, intending to remove the 
place of election in future from Canterbury to that place. The 
suspicious monks, jealous of the exclusive right which they had 
claimed of electing the archbishops of Canterbury, secretly dis- 
patched a messenger to pope Innocent at Rome, from whom they 
obtained a bull, addressed to the archbishop Hubert, who was him- 
self in favor of the change, commanding him, within thirty days, to 
demolish the works at Lambeth, and threatening him with suspen- 
sion from his office in case of disobedience ; for, says the insolent 
Pope, " it is not fit that any man should have any authority who 
does not revere and obey the apostolic See."J 

The King was enraged at the conduct of the monks in apply- 
ing to Rome without his permission, and the Archbishop dispatched 
his agents to Rome, who were admitted to an audience of the 
Pope on one day, and the monks of Canterbury were permitted 
to reply on the next. The result of these proceedings was, that 

* Vita Innocentii III., St. Marc, torn, v., p. 325. This life of pope Innocent 
was written by a contemporary, 
f Hallam's Middle Ages, chap. vii. 
I Gervas. Chron., col. 1602, &c. 



chap, v.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 281 

The Pope orders the works of Lambeth Palace to be demolished. The King obliged to obey. 

the Pope confirmed his former sentence against the Archbishop, 
which he intimated to him by a bull; dated November 20th, threat- 
ening him with the highest censure of the church, if he did not im- 
mediately demolish the works at Lambeth. His Holiness, at the 
same time, directed another bull to the King, commanding him, in 
a magisterial tone, to see the sentence of the apostolic See exe- 
cuted ; and telling him further, that if he presumed to oppose its 
execution, he would soon convince him, by the severity of his pun- 
ishment, how hard it was " to kick against the pricks !" In another 
bull, which he addressed to the King, dictated, if possible, in a still 
higher strain, he commands him immediately to restore to the 
monks of Canterbury all their possessions ; for " he would not en- 
dure the least contempt of himself, or of God, whose place he held 
upon earth ; but would punish, without delay, and without respect of 
persons, every one who presumed to disobey his commands, in order 
to convince the whole world that he was determined to act in a royal 
manner."* These bulls had the desired effect ; the King and the 
Archbishop, terrified at the thunders of Rome, submitted to the 
commands of the Pope, and the pertinacious monks had the satis- 
faction of seeing the obnoxious buildings razed to the foundation in 
the months of January and February, 1199, a short time before the 
death of king Richard, which took place on the 6th of April, of the 
same year. 

§ 43. — In the course of the following century, however, consider- 
able progress was made in the erection of the venerable and remark- 
able pile of buildings, so well known to visitors in London as Lambeth 
Palace, and which possesses such painful interest to the protestant 
descendants of British martyrs, on account of that single melan- 
choly room called Lollard's Tower, where many of the noblest of 
their protestant forefathers, victims of popish oppression and cruelty, 
breathed their sighs to the cold stone walls and iron-barred doors , 
sent up their prayers to the God of the oppressed ; held sweet com- 
munion with that Saviour for whose cause they were languishing 
in chains, and in many instances left behind them the now time- 
worn memorials of their suffering, in rude inscriptions upon its walls. 
Lambeth Palace exhibits specimens of the architecture of differ- 
ent ages. The venerable apartment called the Chapel, and the 
crypt beneath, were probably built by archbishop Boniface, as early 
as 1282. It is seventy-five feet in length, twenty-five in breadth, 
and thirty feet in height, and is divided in the middle by a richly 
ornamented screen. There is another magnificent and more spa- 
cious apartment built at a later period, called the Great HaJl. It 
stands on the right of the principal court-yard, and is built of fine 
red brick, the walls being supported by stone buttresses, and also 
o coped with stone, and surmounted by large balls or orbs. The 
.'cngth of this noble room is ninety-three feet, its breadth thirty-eight, 
and its height fifty. The roof, which is of oak and elaborately 

•Gervas. Chron., col. 1G1 5-1624. 



282 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Lambeth Palace and Lollard's tower. Commencement of king John's quarrel with pope Innocent 

carved, is particularly splendid and imposing. The Gate-house, 
which forms the principal entry to the Palace, and is the prominent 
object in the engraving, was erected by Cardinal Morton, about the 
year 1490, and is a very beautiful and magnificent structure. It 
consists of two lofty towers, from the summits of which is one of 
the finest views in the neighborhood of the metropolis. 

But of all the parts of this venerable and imposing pile, there is 
a single contracted room, cold, dark and dreary, twelve feet by 
nine, with two holes called windows, fourteen inches by seven, 
measured on the outside, but enlarging, by a funnel-shaped cavity 
through thick, stone walls, to about double the size on the inside, 
which possesses a deeper and more tender interest than any, or than 
all the rest. I need not add, it is Lollard's Tower. This gloomy 
apartment was erected by Archbishop Chichely, in the early part of 
the fifteenth century, as a place of confinement for the unhappy he- 
retics from whom it derives its name. Under the tower is an apart- 
ment of somewhat singular appearance, called the post room, from 
a large post in the middle of it, by which its flat roof is partly sup- 
ported. The prison in which the poor Lollards were confined is at 
the top of the tower, and is reached by a very narrow winding 
staircase. Its single doorway, which is so narrow as only to admit 
one person at a time, is strongly barricaded by both an outer and 
an inner door of oak, each three inches and a half thick, and thickly 
studded with iron. Both the walls and roof of the chamber are 
lined with oaken planks an inch and a half thick ; and eight large 
iron rings still remain fastened to the wood, the melancholy memo- 
rials of the barbarous popish tyranny whose victims formerly pined 
in this dismal prison-house. Many names, and fragments of sen- 
tences, are rudely cut out on various parts of the walls. (See En- 
graving.) 

§ 44. — To return to the thread of our history. A few years after the 
accession of king John the brother of Richard, the violent dispute be- 
tween him and pope Innocent commenced, which has rendered so 
memorable the history of the reign of that weak and contemptible 
sovereign. The occasion of it was as follows. After the death of 
Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury in 1205, a contest arose between 
two individuals who each claimed to have been elected to that dig- 
nity by the monks. The bishops who had not been consulted in 
either, formed a third party, and dispatched their agents to Rome 
to protest against both elections. Pope Innocent, to whom nothing 
could be more grateful than these clashing claims and appeals, de- 
cided against both elections, declared the See of Canterbury vacant, 
and resolved, like one of his predecessors, six centuries before (see 
above, page 135), to raise a creature of his own to the dignity of 
primate of England. 

To give this assumption at least a semblance of regularity, 
however slight, the Pope sent for some monks of Canterbury, four- 
teen in number, who happened at that time to be in Rome as agents 
for the bishop of Norwich, one of the rejected competitors, and 



tiif 






\ 



chap, v.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073 1303. 285 

Langton, by the Pope's orders, appointed archbishop of Canterbury. King John's useless anger. 

commanded them, under penalty of excommunication, immediately 
to choose for their archbishop, cardinal Stephen Langton. The 
monks in vain protested that they were incompetent to elect an arch- 
bishop without the consent of the whole convent, and that they had 
been entrusted with no such authority ; but the Pope hastily and 
sternly replied that his authority was sufficient to supply all defects. 
They urged, too, that before leaving England, they had solemnly 
sworn to the King that they would acknowledge no person for pri- 
mate except the bishop of Norwich, who was a personal favorite of 
the sovereign. This obstacle, however, was soon removed by the 
plenitude of papal authority, which had long since assumed the 
blasphemous power of annulling the laws of God, and sanction- 
ing the most deliberate perjury by absolving from the obligation of 
oaths. Having, therefore, removed this obstacle by absolving them 
from their solemn oath to king John, the monks at length overcome 
by the menaces and authority of the Pope, proceeded, with the 
single exception of Elias de Brantefield, to comply with his de- 
mands and elected Langton archbishop, who was consecrated by 
the Pope himself on the '37th of June, 1207. 

§ 45. — Pope Innocent, well aware that this flagrant usurpation 
would be highly resented by the court of England, wrote to John a 
mollifying letter, accompanied by four golden rings set with precious 
stones, and endeavored to enhance the value of the present by in- 
forming Lim of the mysteries implied in it. Their round form, he 
said, shadowed forth eternity without beginning or end, and should 
teach him to aspire from temporal to eternal things ; their number, 
four, being a square, denoted steadiness of mind ; their matter, gold, 
the most precious of metals signified wisdom. The blue color of 
the sapphire, represented Faith ; the green of the emerald, Hope ; 
the redness of the ruby, Charity ; and the splendor of the topaz, 
good works.* King John, who, like most weak minds, was fond 
both of trinkets and flattery, was much gratified by this papal pre- 
sent, but his satisfaction only continued during his ignorance of the 
means by which the artful Pope had sought to deprive him of what 
he regarded as one of the most valuable prerogatives of his crown. 
A few days after the reception of the present, the Pope's bull ar- 
rived announcing the election and consecration of cardinal Langton, 
which threw the King into a violent rage against both the Pope and 
the monks of Canterbury. As these last were most within his 
reach, they felt the first effects of his indignation. He dispatched 
two officers, with a company of armed men, to Canterbury, who 
took possession of the convent of the Holy Trinity, banished the 
monks out of the kingdom, and seized all their estate. 

John next wrote a spirited and angry letter to the Pope, in 
which he accused him of injustice and presumption, in raising a 
stranger to the highest dignity in the kingdom, without his know- 
ledge. He reproached the Pope and court of Rome with ingrati- 

* Rymer, vol. i., p. 139. Matth. Paris, p. 155. 
19 



286 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Pope Innocent lays England under an interdict. Terrific consequences of that sentence. 

tude, in behaving as they had done towards a country from which 
they derived more money than from all the other kingdoms on this 
side the Alps. He declared that he was determined to sacrifice his 
life in defence of the rights of his crown ; and that, if his Holiness 
did not immediately repair the injury he had done him, he would 
break off all communication with Rome. This letter, though 
written in a strain very becoming a king of England, was quite 
intolerable to the pride of the haughty pontiff, who had been long 
accustomed to trample on the majesty of kings. Innocent was not 
tardy in returning an answer, in which, after many expressions of 
•displeasure and resentment, he plainly tells the King, that if he per- 
sisted in this dispute, he would plunge himself into inextricable 
difficulties, and at length be crushed by him, before whom every 
'knee must bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and 
things under the earth. # 

§ 46. — These letters might be regarded in the light of a formal de- 
claration of war between the Pope and the king of England ; but 
the contest was very unequal. The former had now attained that 
extravagant height of power which made the greatest monarchs 
tremble upon their thrones ; and the latter had sunk very low in 
both his reputation and authority, having before this time lost his 
foreign dominions by his indolence, and the esteem and affection of 
his subjects at home by his follies and his crimes. Indeed, the Pope 
was not ignorant of the advantage he possessed in the contest ; and 
consequently, without delay, he laid all the dominions of king John 
under an interdict ; and this sentence was published in England, at 
the Pope's command, March 23d, a. d. 1208, by the bishops of Lon- 
don, Ely, and Worcester, though the King endeavored to deter 
them from it by the most dreadful threats. 

The consequences of this terrific sentence are thus described 
by Mr. Hume : " The execution," says he, " was calculated to 
strike the senses in the highest degree, and to operate with irresisti- 
ble force on the superstitious minds of the people. The nation was, 
of a sudden, deprived of all exterior exercise of its religion ; the 
altars were despoiled of their ornaments ; the crosses, the relics, 
the images, the statues of the saints, were laid on the ground ; and 
-as if the air itself were profaned, and might pollute them by its 
contact, the priests carefully covered them up, even from their own 
approach and veneration. The use of bells entirely ceased in all 
the churches ; the bells themselves were removed from the steeples, 
and laid on the ground with the other sacred utensils. Mass was 
celebrated with closed doors, and none but the priests were admit- 
ted to that holy institution. The laity partook of no religious rite, 
except the communion to the dying ; the dead were not interred in 
consecrated ground ; they were thrown into ditches, or buried in 
common fields, and their obsequies were not attended with prayers 
or any hallowed ceremony. Marriage was celebrated in the 

* Matt. Paris, pp. 156, 157. 



chap, v.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 287 

King John excommunicated. Deposed, and his subjects absolved from their allegiance. 

churchyard, and that every action in life might bear the marks of 
this dreadful situation, the people were prohibited the use of meat, 
as in Lent, or times of the highest penance ; were debarred from 
all pleasures and entertainments, and were forbidden even to salute 
each other, or so much as to shave their beards, and give any de- 
cent attention to their apparel. Every circumstance carried symp- 
toms of the deepest distress, and of the most immediate apprehen- 
sion of divine vengeance and indignation."* 

When this interdict had continued about two years, the Pope 
proceeded a step further, and pronounced the awful sentence of ex- 
communication against king John, which he commanded the bishops 
of London, Ely, and Worcester, his most obsequious tools, to pub- 
lish in England. These prelates, who then resided on the continent, 
sent copies of the sentence, and of the Pope's commands to publish 
it in their churches, to the bishops and clergy who remained in 
England. But such was their dread of the royal indignation, that 
none of them had the courage to execute these commands. Geof- 
frey, archdeacon of Norwich, one of the King's judges, when sit- 
ting on the bench in the Exchequer, at Westminster, declared to 
the other judges, that the King was excommunicated, and that he 
did not think it lawful for him to act any longer in his name ; for 
which declaration he was thrown into prison, where he soon died.f 
§ 47. — In the year 1211, the Pope sent two legates into England, 
whose names were Pandulph and Durand. These legates were 
admitted to an audience, at a parliament which was held at North- 
ampton, when a most violent altercation took place between them 
and the King. Pandulph plainly told the King, even in the face of 
his parliament, that he was bound to obey the Pope in temporals as 
well as in spirituals ! and when John refused to submit to the will of 
his Holiness without reserve, the Legate, with shameless effrontery, 
published the sentence of excommunication against him, with a 
loud voice, absolving all his subjects from their oaths of allegiance, 
degraded him from his royal dignity, and declared that neither he 
nor any of his posterity should ever reign in England.% This was 
d certainly carrying clerical insolence to the height of extravagance. 
But in those unhappy times the meanest agents of the Pope insulted 
the greatest princes with impunity. 

On the return of the legates to Rome, in the following year, 
pope Innocent solemnly ratified all their proceedings against the 
I king of England ; and finding that all the success which he ex- 
t pected from them had not ensued, he proceeded to more violent 
» measures ; he pronounced with great solemnity a sentence of deposi- 
tion against king John, and of excommunication against all who 
\ should obey him, or have any connection with him.§ When these 
sentences were known in England, they began to excite the super- 

* Hume's Hist, of England, p. 110. 

f Matt. Paris, pp. 158, 159. 

t Annal. Monast. Burton, apud Rcrum Anglican. Script., t. i., pp. 165, 166. 

§ Matt. Paris, p. 161. 



288 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

The Pope oilers England to king Philip of France. King John's degrading submission 

stitious fears of some of the barons, who were at the same time 
much dissatisfied with the prince, for his imprudent, illegal, and 
oppressive government. John, having received intimations of this 
from various quarters, became not a little alarmed, and began to 
stagger in his resolution. 

§ 48. — To render the sentence of deposition against king John 
effectual, the Pope appointed Philip, king of France, to put it in 
execution, and promised him the pardon of all his sins, and the 
kingdom of England for his reward — a temptation which that 
praice had neither the wisdom nor virtue to resist. Blinded by his 
ambition, he commanded a large army to assemble at Rouen, and 
prepared a fleet of seventeen hundred vessels, to convey them to 
England. All these preparations, however, only served to promote 
the purposes of the court of Rome ; for as soon as John was suffi- 
ciently intimidated by his dread of the French army, and his sus- 
picions of his own subjects, to induce him to make an ignominious 
surrender of his crown and kingdom to the Pope, the French k ng 
was obliged to abandon his enterprise against England, to avoid 
the thunders of the church, the dreadful effects of which he had 
before his eyes. 

The trembling John now implored the protection of Rome, 
whatever submission it might cost. The Legate assured him that 
the supreme pontiff would require nothing which was not abso- 
lutely necessary either to the honor of the church or the safety of 
the King himself. He proposed, therefore, to withdraw the excom- 
munication immediately, on condition of John's promising to receive 
Langton as archbishop, whose promotion to the primacy had been 
the occasion of all this furious contest, with all the bishops and cler- 
gy who acknowledged him, and to indemnify them for all the damage 
they had sustained. To all this the king of England consented ; bat 
the consummation of ignominy was yet to come. Under the spe- 
cious pretext of securing England from attacks by Philip, it was 
suggested to John to surrender his kingdoms to the Pope, as to a 
lord-paramount — to swear fealty to him — to receive the British 
islands back as fiefs of the holy See ; and to pay an annual tribute 
for them of 700 marks of silver for England, and 300 for Ireland. 
On the 12th of May, 1213, John performed all the degrading cere- 
monials of resignation, homage and fealty. On his knees he hum- 
bly offered his kingdoms to the Pope, and put them into the hands 
of the Legate, Pandulph, who retained them for five days. He of- 
fered his tribute, which the Legate threw down and trampled on, 
but afterwards condescended to gather up again ! 

In the engraving, which is a representation of this scene, the 
humbled monarch is seen on his knees before the Pope's legate, 
who has just received the crown from the hands of the King, and 
is trampling upon the gold, with the gift of which John accom- 
panied his submission. Some of the barons of England are look- 
ing on, grieved and indignant alike at the degradation of their 
weak-minded sovereign, and the haughty and contemptuous inso- 
lence of the triumphant priest. (See Engraving.) 



chap, v.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 291 

Deed of surrender of England to the Pope. Haughty insolence of the papal legate. 

The nuncio immediately went to France, to announce to Philip, 
that he must no longer molest a prince who was a penitent son and 
a faithful vassal of the Holy See, nor presume to molest a kingdom 
which was now part of the patrimony of St. Peter. 

§ 49. — The language of the deed of surrender which king John 
delivered to Pandulph, and which had doubtless been dictated to 
him by the haughty legate, is so remarkable, that I shall subjoin a 
copy of it, as a monument of the unbounded arrogance and tyranny 
of the apostate church of Rome, and of the heads of that false 
church, the pretended successors of St. Peter, and disciples of him 
who said, " my kingdom is not of this world." The follow- 
ing are the words of this document : — " I, John, by the grace of 
God, king of England, &c., freely grant unto God, and the 

HOLY APOSTLES, PeTER AND PAUL, AND TO THE HOLY RoMAN CHURCH, 
OUR MOTHER, AND UNTO THE LORD, POPE INNOCENT, AND TO HIS CATHO- 
LIC SUCCESSORS, THE WHOLE KINGDOM OF ENGLAND, AND THE WHOLE 

kingdom of Ireland, with all the rights and all the appurtenances 
of the same, for the remission of our sins, and of all our genera- 
tion, both for the living and the dead, that from this time forward 
we may receive and hold them of him, and of the Roman church, 
as second after him, &c. We have sworn, and do swear, unto the 
said lord, pope Innocent, and to his catholic successors, and to the 
Roman church, a liege homage, in the presence of Pandulphus. If 
we can be in the presence of the lord pope, we will do the same ; 
and to this we oblige our heirs and successors for ever, &c. And 
for the sign of this our perpetual obligation and concession, we will 
and ordain, that out of our proper and especial revenues from the 
said kingdoms, for all our service and custom which we ought to 
render, the Roman church receive a thousand marks sterling yearly, 
without diminution of St. Peter's-pence ; that is, five hundred marks 
at the feast of St. Michael, and five hundred at Easter, <fcc. And 

IF WE, OR ANY OF OUR SUCCESSORS, PRESUME TO ATTEMPT AGAINST 
THESE THINGS, LET HIM FORFEIT HIS RIGHT TO THE KINGDOM, &C." 

Matthew Paris tells us, that, on delivering this letter, the King 
placed a sum of money at the feet of Pandulph, the Pope's legate, 
which the former trode upon with his foot, in token of the subjection 
of the country to the Roman See. " Pandulphus pecuniam, quam in 
arcem subjectionis rex contulerat, sub pede suo conculcavit archie- 
piscope dolente et reclamante." 

§ 50 — King John having made this ignoble submission to the 
will of pope Innocent, he was soon after absolved from the sentence 
of excommunication by the new primate, Langton, who imme- 
diately came to England, and took possession of his See of Can- 
terbury, and after a short interval, upon the King's sending to In- 
nocent a large sum of money, and renewing his promise of obedi- 
ence, his Holiness gave a commission to his legate in England to 
remove the interdict, which was accordingly done in St. Paul's ca- 
thedral, on the 29th of June, 1214. 

Henceforward king John conducted himself as an obedient vas- 



292 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookv 

Innocent excommunicates the barons of England. Popery at present feeble, contrasted with the past. 

sal of his sovereign lord the Pope, who, in return, condescended, 
in all the future quarrels of John with his barons, to spread over 
the humbled monarch the shield of his apostolic protection. The 
violent disputes that arose, after John's submission to the Pope, be- 
tween him and the barons of England, are familiar to every reader 
of English history. In the counc.l of Lateran, in 1215, pope Inno- 
cent hurled the tr mders of excommunication at these sturdy barons, 
and in a letter v atten to certain ecclesiastics soon after, he alludes 
to this event in the following pompous language : — " We will have 
you to know that in the general council we have excommunicated 
and anathematized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost, in the name of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, 
and in our own name, the barons of England, with their partizans 
and abettors, for persecuting John, the illustrious king of England, 
who has taken the cross, and is a vassal of the Roman church, 
and for striving to deprive him of a kingdom that is known to 
belong to the Roman church."* These barons, however, were 
less terrified by the spiritual thunders of Innocent than their weak- 
minded King had been, and, as is well known, pursued their object 
with a steady aim, till they finally extorted from the King that char- 
ter of English liberty, Magna Charta. 

Before dismissing the subject of the present chapter, I will re- 
mind the reader that one of the proudest boasts of Popery is, that 
it is unchangeable. Hence, there can be no possible doubt that the 
principles of Rome are the same now as they w T ere in the days of 
Innocent and John, those days of darkness, when she reigned 
Despot of the World ; and the only reason why her sovereign 
pontiffs do not now renew their claim to reign as universal monarchs 
with all the nations at their feet, is that they are destitute of the 
power to enforce such claims. Should the present imbecile and 
contemptible occupantf of the throne of Hildebrand only breathe 
the thought of ever renewing such pretensions, he would be pointed 
at with scorn, as the laughing-stock of the world. Thanks to God, 
the dark ages are passed ! Popery has still the same mind and 
heart, but it is quaking with the decrepitude of age. The strong 
men have bowed themselves, the keepers of the house are trem- 
bling. Its power to tyrannize is gone ! — gone, if the protestant 
world is faithful, never, never to return ! 

* Matthew Paris, p. 192. 

\ Pope Gregory XVI.— A. D. 1845. 



293 



CHAPTER VI. 

MORE INSTANCES OF PAPAL DESPOTISM. POPES ADRIAN IV., ALEXAN- 
DER III., AND INNOCENT III. 

§ 51. — The extravagant pretensions of the pontiffs of this age 
to the supreme dominion of the world, and to an authority over all 
emperors, kings, and governments, were maintained without inter- 
ruption by the whole line of popes, from Hildebrand to Boniface 
VIII., who died in 1303, that is, from the latter part of the eleventh 
through all the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They inculcated 
and acted upon that pernicious and extravagant maxim, " That 

THE BISHOP OF RoME IS THE SUPREME LORD OF THE UNIVERSE, AND 
THAT NEITHER PRINCES NOR BISHOPS, CIVIL GOVERNORS NOR ECCLE- 
SIASTICAL RULERS, HAVE ANY LAWFUL POWER IN CHURCH AND STATE 
BUT WHAT THEY DERIVE FROM HIM." 

We have already shown in the history of Popery in England, as 
given in the last two chapters, a specimen of the manner in which 
two of the most famous of the successors of Hildebrand claimed 
and exercised this monstrous power in the affairs of our father 
land. We shall now proceed to relate the acts of the most cele- 
brated of these spiritual tyrants., during this noontide of their 
power in other parts of the world. 

After the death of pope Urban, the originator of the crusades, 
which took place in 1098, there was no pontiff of much importance 
in history, till the accession of pope Adrian IV., by birth an Eng- 
lishman, which occurred in 1154. During his pontificate the an- 
cient contest between the Pope and the empire was renewed. 
Frederic I., surnamed Barbarossa, was no sooner seated on the im- 
perial throne, than he publicly declared his resolution to maintain 
the dignity and privileges of the Roman empire in general, and 
more particularly to render it respectable in Italy ; nor was he 
at all studious to conceal the design he had formed of reducing the 
overgrown power and opulence of the pontiffs and clergy within 
narrower limits. Adrian perceived the danger that threatened the 
majesty of the church, and the authority of the clergy, and pre- 
pared himself for defending both with vigor and constancy. The 
first occasion of trying their strength was offered at the coronation 
of the Emperor at Rome, in the year 1155, when the pontiff in- 
sisted upon Frederic's performing the office of equerry, md hold- 
ing the stirrup to his Holiness. Alter some objection, Frederic sub- 
mitted to lead the Pope's white mule, though with an ill grace, for, 
mistaking the stirrup, he apologised by remarking that he had 
never learned the trade of a groom. For many years this act of 
constrained humiliation galled the proud spirit of the Emperor, and 
led him to seize every opportunity in his power to humble the 
overgrown power of the popes. 



294 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Submission of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa to pope Alexander II [. 



§ 52. — Adrian died in 1159, and the next pope acknowledged by 
the Romish annalists, was Alexander III., though he had two or 
three rivals, who successively disputed with him the papal throne 
and were sustained by the emperor Frederic and others, and suc- 
ceeded for a time in chasing him from Rome. In 1167, Alexander 
held a council at Rome, in which he solemnly deposed the Em 
per or (whom he had, upon several occasions before this period, 
loaded publicly with anathemas and execrations), dissolved the oath 
of allegiance which his subjects had taken to him as their lawful 
sovereign, and encouraged and exhorted them to rebel against his 
authority, and to shake off his yoke. But soon after this audacious 
proceeding, the Emperor made himself master of Rome, upon 
which the insolent pontiff fled to Benevento. Ten years later, the 
Emperor, dejected at the difficulties which encompassed him, was 
glad most humbly to conclude a treaty of peace with pope Alex- 
ander at Venice, and a truce with the rest of his enemies. The 
account given by Voltaire, and confirmed by other historians, of 
this reconciliation, is as follows : — " Every point being settled, the 
Emperor goes to Venice. The doge of Venice carries him in his 
gondola to St. Mark's. The Pope waits for him at the gate with 
the Tiara upon his head. The Emperor, Barbarossa, having laid 
aside his mantle, leads him to the chair with a beadle's staff in his 
hand. The Pope preaches in Latin, which Frederic does not un- 
derstand. After sermon, the Emperor goes and kisses the Pope's 
feet, receives the communion from him, and coming from church 
leads the Pope's white mule through St. Mark's Square."* The 
accompanying engraving is an accurate representation of this oc- 
currence, and of St. Mark's Square, Venice, where it transpired. 
(See Engraving.) 

Besides thus humbling the pride of monarchs, not sufficiently 
obsequious to the Holy See, Alexander taught that the popes have 
power to set up kings, as well as to pull them down, and gave a prac- 
tical illustration of the same shortly after the submission of the em- 
peror Frederic, by conferring, in the year 1 179, the title of King, upon 
Adolphus I., duke of Portugal, who had rendered his province 
tributary to the Roman See under pope Lucius II. f 

§ 53. — But the Pope that carried out the doctrines of Hildebrand 
most fully in his treatment of earthly sovereigns and worldly go- 
vernments, was Innocent III., whom we have already seen tyran- 
nizing over the kingdom of England, and by his haughty legate 

* Voltai -e's Annals of the Empire, An. 1177. I do not find sufficient authority 
for what is related by some historical writers, that on this occasion, while the Em- 
peror kissed the foot of the haughty pontiff, the latter trod upon the neck of the 
suppliant monarch, at the same time repeating the words of the Psalmist. "Thou 
shalt tread upon the lion and the adder ; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou 
trample under feet." The humiliation of the Emperor was certainly sufficiently 
abject without this (probably) apocryphal addition. I do not assert that t,uch an 
event never occurred, but as I have adopted in the present work the principle of 
omitting a probable fact rather than inserting a doubtful relation, I have chosen to 
omit this incident in the text. 

f Baronius, Annal., An. 1179, Epist. Innocentii III.. E™°t-^lix. 







The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa leading the Pope's Mule through St. Mark's Square, Venice. 



chap, vl] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 297 

Instances of the despotism of pope Innocent III. towards various sovereigns. 

literally trampling under foot the crown of its contemptible sove- 
reign John. Innocent ascended the papal throne in the year 1198, 
and continued to claim and to exercise universal sovereignty for 
the first sixteen years of the thirteenth century. The very day 
after his consecration, he compelled the prefect of the city of Rome 
and other magistrates to take that oath of allegiance to him as their 
lawful sovereign, which they had formerly taken to the Emperor. 
He soon after compelled several cities of Tuscany who threw them- 
selves upon his protection, to swear that they would receive no 
one as emperor unless he was acknowledged as such by the Pope. 
This was in consequence of the different claims that were at that 
time set up to the empire by Otho, duke of Brunswick, and Philip, 
duke of Swabia. He compelled Philip, by threatening him with 
excommunication and interdict if he refused, to liberate the arch- 
bishop of Salerno, confined in prison on a charge of treason. In 
the same year he excommunicated Alphonsus, king of Galicia and 
Leon, for refusing to dismiss his wife Tarsia, daughter of Sanctius, 
king of Portugal, whom Innocent pronounced to be within the de- 
grees of affinity forbidden by the church ; and threatened her father, 
Sanctius himself, with the same spiritual thunders, unless he should 
promptly pay up the yearly tribute which his father, Alphonso, had 
promised to the successors of St. Peter, upon receiving the title of 
king from pope Alexander.* 

§ 54. — Innocent soon after conferred the title of King upon Prem- 
islaus, duke of Bohemia, in consequence of his forsaking the party 
of Philip, who aspired to the empire, and joining that of Otho, who 
at this time was supported by the Pope. The next year, 1201, the 
lordly pontiff issued his anathemas against Philip II., king of France, 
and laid his kingdom under an interdict, till he compelled him to 
receive back Ingelburga, his wife, whom he had put away, and taken 
in her stead Mary, daughter of the duke of Bohemia. In this instance, 
doubtless, king Philip was compelled by the terrors of excommuni- 
cation and interdict, to perform an act of justice ; but our object in 
relating these instances of papal authority over the kings of the 
earth, is not so much to examine the guilt or innocence of those who 
were the subjects of them, as to illustrate the enormous and over- 
grown power of the popes during this period. 

The following year, Calo-Johannes, a descendant of the ancient 
kings of Bulgaria, having expelled the Greeks from that country, 
wrote a submissive letter to pope Innocent, beseeching his Holiness 
to send him a crown. With this the Pope complied, and sent Leo, 
his Legate, with a crown and other ensigns of royalty, into Bulgaria. 
After the king had taken an oath of "perpetual obedience to Inno- 
cent and his successors, lawfully elected" he was solemnly crowned 
by the Legate, who on this occasion, to show the entire vassalage 
ox the kingdom of Bulgaria to the apostolic See, pretended to grant, 
in the Pope's name, the privilege of coining money, a right which 

* Epist. Innoc. III., L. i. ep. 91, 92. Bower, vi., 187. 



298 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v 

Peter, king of Arragon, and the emperor Otho take an oath of allegiance to pope Innocent. 

had always been regarded as inherent in the crown of all kings and 
emperors. 

§ 55. — In the year 1204, Peter II., king of Arragon, travelled ex- 
pressly to Rome, to enjoy the honor of being crowned by the Pope 
himself. He was received with honors suitable to his rank, and, 
on the 11th November, solemnly crowned by the Pope, who, with 
his own hand, placed the crown upon his head, after extracting from 
him the following extraordinary oath : " I, Peter, king of Arragoni- 
ans, profess and promise to be ever faithful and obedient to my 
lord, pope Innocent, to his Catholic successors, and the Roman 
church, and faithfully to preserve my kingdom in his obedience, 
defending the Catholic faith, and persecuting heretical pravity. 
I shall maintain the liberty and immunity of the churches, and 
defend their rights. I shall strive to promote peace and justice 
throughout my dominions. So help me God, and these his holy 
gospels." The King, thus crowned, returned with the Pope to the 
church of St. Peter, and there laying his crown and his sceptre 
upon the altar of that saint, he received a sword from his Holiness, 
and in return made his kingdom tributary to the apostolic See, 
binding himself, his heirs, and successors for ever, to pay yearly to 
Innocent and his successors, two hundred and fifty pieces of gold. 
This grant was signed by the King, and is dated as we read it in 
the Acts of Innocent, at St. Peter's, the 11th of November, the 
eighth year of king Peter's reign, and of our Lord, 1204.* 

§ 56. — A few years later, upon the death of Philip, the competitor 
of Otho in the empire, the latter was solemnly crowned anew at Rome, 
upon the invitation of pope Innocent. The legates whom Innocent 
sent to Germany to tender this invitation to Otho, were charged by 
their master with the form of an oath, to be taken by the Emperor, 
before setting out for Rome. This oath was accordingly taken at 
Spire, on the 22d of March, 1208. The form of the oath was as 
follows : " I promise to honor and obey pope Innocent as my pre- 
decessors have honored and obeyed him. The elections of bishops 
shall be free, and the vacant Sees shall be filled by such as have 
been elected by the whole chapter, or by a majority. Appeals to 
Rome shall be made freely, and freely pursued. I promise to sup- 
press and abolish the abuse that has obtained of seizing the effects 
of deceased bishops, and the revenue of vacant Sees. I promise to 
extirpate all heresies, to restore to the Roman church all her 
possessions, whether granted to her by my predecessors, or by 
others, particularly the march of Ancona, the dukedom of Spoleti, 
and the territories of the countess Matilda, and inviolately maintain 
all the rights and privileges enjoyed by the apostolic See in the 
kingdom of Sicily."f 

Upon Innocent receiving intelligence that Otho had taken the 
prescribed oath, he caused a copy of it to be lodged in the archives 

* Acta Innocentii.— Bower, vi., 192, 193. 
f Acta Innocentii et Epist., 189. 



CHAP.vn.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 299 

The Waldenses. Testimony of Evervinus, a zealous papist, to their character. 

of the Roman church, as a pattern of the oath to be taken by all 
future emperors. He then wrote a letter *to Otho, inviting him to 
receive the crown from his hands, and commending him for his filial 
submission and obedience to the holy See. Otho, after some delay, 
accepted the invitation, and was solemnly crowned by the Pope, 
in the church of St. Peter's, on the 17th of September, 1209. Thus 
we perceive that Popery maintained in the thirteenth century, as it 
had in the twelfth, its character of despot of the world. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE waldenses and albigenses. 

§ 57. — The spiritual tyrants who thus domineered over the sove- 
reigns and governments of the earth, could not brook the idea that 
any should be found so daring as to refuse obedience to their man- 
dates, or to question the right by which they claimed thus not only 
to " lord it over God's heritage, but also to reduce the whole world 
to their sovereign sway. Hence it is not difficult to account for the 
bitter and unrelenting hostility with which the popes of this period 
pursued and persecuted the harmless and interesting people, who, 
under the name of Cathari (i. e. puritans), Gazari, Paulicians or 
Publicans, Petrobrussians, poor men of Lyons, Lombards, Albi- 
genses, Waldenses, Vaudois, &c, offered a noble resistance to the 
usurped tyranny of the self-styled successors of St. Peter, and pretend- 
ed vicars of Christ upon earth. The testimony given by Evervinus, a 
zealous papist, in a letter he wrote to the celebrated Bernard, abbot 
of Clairvaux, at the beginning of the twelfth century, relative to the 
doctrine and manners of these heretics is exceedingly valuable. 
The following is the substance of this letter : " There have lately 
been," says he, " some heretics discovered among us, near Cologne, 
of whom some have, with satisfaction, returned again to the church. 
One that was a bishop among them, and his companions, openly 
opposed us, in the assembly of the clergy and laity, the lord arch- 
bishop himself being present, with many of the nobility, maintaining 
their heresy from the words of Christ and his apostles. But, finding 
that they made no impression, they desired that a day might be 
fixed, upon which they might bring along with them men skilful in 
their faith, promising to return to the church, provided their teach- 
ers were unable to answer their opponents ; but that otherwise* 
they would rather die than depart from their judgment. Upon this 
declaration, having been admonished to repent, and three days 
allowed them for that purpose, they were seized by the people, in 



300 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ▼ 

The morality and holiness of the Waldenses testified by their persecutors. 

their excess of zeal, and committed to the flames ! And, what is 
most astonishing, they came to the stake and endured the torment 
not only with patience, but even with joy. In this case, O holy 
father, were I present with you, I should be glad to ask you, how 
these members of Satan could persist in their heresy with such con- 
stancy and courage as is rarely to be found among the most reli- 
gious in the faith of Christ ?" He then proceeds, ** Their heresy is 
this : they say that the church (of Christ) is only among themselves, 
because they alone follow the ways of Christ, and imitate the 
apostles, — not seeking secular gains, possessing no property, follow- 
ing the example of Christ, who was himself poor, nor permitted his 
disciples to possess anything. Whereas, say they to us, ' ye join 
house to house, and field to field,- seeking the things of this world, — 
yea, even, your monks and regular canons possess all these things.' 
They represent themselves as the poor ol Christ's flock, who have 
no certain abode, fleeing from one city to another, like sheep in the 
midst of wolves, enduring persecution with the apostles and martyrs: 
though strict in their manner of life — abstemious, laborious, devout, 
and holy, and seeking only what is needful for bodily subsistence, 
living as men who are not of the world. But you, they say, lovers 
of the world, have peace with the world, because ye are in it. 
False apostles, who adulterate the word of God, seeking their own 
things, have misled you and your ancestors. Whereas, we and our 
fathers, having been born and brought up in the apostolic doctrine, 
have continued in the grace of Christ, and shall continue so to the 
end. ' By their fruits ye shall know them,' saith Christ : ' and our 
fruits are, walking in the footsteps of Christ.' They affirm that 

THE APOSTOLIC DIGNITY 18 CORRUPTED BY ENGAGING ITSELF IN SECULAR 

affairs, while it sits in St. Peter's chair. They do not hold 
with the baptism of infants, alleging that passage of the gospel — 
' He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved.' They place no 
confidence in the intercession of saints ; and all things observed in 
the church, which have not been established by Christ himself, or 
his apostles, they pronounce to be superstitious. They do not 
admit of any purgatory fire after death, contending, that the souls 
of men, as soon as they depart out of the bodies, do enter into rest 
or punishment ; proving it from the words of Solomon, ' Which 
way soever the tree falls, whether to the South or to the North, 
there it lies ;' by which means they make void all the prayers and 
oblations of the faithful for the deceased. 

" We, therefore, beseech you, holy father, to employ your care 
and watchfulness against these manifold mischiefs ; and that you 
would be pleased to direct your pen against those wild beasts of 
the roads ; not thinking it sufficient to answer us, that the tower of 
David, to which we may betake ourselves for refuge, is sufficiently 
fortified with bulwarks — that a thousand bucklers hang on the walls 
of it, all shields of mighty men. For we desire, father, for the sake 
of us simple ones, and who are slow of understanding, that you 
would be pleased, by your study, to gather all these arms into one 



chap, vii.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 301 

Testimony of Bernard, Claudius, and Thuanus, relative to the doctrines of the Waldenses. 

place, that they might be the more readily found, and more powerful 
to resist these monsters. I must inform you also, that those of them 
who have returned to our church, tell us that they had great num- 
bers of their persuasion, scattered almost everywhere ; and that 
amongst them were many of our clergy and monks. And, as for 
those who were burnt, they, in the defence they made of themselves 
told us that this heresy had been concealed from the time of the 
martyrs ; and that it had existed in Greece and other countries." 
{Quoted by Jones, lect. xl.) 

§ 58. — Bernard, though he immediately commenced a strenuous op- 
position to these rebels against the Pope, is yet compelled by truth 
to give the following testimony to their irreproachable life and man- 
ners. " If," says he, " you ask them of their faith, nothing can be 
more Christian-like : if you observe their conversation, nothing can 
be more blameless, and what they speak they make good by their 
actions. You may see a man for the testimony of his faith frequent 
the church, honor the elders, offer his gift, make his confession, 
receive the sacrament. What more like a Christian ? As to life 
and manners, he circumvents no man, over-reaches no man, does 
violence to no man. He fasts much and eats not the bread of idle- 
ness ; but works with his hands for his support."* Other Roman 
Catholic writers give the same testimony to the irreproachable lives 
and morals of the Waldenses. Thus Claudius, archbishop of Turin, 
writes, " their heresy excepted, they generally live a purer life than 
other Christians." And again, " in their lives they are perfect, 
irreproachable, and without reproach among men, addicting them- 
selves, with all their might, to the service of God." This testimony 
is the more valuable from the fact that the prelate who wrote it, 
notwithstanding the acknowledged excellent characters of these 
heretics, joined in hunting and persecuting them to death, because 
they would neither submit to the absurdities and impieties of Rome, 
nor acknowledge the usurped authority of the popes. The sum and 
substance of their offence is mentioned by Cassini, a Franciscan 
friar, where he says " that all the errors of these Waldenses con- 
sisted in this, that they denied the church of Rome to be the holy 

MOTHER CHURCH, AND WOULD NOT OBEY HER TRADITIONS." 

§ 59. — Thuanus, a celebrated Roman Catholic historian, enume- 
rates their heresy more at length ; he says they were charged with 
these tenets, viz. : " that the church of Rome, because it renounced 
the true faith of Christ, wao the whore of Babylon, and the 
barren tree which Christ himself cursed, and commanded to be 
plucked up ; that consequently no obedience was to be paid to the 
Pope, or to the bishops who maintain her errors ; that a monastic 
life was the sink and dungeon of the church, the vows of which 
[relating to celibacy] were vain, and served only to promote the 
' vile love of boys [or unclcanncss] ; that the orders of the priest- 
ly hood were marks of the great beast mentioned in the Apocalypse ; 

* Bernard on the Canticles, Sermo lxv. " Si fidem interroges," &c. Perrin, vi. 
20 



302 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v 

Bloody decree of pope Alexander III., against the heretical Waldenses. 

that the fire of purgatory, the solemn mass, the consecration days 
of churches, the worship of saints, and propitiations for the dead, 
were the devices of Satan. Beside these principal and authentic 
heads of their doctrine, others were pretended, relating to marriage, 
the resurrection, the state of the soul after death, and meats."* The 
chief offence of these heretics, in the eyes of the spiritual tyrants of 
Rome, doubtless was, that they regarded the Pope as anti-Christ, 
and the apostate church of Rome, as " the Babylonish harlot," and 
this in the eyes of the popes was an unpardonable sin. Hence they 
spared no efforts to blacken their characters, and to exterminate 
from the earth, those who were infinitely purer in doctrine, and 
holier in life, than their tyrannical and powerful persecutors. While, 
therefore, Evervinus and Thuanus, and even Bernard, are compelled 
to confess the purity of their life and manners, the popes, in their 
persecuting edicts, not only strove to excite all to unite in extermi- 
nating them from the earth, but also to blacken their memory with 
charges of the most enormous crimes. 

§ 60. — Hence in the decree issued by pope Alexander III., in the 
third council of Lateran, in 1179, he labors not only to excite all in 
exterminating these heretics, but also loads them with the most false 
and infamous charges. The following is an extract from this edict, 
as quoted by bishop Hughes, in his controversy with Mr. Brecken- 
ridge (page 189). The emphasising is my own. "As the blessed 
lieo says, although ecclesiastical discipline, content with the sacer- ; 
dotal judgment, does not exact bloody vengeance ; yet, it is assisted 
by the constitution of Catholic princes, in order that men, while they ; 
fear that corporal punishment may he inflicted on them, may often 
seek a salutary remedy. On this account because in Gascony, Albi, 
in the parts of Thoulouse, and in other regions, the accursed perverse- 
riess of the heretics variously denominated Cathari, or Patarenas, or 
Publicans, or distinguished by sundry names, has so prevailed, that 
they now no longer exercise their wickedness in private, but pub- , 



licly manifest their errors, and seduce into their communion the sim- 
ple and infirm. We therefore subject to a curse, both themselves 
and their defenders and harborers, and, under a curse, we prohibit 
all persons from admitting them into their houses, or receiving them 
upon their lands, or cherishing them, or exercising any trade with 
them. But if they die in their sin, let them not receive Christian 
burial, under pretence of any privilege granted by us, or any other 
pretext whatever ; and let no offering be made for them." 

§ 61. — It is observable that the persons alluded to in the above 
portion of this ferocious edict, are not accused of any other crime 
than that of heresy. In the next paragraph, various other subjects 
of papal fury are enumerated, who are charged with various crimes. 
" As to the Brabantians, Navarii, Basculi, Coterelli, and Triaverdinii 
who exercise such cruelty toward the Christians, that they pay nc 
respect to churches or monasteries, spare neither widows nor vir- 



Thuani Historia, lib. vi., sect. 16, and lib. xxvii. 



chap, m] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 303 

Papal promises of indulgence, to all who shall engage in butchering the Waldenses. 

gins, neither old nor young, neither sex nor age, but after the 
manner of the pagans, destroy and desolate everything, we in like 
manner, decree that such persons as shall protect, or retain, or en- 
courage them in districts in which they commit these excesses, be 
publicly denounced in the churches on Sundays and festival days, 
and that they be considered as bound by the same censure and pen- 
ally as the aforesaid heretics, and be excluded from the communion 
of the church, until they shall have abjured that pestiferous consocia- 
tion and heresy. But let all persons who are implicated with them 
in any crime (alluding to their vassals), know that they are released 
from the obligation of fealty, homage, and subjection to them, so 
long as they continue in so great iniquity." Probably the result of 
accurate inquiry would show that these accusations against the 
classes of people named in this extract, were false ; but whether 
they were or not, is little to our present purpose, as they are made 
against other people than those first mentioned. It is plain that in 
this decree the Cathari, or Puritans (another name for the Wal- 
denses), mentioned in the extract first quoted, are accused of no 
other offence than heresy, and yet the same promises of indulgence 
are given to those who take up arms against the one class as the 
other.* The promises are in the following words : " We likewise, 
from the mercy of God, and relying upon the authority of the blessed 
apostle, Peter and Paul, relax two years of enjoined penance to those 
faithful Christians, who, by the council of the bishops or other pre- 
lates, shall take up arms to subdue them by fighting against them : 
or, if such Christians shall spend a longer time in the business, we 
leave it to the discretion of the bishops to grant them a longer 
indulgence. As for those who shall fail to obey the admonition of 
the bishop to this effect, we inhibit them from a participation 
of the body and blood of the Lord. Meanwhile, those, who in the 
ardor of faith shall undertake the just labor of subduing them, we 
receive into the protection of the church ; granting to them the 
same privileges of security in property and in person, as are grant- 
ed to those who visit the holy sepulchre" (Labb. Concil. Sacrosan., 
vol. x., pages 1522, 1523.) 

* See Hughes and Breckenridge Controversy, pages 175, 179. Mr. Hughes 
quotes both of the above extracts for the purpose of convicting Mr. Breckenridge 
of duplicity, because he did not quote the second, when the object of Mr. Brecken- 
ridge was to show the persecutions carried on, not against the persons named in 
the second extract, but against those named in the first. Mr. Hughes then, with- 
out drawing any distinction between the two classes, coolly inquires, " I wonder 
whether men of such a stamp would not be reduced to the penitentiary, if they 
committed such crimes in our day and in our own country." Thus endeavoring 
to brand with infamy those simple and holy people, whose characters even Romish 
historians are forced to confess were pure and irreproachable. The coolness with 
which this popish bishop, in the free United STATES, and in the nineteenth century, 
speaks about consigning such to the penitentiary, betrays the malignance of a Saint 
Dominic, or Montfort, against all who, like the poor, persecuted Waldenses, or 
Cathari, are guilty of the crime of heresy, and shows ftiat he wants nothing but the 
power to consign to the " penitentiary," or to the cells of the Inquisition, the here- 
tics of the United States. 



304 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Waldenses burnt. Bloody edict of pope Lucius III., agaiust the heretics. 

There can be little doubt that the crying offence of all these 
classes of heretics, notwithstanding the popes endeavored to blacken 
their memory, by " speaking all manner of evil against them falsely," 
was that which is named by Thuanus, the Romish historian, already 
cited, " because they inveighed too vehemently against the wealth, 
pride, and vices of the popes, and alienated the people from their 
obedience to them."* Pope Alexander III., the author of the above 
persecuting edict, was succeeded in 1181, by pope Lucius III. Two 
years before this, Peter Waldo, who, with his followers, had been 
anathematized by pope Alexander, died in Boheuiia. Some suppose 
these dissenters from the corruptions of Rome, though they had 
existed centuries before, derived from Waldo, the name of Walden- 
ses, which in after ages almost superseded the various other names 
by which they had long been known. Through the preaching of 
Waldo, many had renounced the corruptions of Popery, and were 
in consequence exposed to the vengeance of Rome. Thirty-five 
were burned together in one fire at the city of Bingen, and eighteen 
in the city of Mentz. The bishops of both Mentz and Strasburg 
breathed nothing but vengeance and slaughter against them ; and 
in the latter city, where Waldo himself is said to have narrowly 
escaped apprehension, eighty persons were committed to the flames. 

§ 63. — To show that the apostate church of Rome is responsible 
for these horrid butcheries, we will quote a few passages from a 
decree of the supreme head of that church, pope Lucius III., issued 
in 1184. This bloody edict commences as follows: "To abolish 
the malignity of diverse heresies, which are lately sprung up in most 
parts of the world, it is but fitting that the power committed to the 
church should be awakened, that by concurring assistance of the 
imperial strength, both the insolence and mal-pertness of the here- 
tics, in their false designs, may be crushed, and the truth of the 
Catholic simplicity shining forth in the holy church, may demon- 
strate her pure and free from the execrableness of their false doc- 
trines. Wherefore we, being supported by the presence and power 
of our most dear son, Frederick, the most illustrious emperor of 
the Romans, always increaser of the empire, with the common ad- 
vice and counsel of our brethren, and other patriarchs, archbishops, 
and many princes, who, from several parts of the world, are met 
together, do set themselves against these heretics, who have got 
different names from the several false doctrines which they profess, 
by the sanction of this present decree, and by our apostolical author- 
ity, according to the tenor of these presents, we condemn all man- 
ner of heresy, by what name soever it may be denominated. More 
particularly, we declare all Catharists, Paterines, and those who 
call themselves the Poor of Lyons ; the Passagines, Josephites, 
Arnoldists, to be under a perpetual anathema. And because some, 
under a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, as the 
apostle saith, assume to themselves the authority of preaching ; 

* Thuani Historia sui Temp., lib. vi. 



chap, vii.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 305 

Leaving heretics to the secular judge. Cruel edicts of the emperor Frederick II., to oblige the Pope. 

whereas the same apostle saith, * How shall they preach, except 
they be sent ?'— we therefore conclude, under the same sentence of 
a perpetual anathema, all those who either being forbid, or not sent, 
do notwithstanding presume to preach publicly or privately, without 
any authority received from the apostolic See, or from the bishops of 
their respective dioceses. As for any layman, who shall be found 
guilty, either publicly or privately, of any of the aforesaid crimes 
(that is, preaching or speaking improperly of the sacraments), unless 
by abjuring his heresy, and making satisfaction, he immediately 
return to the orthodox faith, we decree him to be left to the sentence 
of the secular judge, to receive condign punishment, according to the 
quality of the offence." 

The meaning of leaving these poor victims of popish cruelty " to 
the sentence of the secular judge," was well understood to be equiva- 
lent to a sentence of death, often in the most horrid form of torture 
and lingering agony ; as it was well understood by secular princes, 
that they would themselves suffer from the vengeance of the church, 
if they should fail to execute, to the very letter, the oath imposed 
upon them by the Pope, " to extirpate heresies out of the lands of 
their jurisdiction." We shall soon see a notable instance of papal 
vengeance against one of these secular judges, Count Raimond of 
Thoulouse, for neglecting to comply with the mandates of the Pope, 
to slaughter and exterminate thousands of his peaceful subjects, 
who were accused of the crime of heresy. 

§ 64. — Before relating this account, however, it may be well to 
record a specimen of the manner in which these secular judges 
and princes understood their duty to their holy mother, the church. 
It consists of extracts from the decrees of the emperor Frederick 
II. against heretics, issued on the occasion of his coronation at 
Rome, to oblige the Pope, who officiated in that ceremony. " The 
care of the imperial government," says his majesty, " committed to 
us from heaven, and over which we preside, demands the material 
sword, which is given to us separately from the priesthood, against 
the enemies of the faith, and for the extirpation of heretical pravity , 
that we should pursue with judgment and justice those vipers and 
perfidious children, who insult the Lord and his church, as if they 
would tear out the very bowels of their mother. We shall not 
suffer these wretches to live, who infect the world by their 
seducing doctrines, and who, being themselves corrupted, more 
grievously taint the flock of the faithful." 

In a second edict, after comparing them to " ravenous wolves, 
adders, serpents," &c, the Emperor proceeds to accuse the heretics 
I of the most savage cruelty to themselves ; " since," in the words 
of the edict, " besides the loss of their immortal souls, they expose 
their bodies to a cruel death, being prodigal of their lives, and fear- 
less of destruction, which, by acknowledging the true faith they 
might escape, and, which is horrible to express, their survivors are 
not terrified by their example. Against such enemies to God and 
man, we cannot contain our indignation, nor refuse to punish them 



306 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Burning alive. The priest the judge, and the king the hangman. 

with the sword of just vengeance, but shall pursue them with so 
much the greater vigor, as they appear to spread wider the crimes 
of their superstition, to the most evident injury of the Christian 
faith and the church of Rome, which is adjudged to be the head of 
all churches." 

By the same edict, it is enjoined that strict inquiry be made after 
these heretics, and that after examination by the prelates, if any 
be found to err in a single point from the Catholic faith, they are, 
in case of persevering in their error, condemned to suffer death by 
the flames, and to be burned alive in public view, while all are for- 
bidden, under pain of the imperial indignation, to intercede in their 
behalf. The Emperor also by these decrees, so pleasing to the 
popes, declares infamous, and puts under the ban of the empire all 
who shall in any way receive, defend, or favor these heretics.* 
From this specimen of the spirit of the secular powers in that age 
of popish triumph, it will be easily understood what was likely to 
be the fate of those who were delivered up by the priests for pun- 
ishment to " the sentence of the secular judges." The arrange- 
ment by which the priests delivered up their victims to the ven- 
geance of the secular powers, under the hypocritical pretence that 
the church abhorred the shedding of blood, ' ecclesia abhorret a 
sanguine,' was an arrangement by which, in the words of Dr. Jor- 
tin, " the priest was the judge, and the king was the hangman."t 
But we shall proceed in the following chapter to a narrative which 
well illustrates the manner in which those princes were treated 
who hesitated to perform the office of hangman for the Pope and 
his minions. 

* See Limborch's History of the Inquisition, vol. i., chap, xii., where the de- 
crees from which I have quoted above are recorded at length, 
f Jortin's Remarks on Eccles. History, vol. iii., p. 303. 



307 



CHAPTER VIII. 

POPE INNOCENT'S BLOODY CRUSADE AGAINST THE ALBIGENSEfc, UNDER 
HIS LEGATE, THE FEROCIOUS ABBOT OF CITEAUX, AND SIMON, EARL 
OF MONTFORT. 

§ 65. — About the close of the thirteenth century, in consequence 
of the increase of the heretical Waldenses or Albigenses, particu- 
larly in the south of France, the Pope's legates, Guy and Reinier, 
were dispatched from Rome for the purpose of extirpating these 
heresies, and armed with papal authority, committed to the flames 
a large number of them at Nevers, in 1198 and following years.* 
These efforts, however, were attended with so little success, that 
pope Innocent III., whom we have already had more than one oc- 
casion to name, found it necessary to resort to more vigorous mea- 
sures. He proclaimed a Crusade against these unoffending and 
defenceless people, and dispatched an army of priests throughout 
all Europe, to exhort all to engage in this holy war against the 
enemies of his Holiness, the Pope, and of the Holy Catholic church. 
As these papal emissaries traversed the kingdoms of Europe, we 
are informed by the learned Archbishop Usher, that they had one 
favorite text. This was Psalm xciv., 16, " Who will rise up for me 
against the evil doers ? or who will stand up for me against the 
workers of iniquity ?" and the application of their sermons was 
generally as uniform as their texts. " You see, most dear brethren, 
how great the wickedness of the heretics is, and how much mis- 
chief they do in the world. You see, also, how tenderly, and by 
how many pious methods the church labors to reclaim them. But 
with them they all prove ineffectual, and they fly to the secular 
power for their defence. Therefore, our holy mother, the church, 
though with great reluctance and grief, calls together against them 
the Christian army. If then you have any zeal for the faith ; if 
you are touched with any concern for the glory of God ; if you 
would reap the benefit of this great indulgence, come and receive 
the sign of the cross, and join yourselves to the army of the cruci- 
fied Saviour." 

§ 66. — The reigning count of Thoulouse, the province of France 
where these rebels against the papal authority chiefly abounded, 
was Raimond VI., a man who had either too much policy or too 
much humanity willingly to engage in this war of extermination 
against his unoffending subjects. In the year 1207, Raimond was 
required by Peter of Castlenau, a legate of the Pope, to sign a 
treaty with other neighboring princes to engage in the extermina- 
tion of these heretics. But the Count was by no means inclined to 
purchase, by the renunciation of his rights, the entrance into his 

* History of Langucdoc, book xxi. 



308 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookv 

Count Raimond excommunicated for refusing to butcher his subjects. Fierce letter of the Pope to him* 

states of a hostile army, who were to pillage or put to death all 
those of his vassals whom the Romish clergy should fix upon as 
the victims of their cruelty. He therefore refused his consent ; 
and Castlenau, in his wrath, excommunicated him, laid his country 
under an interdict, and wrote to the Pope to ratify what he had 
done.* 

§ 67. — Few things could be more grateful to pope Innocent, than 
what had now taken place. He appears to have sought for an oppor- 
tunity to commence hostilities, being well aware that his agents 
were insufficient to destroy such a formidable phalanx of heresy 
by ordinary means. To confirm the sentence of excommunication 
pronounced by his legate, he wrote to Count Raimond with his 
own hand, on the 29th of May, 1207, and thus his letter com- 
menced : — " If we could open your heart we should find, and would 
point out to you, the detestable abominations that you have commit- 
ted ; but as it is harder than the rock, it is in vain to strike it with 
the sword of salvation ; we cannot penetrate it. Pestilential man I 
what pride has seized your heart, and what is your folly, to refuse 
peace with your neighbors, and to brave the divine laws by protect- 
ing the enemies of the faith ? If you do not fear eternal flames, 
ought you not to dread the temporal chastisements which you have 
merited by so many crimes ?"f 

Terrified by the fulminations of the Vatican, Count Raimond 
saw no alternative but to sign the peace with his enemies, which 
he accordingly did, engaging to exterminate the heretics from his 
territories. Peter of Castlenau, however, very soon judged that 
he did not proceed in the work with adequate zeal ; he therefore 
went to seek him, reproached him to his face with his negligence, 
which he termed baseness, treated him as a perjured person, as a 
favorer of heretics and a tyrant, and again excommunicated him. 
This violent scene appears to have taken place at St. Gilles, where 
the Count had given a meeting to the two legates. Raimond was 
excessively provoked, and threatened to make Castlenau pay for 
his insolence with his life. They parted without a reconciliation, 
and came to sleep, on the night of the 14th January, 1208, at a lit- 
tle inn on the bank of the Rhone, which river they intended to pass 
on the next day. One of Count Raimond's friends either followed 
them or accidentally met them there ; and on the morning of the 
15th, after mass, this gentleman entered into a dispute with Peter 
of Castlenau respecting heresy and its punishment. The Legate 
had never spared the most insulting epithets to the advocates of 
toleration, and the gentleman, irritated by his language not less 
than by the quarrel with his lord, drew his poniard, struck the Le- 
gate in his side, and killed him. J 

* Hist, of Languedoc, book xxi., chap. 28 ; Innocentii Epist., lib. x., ep. 69. 
Cited by Sismondi in his valuable history of France, to whom, and to Jones in his 
Lect. on Eccles. Hist., I am chiefly indebted for the facts in relation to the cru- 
sades against the Albigenses. 

f Innocentii III., lib. x., ep. 69. 

\ Petri Vallis Cern., cap. viii., p. 563. 



chap, vin.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 309 

No faith with heretics. Joy with which the deluded papists engage in the crusades. 



§ 68. — The intelligence of this murder roused the Pope to the high- 
est pitch of fury. He instantly published a bull, addressed to all the 
counts, barons, and knights of the four provinces of the southern 
part of France, in which he declared that it was the devil who had 
instigated the Count of Thoulouse against the Holy See. He laid 
under an interdict all places which should afford a refuge to the 
murderers of Castlenau ; he demanded that Raimond of Thoulouse 
should be publicly anathematized in all churches, adding, that " as 
following the canonical sanctions of the holy fathers, we must not 
observe faith towards those who keep not faith towards God, or who 
are separated from the communion of the faithful : we discharge, 
by apostolical authority, all those who believe themselves bound 
towards this Count by any oath either of allegiance or fidelity ; we 
permit every catholic man, saving the right of his principal lord, to 
pursue his person, to occupy and retain his territories, especially 
for the purpose of exterminating heresy."* 

This first bull was speedily followed by other letters equally 
fulminating, addressed to all who were capable of assisting in 
the destruction of the Count of Thoulouse. In particular, the Pope 
wrote to the king of France, Philip Augustus, exhorting him to 
carry on in person this sacred war of extermination against here- 
tics. " We exhort you," said his Holiness, " that you would endea- 
vor to destroy that wicked heresy of the Albigenses, and to do this 
with more vigor than you would towards the Saracens themselves : 
persecute them with a strong hand ; deprive them of their lands 
and possessions : banish them and put Roman Catholics in their 
room." The legates and the monks at the same time received 
powers from Rome to publish a crusade among the people, offer- 
ing to those who should engage in this holy war of plunder and 
extermination against the Albigenses, the utmost extent of indul- 
gence which his predecessors had ever granted to those who la- 
bored for the deliverance of the Holy Land. The people from all 
parts of Europe hastened to enrol themselves in this new army, 
actuated by superstition and their passion for wars and adventures. 
They were immediately placed under the protection of the Holy 
See, freed from the payment of the interest of their debts, and ex- 
empted from the jurisdiction of all tribunals ; whilst the war which 
they were to carry on, almost at their own doors, and that without 
danger or expense, was to expiate all the vices and crimes of a 
whole life. 

Transported with joy, these infatuated and deluded mortals 
received the pardons and indulgences offered them, and so much 
the more readily that, far from regarding the task in which they 
were to be engaged as painful or dangerous, they would willingly 
have undertaken it for the pleasure alone of doing it. War was 
their passion, and pity for the vanquished had never disturbed their 
repose. In this holy war they could, without remorse, as well as 

* Petri Vallis, p. 564. 



310 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Plenary absolution for all who should engage in butchering heretics. Terror and alarm of Raimond 

without restraint from their officers, pillage all the property, mas- 
sacre all the men, and abuse the women and children. Never be- 
fore had there been so popular a crusade ! Arnold Amalric, the 
abbot of Citeaux, distinguished himself, with his whole congrega- 
tion, by his zeal in preaching up this war of extermination ; and 
the convents of his order, which was that of the Bernardins, of 
which there were seven or eight hundred in France, Italy, and Ger- 
many, appropriated the crusade against the Albigenses as their 
special province. In the name of the Pope and of the apostles St. 
Peter and St. Paul, they promised, to all who should lose their 
lives in this holy expedition, plenary absolution of all sins committed 
from the day of their birth to that of their death. 

§ 69. — Raimond was overwhelmed with terror and alarm at these 
vast preparations, and with his nephew Roger, count of Beziers, 
waited on the legate Arnold, the leader of the crusades, to avert, if 
possible, the storm that was impending over them. The haughty 
abbot received them with extreme insolence, declared that he 
could do nothing for them, and that if they wished to obtain any 
mitigation of the measures adopted against them, they must ad- 
dress themselves to the Pope. The count of Beziers instantly per- 
ceived that nothing was to be expected from negotiation, and that 
there remained no alternative but to fortify all their principal 
towns, and prepare valiantly for their defence. His uncle, count 
Raimond, overwhelmed with terror, declared himself ready to 
submit to anything ; to be himself the executor of the violence of 
the papal party against his own subjects ; and to make war against 
his family rather than draw the crusades into his states. Ambas- 
sadors from Raimond to the Pope were received with apparent in- 
dulgence. It was required of them that their master should make 
common cause with the crusaders ; that he should assist them in 
exterminating the heretics ; and that he should surrender to them 
seven of his principal castles, as a pledge of his sincerity. On 
these conditions the Pope not only gave count Raimond the hope 
of absolution, but promised him his entire favor. All this, how- 
ever, was hollow and deceitful ; pope Innocent was far from par- 
doning Raimond in his heart, for, at the moment of promising this. 
he wrote to the ecclesiastics who were conducting the crusade, 
thus : " We counsel you, with the apostle Paul, to employ guile 
with regard to this Count, for in this case it ought to be called pru- 
dence. We must attack separately those who are separated from 
unity : leave for a time the count of Thoulouse, employing toward 
him a wise dissimulation, that the other heretics may be the more 
easily defeated, and that afterwards we may crush him when he 
shall be left alone."* Such were the means that this crafty and ty- 
rannical Pope thought fit to employ in order to crush those who 
hesitated to imbrue their hands in the blood of such as he chose to 
brand with the name of heretics. 

* Innocentii DL, Epist., lib. xi., ep. 232. 




■^sisrttmu- - 



Count Raimond's degrading Penance-whipped around the Tomb of the Monk Castlenau. 



chap, vm.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 313 

Count Raimond's degrading penance. Whipped on his naked shoulders by the Pope's legate 

§ 70. — In the spring of the year 1209, the crusading army began 
to be put in motion ; the campaign was limited to forty days. 
Some authors have computed it at three, and others at five hun- 
dred thousand men; and this immense body precipitated them- 
selves upon Languedoc. When count Raimond learned that these 
terrible bands of fanatics were about to move, and that they were 
all directed towards his states, he was struck with terror, for he 
had placed himself in their power, and consented to purchase his 
absolution from the hands of the Pope's legate, by the most humili- 
ating concessions. He was ordered to repair to the church that he 
might receive absolution from the Pope's legate. But before this 
was granted, he was compelled to take a solemn oath upon the 
Corpus Domini, that is the consecrated host, and upon the relics of 
the saints, that he would obey the Pope and the holy Roman church 
so long as he lived, that he would pursue the Albigenses with fire 
and sword, till they were totally extirpated, and subjected to obe- 
dience to the Pope. Having taken this oath at the door of the 
church, he was ordered by the Legate to strip himself naked, and 
humbly submit to the penance imposed on him for the death of the 
monk Peter Castlenau. Count Raimond protested against this hu- 
miliating penance, solemnly asserting that he had not been privy to 
the murder of the monk. But his protestations were in vain ; the 
vast army of the crusaders was at his gates, and he had no re- 
source but unqualified submission to the popish tyrants who now 
held him in their grasp. On the 18th of June, therefore, the Count 
" having stripped himself naked from head to foot," says Bower, 
" with only a linen cloth around his waist for decency's sake, the 
Legate threw a priest's stole around his neck, and leading him by 
it into the church nine times around the pretended martyr's grave," 
he inflicted the discipline of the church upon the naked shoulders 
of the humbled prince with the bundle of rods that he held in his 
hand. The Legate, at length, granted him the dear-bought absolu- 
tion, after obliging him to renew all the oaths he had taken relative 
to the extirpation of heretics, obedience to the Pope, &c, with the 
addition of another, in which he promised inviolably to maintain all 
the rights, privileges, immunities, and liberties of the church and 
clergy.* {See Engraving.) 

After perusing the above account of the punishment of Count 
Raimond, for refusing to join with these popish bloodhounds, in the 
extermination of the heretics, the reader will be prepared to appre- 
ciate the assertion sometimes made by papists, even in our own day, 
viz. : that the Catholic church has never persecuted (/ /) but that the 
heretics who have suffered death for their opinions, have suffered 
according to the laws of the countries where they resided. 

After the submission of his uncle Roger, the viscount of Bcziers, 
according to the old chronicle of Thoulousc, applied to the Pope's 

* I listory of the Popes, in vita Innoccntii III. Petri Vallis, History of Langue- 
doc, book xx L, j). 162. 



314 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v 

Inhuman treatment of the inhabitants of Beziers, by the papal Legate. 

legate, and offered to make some humiliating concessions, but being 
angrily repelled, he prepared to defend himself to the best of his 
ability. He had chiefly calculated on the defence of his two great 
cities, Beziers and Carcassone, and he had divided between them 
his principal forces. After visiting Beziers, to assure himself that 
the place was well supplied with everything necessary for the 
defence of their lives, he retired to Carcassone, a city built upon a 
rock, and partly surrounded by the river Aude, and whose two 
suburbs were themselves surrounded by walls and ditches, and 
there shut himself up. About the middle of July, 1209, the crusad- 
ing army arrived under the walls of Beziers, in three bodies. They 
had been preceded by the bishop of the place, who, after having 
visited the Legate, and delivered to him a list of those amongst his 
flock whom he suspected of heresy, and whom he wished to see 
consigned to the flames, returned into the city to represent to his 
flock the dangers to which they were exposed, exhorting them to 
surrender their heretical fellow-citizens to the avengers of their faith, 
rather than draw upon themselves and their children, the wrath of 
heaven and the church. " Tell the Legate/'* replied the citizens, 
whom he had assembled in the cathedral of St. Xicaise, " that our 
city is good and strong — that our Lord will not fail to succor us in 
our great necessities, and that rather than commit the baseness de- 
manded of us, we would eat our own children." Nevertheless, 
there was no heart so bold as not to tremble, when the crusaders 
were encamped under their walls ; " and so great was the assem- 
blage of tents and pavilions," says one of their historians, " that it 
appeared as if all the world was collected there ; at which those of 
the city began to be greatly astonished, for they thought they were 
onlv fables which their bishop had come to tell them and advise 
them** 

§ 71. — The citizens of Beziers, though astonished, were not dis- 
couraged. Whilst their enemies were still occupied in tracing their 
camp, they made a sally and attacked them unawares. But the crusa- 
ders were still more terrible for their fanaticism and boldness, than for 
their numbers ; they repulsed the citizens with great loss. After 
this, they entered the city, and found themselves masters of it, 
before they had even formed their plan of attack. The knights 
learning that they had triumphed without fighting, applied to the 
pope's legate, Arnold Amalric, to know how they should distinguish 
the Catholics from the heretics ; to which he made this reply— 

" KILL THEM ALL ; THE LORD WILL KXOW WELL THOSE THAT ARE HIS F 

1 TUEZ LES TOUS, DIEU COXXOIT CEUX QUI SOXT A LET !' 

Though the stated population of Beziers was not over fifteen 
thousand persons, yet the influx of the people from the surrounding 
districts, especially women and children, was so large, that no less 
than sixty thousand persons were in the city when it was taken, 
and in this vast number, not one person was spared alive. The ter= 

* Petri Vallensis. Cem. Hist. Alhig,, cap. xv., p. 570. 



chap, vni.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 315 

Sixty thousand killed. Vile treachery of the Legate toward the count of Beziere. 

rifled and defenceless women with their babes, as well as many of 
the men, took refuge in the churches, but they afforded no protec- 
tion from these blood-thirsty popish zealots. Thousands were slain 
in the churches, and the blood of the murdered victims, slain by 
the holy warriors, drenched the very altars, and flowed in crimson 
torrents through the streets. When the crusaders had massacred 
the last living creature in Beziers, and had pillaged the houses of all 
they thought worth carrying off, they set fire to the city, in every 
part at once, and reduced it to a vast funeral pile. Not a house 
remained standing, not one human being was left alive. The Pope's 
legate, perhaps, feeling some shame for the butchery which he had 
ordered, in his letter to Innocent III., reduces it to fifteen thousand, 
though Velly, Mezeray, and other historians make it amount to 
sixty thousand.* 

§ 72. — Roger, the young count of Beziers, shut himself up in the 
other chief city of his dominions, Carcassone, which was much better 
fortified than Beziers, and defended it to the utmost, against the 
attacks of the ferocious abbot of Citeaux, the papal legate. The 
crusaders had many times endeavored to storm the city, but with- 
out success, and not seeing, as they had been taught to expect, a 
miracle wrought in their favor, the perfidious abbot, seeing some 
tokens of discouragement, resorted to a mean and dishonorable trick 
to get his adversary in his power. The Legate insinuated himself 
into the graces of one of the officers of his army, telling him that it 
lay in his power to render the church a signal instance of kindness, 
and that if he would undertake it, beside the rewards he should 
receive in heaven, he should be amply recompensed on earth. The 
object was to get access to the earl of Beziers, professing himself 
to be his kinsman and friend, assuring him that he had something to 
communicate of the last importance to his interests ; and having 
thus far succeeded, he was to prevail upon him to accompany him 
to the Legate, for the purpose of negotiating a peace, under a pledge 
that he should be safely conducted back again to the city. The 
officer played his part so dexterously, that the Earl imprudently 
consented to accompany him. At their interview, the latter sub- 
mitted to the Legate the propriety of exercising a little more lenity 
and moderation toward his subjects, as a procedure that might have 
the happiest tendency in reclaiming the Albigenses into the pale of 
the church of Rome. The Legate replied that the inhabitants of 
Carcassone might exercise their own pleasure ; but that it was now 
unnecessary for the Earl to trouble himself any further about them, 
as he was himself a prisoner until Carcassone was taken, and his 
subjects had better learned their duty ! The Earl was not a little 
astonished at this information ; he protested that he was betrayed, 
and that faith was violated : for that the gentleman, by whose en- 
treaties he had been prevailed upon to meet the Legate, had pledged 

* " Soixanto millc habitans passerent par le fil dc l'epee. Velly, iii., 441 
II y fut tues plus de soixantc milles personncs." Mezeray, ii., 609. Edgar, 226 



316 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Escape of the people of Carcassone from the popish butchers. 

himself by oaths and execrations to conduct him back in safety to 
Carcassone. But appeals, remonstrances, or entreaties, were of no 
avail ; Roger was looked upon as a heretic, and it was already the 
doctrine of Rome that no faith should be kept with heretics ; in spite 
of his appeals, therefore, he was committed to the custody of the 
duke of Burgundy, " and, having been thrown into prison, died soon 
after, not without exciting strong suspicions of being poisoned." 
Pope Innocent III., indeed, admits in one of his epistles, that this 
young and brave earl or count of Beziers died a violent death.* 

§ 73. — No sooner had the inhabitants of Carcassone received the 
intelligence of the EaiTs confinement, than they burst into tears, and 
were seized with such terror, that they thought of nothing but 
how to escape the danger they were placed in ; but, blockaded as 
they were on all sides, and the trenches filled with men, all human 
probability of escape vanished from their eyes. A report, however, 
was circulated, that there was a vault or subterraneous passage 
somewhere in the city, which led to the castle of Cabaret, a distance 
of about three leagues from Carcassone, and that if the mouth or 
entry thereof could be found, Providence had provided for them a 
way of escape. All the inhabitants of the city, except those who 
kept watch upon the ramparts, immediately commenced the search, 
and success rewarded their labor. The entrance of the cavern was 
found, and at the beginning of the night they all began their journey 
through it, carrying with them only as much food as was deemed 
necessary to serve them for a few days. " It was a dismal and 
sorrowful sight," says our historian, " to witness their removal and 
departure, accompanied with sighs, tears, and lamentations, at the 
thoughts of quitting their habitations and all their worldly posses- 
sions, and betaking themselves to the uncertain event of saving them- 
selves by flight : parents leading their children, and the more robust 
supporting decrepit old persons ; and especially to hear the affect- 
ing lamentations of the women." They, however, arrived the fol- 
lowing day at the castle, from whence they dispersed themselves 
through different parts of the country, some proceeding to Arragon, 
some to Catalonia, others to Thoulouse, and the cities belonging to 
their party, wherever God in his providence opened a door for their 
admission. 

The awful silence which reigned in the solitary city, excited no 
little surprise on the following day, among the pilgrims. At first 
they suspected a stratagem to draw them into an ambuscade ; but 
on mounting the walls and entering the town, they cried out, " the 
Albigenses have fled !" The Legate issued a proclamation, that no 
person should seize or carry off any of the plunder — that it should 
all be carried to the great church of Carcassone, whence it was 
disposed of for the benefit of the pilgrims, and the proceeds distrib- 
uted among them in rewards according to their deserts. 

The limits of this work will not allow of the detail of the sangui- 

* Innocentii HE. Epist., lib. x., 5 epist., 212. 



chap, viil] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 317 

Horrible cruelty of Montfort. The monkish historian of the Albigenses. 

nary slaughter of the helpless Albigenses. and the perfidious strata- 
gems* by. which they were entrapped to their ruin, by the bloody 
Simon de Montfort and the monks, who conducted two or three 
equally destructive expeditions against the Albigenses, in the few 
succeeding years, till they were almost entirely exterminated. Two 
or three more instances of their ferocious cruelty and zeal on behalf 
of Popery, can only be mentioned. In the year 1210, Montfort 
caused Count Raymond VI., to be again excommunicated, when 
the unfortunate prince, overcome by this unrelenting persecution, 
and from his superstition, attaching a greater importance to the papal 
thunders than they deserved, burst into tears. The monks of 
Citeaux were meanwhile busily engaged in raising a fresh army of 
crusaders in the North of France, and no sooner was Montfort join- 
ed by them than he gave full scope to his cruelty. Attacking the 
castles in the Lauraguais and Menerbois, he caused all such of their 
inhabitants as fell into his hands, to be hanged on gibbets. Having 
invested that of Brom, and taken it by assault on the third day, he 
selected more than a hundred wretched inhabitants, and, having 
torn out their eyes and cut off their noses, sent them, under the 
guidance of a one-eyed man, to the castle of Cabaret, to intimate to 
the garrison of that fortress the fate which awaited them. Some of 
these fortresses he found deserted, and then sent out his soldiers 
to destroy the vines and the olive-trees in the surrounding country. 
§ 74. — The castle of Menerbe, seated on a steep rock, surrounded 
by precipices, not far from Narbonne, was reputed to be the strong- 
est place in the South of France. Guiard, its possessor, was vassal 
to the viscounts of Carcassone, and one of the bravest knights of 
the province. In the month of June, 1210, the crusaders appeared 
before this fortress. The inhabitants, many of whom had adopted 
the doctrines of the Albigenses, defended themselves with great 
valor for seven weeks : but when, owing to the heat of the season, 
water began to fail, they desired to capitulate ; and Guiard himself 
went to the camp of the crusaders, and settled with Montfort the 
conditions for the surrender of the place. They were proceeding 

* The cotemporary historian of the Albigenses, to whom Sismondi so frequently 
refers in that portion of his history relating to the Albigenses, Pelrus Vallensis 
Cernensis, or as he was called by the French, Pierre de Vaux Cernay, was a 
popish monk, who accompanied the crusaders, and was an eye-witness of the 
cruelties he describes, and which he relates with so much delight. Referring to 
the papal legate and the inhuman butcheries of Montfort, after relating some of 
their cruel statagems, this monkish historian expresses his rapture in the following 
language. " How great was the mercy of God, for every one must see that the 
pilgrims could have done nothing without the Legate, nor the Legate without the 
pilgrims. In reality the pilgrims would have had but small success against such 
numerous enemies, if the Legate had not treated with them beforehand. It was, 
then, by a dispensation of the Divine mercy, that whilst the Legate, by a pious 
fraud, cajoled and enclosed in his nets, the enemies of the faith, who were assembled 
at Narbonne, Count Montfort and the pilgrims who had arrived from France, could 
pass into Agenois, there to crush their enemies, or rather those of Christ. O pious 
fraud of the legate ! O piety full of deceit !" (Petri Vail. Cent. Albigeiu, 
cap. lxxviii., p. 648.) 

21 



318 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Horrible cruelty of the papists to the inhabitants of Menerbe. 140 burnt in one fire 

to execute them when the Pope's legate, who had been absent, 
returned to the camp, and Montfort declared that the terms agreed 
upon could not be considered as binding, till they had received his 
assent. " At these words," says Peter de Vaux-Cernay, " the 
abbot was sorely grieved. He desired in fact that all the enemies 
■of Christ should be put to death, but he would not take it upon him- 
self to condemn them, on account of his quality of monk and priest." 
He thought, however, that he might stir up some quarrel during the 
negotiation, avail himself of it to break the capitulation, and cause 
all the inhabitants to be put to the sword. To this end he required 
of Montfort, on one part, and Guiard on the other, the terms on which 
they had agreed. Finding, as he expected, some difference in the 
statements, Montfort declared, in the name of the Legate, that the 
negotiation was broken off. The lord of Menerbe offered to accept 
-the capitulation as drawn up by Montfort, one of the articles of 
which provided that heretics themselves, if they became converts, 
should have their lives spared, and be allowed to quit the castle. 
When the capitulation was read in the council of war, " Robert de 
Mauvoisin," says the monk of Vaux-Cernay, "a nobleman, and 
entirely devoted to the Catholic faith, cried that the pilgrims would 
never consent to that ; that it was not to show mercy to the heretics, 
but to put them to death, that they had taken the cross ; but abbot 
Arnold replied : ' Be easy, for I believe there will be but very few 
converted.' " In this sanguinary hope the Legate was not disap- 
pointed. 

The crusaders took possession of the castle on the 22d of July : 
they entered, singing Te Deum, and preceded by the crucifix and 
the standards of Montfort. The heretics were meanwhile assembled, 
the men in one house, the women in another, and there, on their 
knees resigned to their fate, they prepared themselves by prayer 
for the worst that could befal them. The abbot of Vaux-Cernay, 
in fulfilment of the capitulation, began to preach to them the Catho- 
lic faith ; but they interrupted him with the unanimous cry : " We 
will have none of your faith ; we have renounced the church of 
Rome ; your labor is in vain ; for neither death nor life shall make 
us renounce the opinions we have embraced." The abbot then 
went to the assembly of women, but he found them equally resolute, 
and still more enthusiastic in their declarations. Montfort also went 
to them both. He had previously caused a prodigious pile of dry 
wood to be made. " Be converted to the Catholic faith," said he to 
the assembled Albigenses, " or mount this pile." None of them 
wavered. Fire was set to the wood, and the pile was soon wrapt 
in one tremendous blaze. The heretics were then taken to the spot 
where, after commending their souls to that God in whose cause 
they suffered martyrdom, they voluntarily threw themselves into 
the flames, to the number of more than one hundred and forty.* 

* Petri Vallensis Cern. Hist. Albigens., chap xxxvii., page 583. Hist, of Lan- 
guedoc, book xxi., page 193. 



chap, vra.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 319 

The taking of Lavaur. The heretics burnt, in the words of the popish historian, ' with the utmost joy. 

§ 75. — In May, 1211, Montfort succeeded, after a hard siege, in 
taking Lavaur. When the breach in the wall was effected, and the 
crusaders were about to enter and begin the massacre, according 
to their usual custom, the bishops, the abbot of Cordieu, and all the 
priests, clothed in their pontifical habits, giving themselves up to the 
joy of seeing the carnage begin, sang Veni Creator. The knights 
mounted the breach ; resistance was impossible ; and the only care 
of Simon de Montfort was to prevent the crusaders from instantly 
falling upon the inhabitants, and to beseech them rather to make pris- 
oners, that the priests of the living God might not be deprived of 
their promised joys. " Very soon," says their own monkish histo- 
rian, " they dragged out of the castle Aimery, lord of Montreal, and 
other knights, to the number of eighty. The noble count [Montfort] 
immediately ordered them to be hanged upon the gallows; but as 
soon as Aimery, the stoutest among them, was hanged, the gallows 
fell, for, in their great haste, they had not fixed it well in the earth. 
The count, seeing that this would produce great delay, ordered the 
rest to be massacred ; and the pilgrims, receiving the order with 
the greatest avidity, very soon massacred them all on the spot. 
The lady of the castle, who was sister of Aimery, and an execrable 
heretic, was, by the count's order, thrown into a pit, which was 
then filled up with stones. Afterward our pilgrims collected the 
innumerable heretics which the castle contained, and burned them 
with the utmost joy ." 
§ 76. — Immediately on the taking of Lavaur, open hostilities com- 
; menced between Simon de Montfort and the Count of Thoulouse. 
j The first place belonging to this count, before which the crusaders 
', presented themselves, was the castle of Montjoyre, which being aban- 
: doned, was set fire to, and then rased from top to bottom by the 
it, soldiers of the church. The castle of Cassoro afforded them more 
\i satisfaction, as it furnished human victims for their sacrifices. It 
k was surrendered on capitulation, and " the pilgrims, seizing near 
W sixty heretics, burned them with infinite joy." This is the language 
|» invariably employed by Petrus Vallensis, the monkish historian, 
it who was the witness and panegyrist of the crusade.* 
ii It was natural that Count Raimond should feel reluctant to coun- 
, tenance or aid these cruel persecutors of his subjects and friends. 
i He continued, therefore, as long as he lived, to be an object of 
f popish persecution. He was, nevertheless, most scrupulous in the 
observance of all the practices of the Catholic religion ; so that, 
when under excommunication, he would continue for a long time 
on his knees in prayer at the doors of the churches, which he durst 
not enter. Hence it is evident that his offence was not heresy on 
^ his own part, but simply his refusal to engage in the cruel massa- 
cres and extermination of his subjects, at the command of the 
spiritual tyrants of the Romish church. 

* " Cum ingenti gaudio," are the historian's words. Petri Vail. Cern. Albigens., 
cap. lii.,p. 698. Bernardi Guidonis, vita Innocentii III., p. 482. This last informa 
tis that four hundred heretics were burned at Lavaur. 



320 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v 

The crusades against the Albigenses, a proof that Romanism claims the right to extirpate heresy. 

§ 77. — " The crusades against the Albigenses present one of those 
occasions by which the rights claimed by the Romish church 
toward heretics may be most fully and accurately ascertained. 
They were her exclusive and deliberate act. The church of Rome 
had been then, according to its own principles, established nearly 
twelve hundred years. It professed to have been endowed with 
miraculous powers, and to be guided by the teachings of the infalli- 
ble spirit of God. All the temporal authorities had submitted to its 
domination, and were ready to execute its orders. If, therefore, 
there is any period in which we should seek for its genuine and 
authentic principles, it must be under the unclouded dominion of 
Innocent III. Nor can the opponents of all reformation possibly 
desire anything more than to restore that golden age of the church. 
Should they say that civilisation and philosophy having then made 
but little progress, we are to charge the cruelties which were com- 
mitted against the heretics to the ignorance and barbarism of the 
times, we would reply that all these cruelties were prompted, encour- 
aged, and sanctioned by Rome itself, and that an infallible church 
cannot require the lights of philosophy to instruct her in her duties 
toward heretics. To an impartial inquirer, it would seem rather 
strange that, under the spiritual illumination afforded by the church 
to the nations, heresies should have arisen, and that with all the 
powers of heaven and earth on its side, the church could not trust 
itself in the field of reason and argument against them. But certain 
it is that heresies did arise, and that the church of Rome felt itself 
called upon to show to that age, and to all succeeding ones, the full 
extent of the power with which it was invested by heaven for their 
suppression and extirpation. The dogma on which all these trans- 
actions were founded is — that the church possesses the right to extir- 
pate heresy, and to use all the means which she may judge neces- 
sary for that purpose. It was on this dogma that Innocent III. and 
his legates preached the crusade against the heretics, and promised 
to those engaged in it, the full remission of all sins ; it was on this 
dogma that they excommunicated the civil powers by whom they 
were, or were supposed to be protected, and disposed of their do- 
minions to those who assisted in this spiritual warfare. 

" This dogma was repeatedly avowed by provincial councils, 
and finally ratified by a general council, the fourth of Lateran. It 
was received by the tacit, nay, by the cordial and triumphant 
assent of the universal church, and had also the sanction of the 
civil authorities, who received from the church the spoils of the 
deposed and persecuted princes. We can, therefore, conceive of 
nothing which should be still necessary to constitute this dogma an 
article of faith, and hold ourselves justified in considering the church 
of Rome to claim, as of divine authority, the right to extirpate 
heresy, and for this purpose, if she judge it necessary, to extirpate 
the heretics. Nor has this principle, which was evidently avowed 
and acted upon at the period of these crusades, been ever re- 
nounced by any authentic or official act of that church ; on the con- 



chap, vin.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 321 

Right of dissolving oaths also claimed. Disavowed by individual Romanists, but without authority. 

trary, the church has, during the six hundred years which followed 
these events, invariably, as far as occasions have served, avowed 
the same principles, and perpetrated or stimulated the same deeds. 
As soon as the wars against the Albigenses were terminated the 
Inquisition was brought into full and constant action, and has always 
been encouraged and supported by the Romish church to the utmost 
of its power, in every place where it could obtain an establishment. 
The civil authorities, finding by experience that some of the claims 
of the church were more prejudicial than useful to themselves, have 
denied to it the right of deposing sovereigns, and of freeing suDjects 
from their allegiance ; but the church itself has never generally and 
explicitly renounced this claim, and long after the Reformation in 
Germany, continued to exercise it. And, notwithstanding the pro- 
fessions made by modern Catholics, history does not furnish an in- 
stance of any body of the profession interposing its protest against 
the persecution of heretics by the church of Rome. 

§ 78. — " Another right most certainly claimed and exercised by 
the Roman See throughout its whole history, is that of dissolving oaths. 
History {SismondVs Hist, of the Italian Republics) furnishes in- 
stances of this as a recognized, undisputed, and every-day practice 
in almost every pontificate. One instance may serve for an illus- 
tration among a multitude of others. There were certain reforms 
in the pontifical government, which were required by the leading 
persons in the church, but which they never could obtain from the 
popes themselves. The cardinals, therefore, when they were going 
to elect a new pope, were accustomed to bind themselves by the 
most solemn oaths, that whoever of them should be elected, would 
grant those reforms. And, invariably, as soon as the Pope was 
chosen, he released himself from this oath, on the ground of its being 
contrary to the interests of the church. The power of releasing 
from the obligation of oaths was also extended during these cru- 
sades, especially to freeing the subjects of heretical princes from 
their oaths of allegiance, and it was especially sanctioned by the 
council of Lateran. This practice has, however, become so ob- 
noxious in modern times, that the right has been indignantly dis- 
owned by most of the advocates of the Roman Catholic church. 
Whatever may be the opinions of many private individuals or 
bodies in the church of Rome, we doubt their authority to make 
such declarations, as members of a church which prohibits the right 
of private judgment where the church has determined."* The fol- 
lowing remarks and citations from the elegant and accurate histo- 
rian of the middle ages, are sufficient to set this matter for ever at 
rest. " But the most important and mischievous species of dispen- 
sations," says Mr. Hallam (page 293), "was from the observance 
of promissory oaths. Two principles are laid down in the decretals ; 
that an oath disadvantageous to the church is not binding ; and that 
one extorted by force was of slight obligation, and might be annull- 

* See the able introductory essay to that portion of Sismondi's History of France, 
relating to the persecution of the Waldenses, published in 1826. 



322 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Unjust slanders of the Albigenses. If true, the Pope had no right to invade their country and butcher there. 

ed by ecclesiastical authority.* As the first of these maxims gave 
the most unlimited privilege to the popes of breaking all faith of 
treaties which thwarted their interest or passion, a privilege which 
they continually exercised, so the second was equally convenient 
to princes, weary of observing engagements toward their subjects 
or neighbors. They declaimed with a bad grace against the abso- 
lution of their people from allegiance, by an authority to which they 
did not scruple to repair in order to bolster up their own perjuries. 
§ 79. — Some of the Romish writers have not scrupled to utter the 
most unfounded calumnies against the character of the Albigenses ; 
but as has been well remarked, " No tale of falsehood can be so artfully 
framed as not to contain within itself its own confutation. This is 
manifestly the case with the stories fabricated respecting the Albi- 
genses. Supposing, however, that the Albigenses had been all that 
the Catholic writers represent, upon what ground could the Roman 
church make a war of extermination against them? The sovereigns 
of those countries did not seek her aid to suppress the seditions of 
their subjects, nor even to regulate their faith. The interference 
was not only without the authority, but absolutely against their con- 
sent, and was resisted by them in a war of twenty years' continu- 
ance. If they refer to the authority of the king of France, as liege 
lord, he had not in that capacity the right of interference with the 
internal affairs of his feudatories ; and he had, in fact, no share in 
these transactions, any further than to come in at the close of the 
contest, and reap the fruits of the victory. We are, therefore, from 
every point brought to the same conclusion : that the church 

CLAIMS A DIVINE RIGHT TO EXTIRPATE HERESY AND EXTERMINATE HERE- 
TICS, WITH OR WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE SOVEREIGNS IN WHOSE 
DOMINIONS THEY MAY BE FOUND."f 

* Juramentum contra utilitatem ecclesiasticam praestitum non tenet. Decretal,, 
1. ii., 24, c. 27, et Sext., 1. i., tit. 11, c. 1. A juramento per metum extorto eccle- 
sia solet absolvere, et ejus transgressores ut pe-ccantes mortaliter non punientur, 
Eodem lib. et tit., c. 15. 

Take one instance out of many. Piccinino, the famous condottiere of the 
fifteenth century, had promised not to attack Francis Sforza, at that time engaged 
against the Pope. Eugenius IV. (the same excellent person who had annulled the 
compactata with the Hussites, releasing those who had sworn to them, and who 
afterward made the king of Hungary break his treaty with Amurath II.) , absolves 
him from this promise, on the express ground that a treaty disadvantageous to the 
church ought not to be kept. (Sismondi, t. ix., p. 196.) "The church, in that age, 
was synonymous with the papal territories in Italy. 

It was in conformity to this sweeping principle of ecclesiastical utility, that 
Urban VI. made the following solemn and general declaration against keeping 
faith with heretics. ' Attendentes quod hujusmodi confoederationes, colligationes, 
et ligae seu conventiones factae cum hujusmodi haereticis seu schismaticis post- 
quam tales effecti erant, sunt temerariae ; illicitae, et ipso jure nullae (etsi forte 
ante ipsorum lapsum in schisma, seu hae resin initias, seu factae fuissent), etiara si 
forent juramento vel fide data firmatae, aut confirmatione apostolica vel quacunque 
firmitate alia roboratae, postquam tales, ut prasmittitur, sunt efiecti.' (Rymer, t 
vii., p. 352.) 

t See Introduction to Sismondi, ut supra. 



323 



CHAPTER IX. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MENDICANT ORDERS. SAINT DOMINIC AND 

SAINT FRANCIS. 

§ 80. — We have already endeavored to trace the origin and pro- 
gress of monkery up to the epoch of the establishment of papal su- 
premacy.* We have also seen how, in subsequent ages, the vari- 
ous monastic orders had degenerated from their primitive severity 
of discipline, and simplicity of character, till the convents exhibited 
to the world the most shocking spectacles of licentiousness, avarice, 
imposture, and almost every description of vice. It is admitted, 
by Roman Catholic writers, that even in the best monasteries, scarce 
a vestige of religion was apparent, and the inordinate desire of 
wealth, the root of evils, the wicked step-mother of monks, ' malam 
monachorum novercam,' reigned with undisputed sway.f Were 
we disposed to soil our page with the disgusting details of monkish 
profligacy and licentiousness, it would be easy to gather testimonies 
from Romish authors themselves, to prove that in spite of their vows 
of poverty and chastity, the main object of the vast body of the 
monks of the middle ages, was not only the accumulation of un- 
bounded wealth, but the gratification of their lawless passions 
either with equally vicious nuns, or with other victims of their 
seductive arts. 

§ 81. — In contrast with the vicious lives of these monks, shone 
with the more lustre, the primitive characters, the chaste, and pa- 
tient, and modest deportment of the teachers of the Waldensian 
heretics, who were so cruelly persecuted and abused. Some 
of these dissenters from Popery in this age maintained that volun- 
tary poverty was the leading and essential quality in a servant of 
Christ, obliged their doctors to imitate the simplicity of the apos- 
tles, reproached the church with its overgrown opulence, and the 
vices and corruptions of the clergy, that flowed from thence as 
from their natural source, and by this commendation of poverty 
and contempt of riches, acquired a high degree of respect, and 
gained a prodigious ascendant over the minds of the multitude. 
Probably the extreme views in relation to voluntary poverty held 
by some of the Waldenses originated in their disgust and abhor- 
rence at the contrast between the professions and the practices of 
the monks. However this may be, some of the shrewdest of the 
popes, fearful of the effect of the contrast between the vicious, 
lives of the sleek, and lazy, and well-fed monks, and the holy lives 
of the poor, and humble, and persecuted heretics, soon perceived 

* See above, book ii., chap iv., page 87-92. 

f"Vix institute religionis apparuisse vestigia, in praestantioribus monasteriis, 
radicem malorura, malam monachorum novercam, proprietatum concupiscentiam." 
(Baronius, Annul, ad Ann. 942.) 



324 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Innocent III. establishes the Mendicant orders. Dominicans and Franciscans. 

the necessity of establishing an order of men, who, by the austerity 
of their manners, their contempt of riches, and the external gravity 
and sanctity of their conduct and maxims, might resemble the doc- 
tors, who had gained such reputation to the heretical sects, and 
who might be so far above the allurements of worldly profit and 
pleasure, as not to be seduced by the promises or threats of kings 
and princes, from the performance of the duties they owed to the 
church, or from persevering in their subordination to the Roman 
pontiffs. 

§ 82. — Innocent III., about the commencement of the thirteenth 
century, was the first of the popes who perceived the necessity of 
instituting such an order ; and accordingly, he gave such monastic 
societies as made a profession of poverty, the most distinguishing 
marks of his protection and favor. They were also encouraged 
and patronized by the succeeding pontiffs, when experience had 
demonstrated their public and extensive usefulness. But when it 
became generally known, that they had such a peculiar place in the 
esteem and protection of the rulers of the church, their number 
grew to such an enormous and unwieldy multitude, and swarmed 
so prodigiously in all the European provinces, that they became a 
burden, not only to the people but to the church itself. This in- 
convenience, however, was remedied by pope Gregory X. in a 
general council which he assembled at Lyons, in the- year 1272. 
For here all the religious orders that had sprung up after the coun- 
cil held at. Rome, in the year 1215, under the pontificate of Inno- 
cent III., were suppressed, and the " extravagant multitude of men- 
dicants," as Gregory called them, were reduced to a smaller num- 
ber, and confined to the four following societies, or denominations, 
viz., the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Carmelites, and the her- 
mits of St. Augustin.* 

§ 83. — Of these mendicant orders, the Dominicans and the Fran- 
ciscans, commenced about the year 1207, were by far the most con- 
siderable and numerous, so called from- their founders, Dominic and 
Francis, of whose lives, as related by their disciples and admirers, 
we shall proceed to give a brief sketch. The former of these 
saints has become famous (or infamous) in history, from the fact 
that he was the inventor, or at least, the first inquisitor-general of 
the horrible tribunal called the holy Inquisition. Being employed, 
says Dr. Southey, against the Albigenses, Saint Dominic (as he 
stands in the Romish Calendar) invented the Inquisition to acceler- 
ate the effect of his sermons. His invention was readily approved 
at Rome, and he himself nominated inquisitor-general. The pain- 
ful detail of his crimes may well be spared ; suffice it to say, that 

* " Irnportuna potentram inhiatio Religionum multiplicationem extorsit, verum 
etiam aliquorum praesumptuosa temeritas diversorum ordinum, praecipue Mendi- 
cantium .... effraenatam multitudinem adinvenit .... Hinc ordines Mendicantes 
post dictum concilium adinventos .... perpetuae prohibitioni subjicimus." (Con* 
cil. Lugd. II., Ann. 1274. Can. xxiii., in Jo. Harduini Conciliis, torn, vii., p. 
715. Mosheim, iii., 188.) 



chap, ix.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 325 

Wonderful miracles of Saint Dominic, the founder of the Inquisition. 

in one day four-score persons were beheaded, and four hundred 
burnt alive, by this man's order and in his sight. St. Dominic is 
the only saint in whom no solitary speck of goodness can be dis- 
covered. To impose privations and pain was the % pleasure of his 
unnatural heart, and cruelty was in him an appetite and a passion. 
No other human being has ever been the occasion of so much 
misery. The few traits of character which can be gleaned from 
the lying volumes of his biographers are all of the darkest colors. 
If his disciples have preserved few personal facts concerning their 
master, they have made ample amends in the catalogue of his 
miracles. Let the reader have patience to peruse a few of these 
tales, not copied from protestant, and therefore suspected authors, 
but from the Dominican historians themselves, and every one of 
them authorized by the Inquisition.* 

§ 84. — Among the vast multitude of their ridiculous and fabu 
lous stories, these disciples of Dominic relate that the mother 
of their master dreamed that she brought forth a dog, holding a 
burning torch in his mouth, wherewith he fired the world. Earth- 
quakes and meteors announced his nativity to the earth and the air, 
and two or three suns and moons extraordinary were hung out for 
an illumination in heaven. The Virgin Mary received him in her 
arms as he sprung to birth. When a sucking babe he regularly ob- 
served fast days, and would get out of bed and lie upon the ground 
as a penance. (!) His manhood was as portentous as his infancy. 
He fed multitudes miraculously, and performed the miracle of Cana 
with great success. Once, when he fell in with a troop of pilgrims, 
of different countries, fhe curse which had been inflicted at Babel 
was suspended for him, and all were enabled to speak one lan- 
guage. (!) Travelling with a single companion, he entered a 
monastery in a lonely place, to pass the night ; he awoke at matins, 
and hearing yells and lamentations instead of prayers, went out 
and discovered that he was among a brotherhood of devils. Domi- 
nic punished them upon the spot with a cruel sermon, and then re- 
turned to rest. At morning the convent had disappeared, and he 
and his comrade found themselves in a wilderness. (! !) He had 
one day an obstinate battle with the flesh : the quarrel took place 
in a wood ; and, finding it necessary to call in help, he stripped him- 
self, and commanded the ants and the wasps to come to his assist- 
ance : even against these auxiliaries the contest was continued for 
three hours before the soul could win the victory. He used to be 
red-hot with divine love ; sometimes blazing like a sun ; some- 
times glowing like a furnace ; at times it blanched his garments, 
and imbued them with a glory resembling that of Christ in the 
Transfiguration. Once it sprouted out six wings, like a seraph ; 
and once the fervor of his piety made him sweat blood. (! ! !) 

* See an able article on the Inquisition, from the pen of the late poet-laureate 
of England, Robert Southey, LL.D., in the Quarterly Review for December, 1811. 



326 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book y. 

Marvellous Dominican miracles of the Virgin and the Rosary. 

§ 85. — The Dominicans were the great champions of the Virgin, 
and according to their writers, Saint Dominic was her peculiar favor- 
ite. In reference to the Rosary, which among them was especially a 
favorite instrument of devotion to their great patroness, they relate 
many wonderful miracles, among which the following are speci- 
mens. (For Rosary, arms of Inquisition, fyc, see Engraving.) 

(1.) The bead palace in Paradise. — A knight to whom Dominic presented a 
rosary, arrived at such a perfection of piety, that his eyes were opened, and he 
saw an angel take every bead as he dropped it, and carry it to the Queen of Hea- 
ven, who immediately magnified it, and built with the whole string a palace upon 
a mountain in Paradise ! 

(2.) The preaching head. — A damsel, by name Alexandra, induced by Dominic's 
preaching, used the rosary ; but her heart followed too much after the things of 
this world. Two young men, who were rivals for her, fought, and both fell in 
the combat ; and their relations, in revenge, cut off her head, and threw it into 
a well. The devil immediately seized her soul, to which it seems he had a clear 
title — but, for the sake of the rosary, the Virgin interfered, rescued the soul out 
of his hands, and gave it permission to remain in the head at the bottom of the 
well, till it should have an opportunity of confessing and being absolved. After 
some days this was revealed to Dominic, who went to the well, and told Alexan- 
dra, in God's name, to come up : the bloody head obeyed, perched on the well-side, 
confessed its sins, received absolution, took the wafer, and continued to edify the 
people for two days, when the soul departed to pass a fortnight in purgatory on its 
way to heaven. 

(3.) The Virgin's raised arm. — When Dominic entered Thoulouse, after one of 
his interviews with the Virgin, all the bells of the city rang to welcome him, un- 
touched by human hands ! But the heretics [Albigenses] neither heeded this, nor 
regarded his earnest exhortations to them, to abjure their errors, and make use 
of the rosary. To punish their obstinacy a dreadful tempest of thunder and 
lightning set the whole firmament in a blaze ; the earth shook, and the howling of 
affrighted animals was mingled with the shrieks and groans of the terrified multi- 
tude. They crowded to the church, where Dominic was preaching, as to an 
asylum. " Citizens of Thoulouse," said he, " I see before me a hundred and fifty 
angels, sent by Christ and his mother to punish you ! This tempest is the voice 
of the right hand of God." There was an image of the Virgin in the church, 
who raised her arm in a threatening attitude as he spoke. " Hear me !" he con- 
tinued, " that arm shall not be withdrawn till you appease her by reciting the 
rosary." New outcries now arose : the devils yelled because of the torment this 
inflicted on them. The terrified Thoulousians prayed and scourged themselves, 
and told their beads with such good effect, that the storm at length ceased. Domi- 
nic, satisfied with their repentance, gave the word, and down fell the arm of the 
image ! 

(4.) Dominican friars and nuns nestling under the Virgin's wing. — In one of 
his visits to heaven, Dominic was carried before the throne of Christ, where he 
beheld many religionists of both sexes, but none of his own order. This so 
afflicted him, that he began to lament aloud, and inquired why they did not appear 
in bliss. Christ, upon this, laying his hand upon the Virgin's shoulder, said, " I 
have committed your order [the Dominicans] to my mother's care ; " and she, lift- 
ing up her robe, discovered an innumerable multitude of Dominicans, friars and 
nuns, nestled under it ! 

(5.) The love of the Virgin for Saint Dominic. — The next of these foolish 
legends is almost too impious to be repeated. The Dominicans — the inquisitors — 
tell us that " the Virgin appeared to Dominic in a cave near Thoulouse ; that she 
called him her son and her husband ; that she took him in her arms, and bared her 
breasts to him, that he might drink their nectar ! She told him that, were she a 
mortal, she could not live without him, so excessive was her love ; even now, im- 
mortal as she was, she should die for him, did not the Almighty support her, as he 




THE SCAPULAR, ROSARY, AND CHAPLET. 

The Scapular is a habit worn over the shoulders, which the Virgin Mary is said to have given to Simon 
Stock, a hermit, to whom she appeared, assuring him that it was a " sign of salvation, a safeguard in dan- 
ger, and a covenant of peace;" and that she would "never permit those who should wear her habit to 
be damned." It forms a part of the habit of several Religious Orders, and is worn over the gown. In a 
Roman Catholic work, published no longer ago than 1838, a saying of Father Alphonso is mentioned, that 
the Devil "had lost more souls by that holy vest than by any other means." This work is entitled "A 
brief account of the confraternity of our Blessed Lady of Mount Carmel, commonly called the Scapular." 

The Rosary and Chaplet are used to count prayers. Ten to the Virgin, represented by small beads, for 
every one to God, represented by a large bead. 




FAC-SIMILE OF THE CONSECRATED WAFER. 



This is a representation of the Wafer, stamped as above, which the Romish priests profess to turn into ft 
God and elevate above their heads, for the worship of the deluded multitude. 





STANDARDS OF THE INQUISITION. 

Standard of the Inquisition of Spain. — This was a wooden cross, full of knots, with a sword and art olive 
blanch, ns represented In the engraving. 

Standard of the Inquisition of Goa. — This represents St. Dominic, with a dog carrying a torch near a 
globe, because a little previous to his birth his mother dreamt she saw a dog lighting the world with a 
torch. In his right hand is a branch of olive, as a token of the peace he will make with such as shall de- 
clare themselves good Catholics ; and in his left a sword, to denote the war ho makes with heretics — with 
this motto, MUericordia ct Justitia, (Mercy and Justice.) 



chap, ix.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 329 

Saint Francis the founder of the Franciscans, the Seraphic Order. 



had done at the Crucifixion ! At another visit, she espoused him ; and the saints, 
and the Redeemer hirrjself, came down to witness the marriage ceremony ! 

It is impossible to transcribe these atrocious blasphemies without shuddering at 
the guilt of those who invented them ; and when it is remembered that these are 
the men who have persecuted and martyred so many thousands for conscience' 
sake, it seems as if human wickedness could not be carried farther. " Blessed," 
exclaims Dr. Southey, " be the day of Martin Luther's birth ! — it should be a 
festival only second to that of the Nativity."* 

§ 86. — The founder of the other of these celebrated mendicant 
orders was the son of a rich merchant of Assissi, in Italy. Accord- 
ing to a valuable and more recent work of the able and learned 
author just referred to, he derived his name of Francesco from his 
familiar knowledge of the French tongue, which was at that time 
a rare accomplishment for an Italian ; and Hercules is not better 
known in classical fable, than he became in Romish mythology, by 
the name of Saint Francis. In his youth, it is certain, that he 
was actuated by delirious piety ; but the web of his history is in- 
terwoven with such inextricable falsehoods, that it is not possible to 
decide whether, in riper years, he became madman or impostor ; 
nor whether at last he was the accomplice of his associates, or the 
victim. Having infected a few kindred spirits with his first enthu- 
siasm, he obtained the Pope's consent to institute an order of Friars 
Minorite ; so, in his humility, he called them ; they are better 
known, by the name of Franciscans, after their founder, in honor 
of whom they have likewise given themselves the modest appella- 
tion of the Seraphic Order — having in their blasphemous fables 
installed him above the Seraphim, upon the throne from which 
Lucifer fell ! 

§ 87. — Previous attempts had been made to enlist, in the service 
of the papal church, some of those fervent spirits, whose united 
hostility all its strength would have been insufficient to withstand ; 
but these had been attended with little effect, and projects of this 
kind were discouraged, as rather injurious than hopeful, till Francis 
presented himself. His entire devotion to the Pope, his ardent 
adoration of the Virgin Mary, as the great Goddess of the Romish 
faith, the strangeness, and perhaps the very extravagance of the 
institute which he proposed, obtained a favorable acceptance for 
his proposals. Seclusion for the purpose of religious meditation, 
was the object of the earlier religious orders ; his followers were 
to go into the streets and highways to exhort the people. The 
monks were justly reproached for luxury, and had become invidious 
for their wealth ; the friars were bound to the severest rule of 
life ; they went barefoot, and renounced, not only for themselves 
individually, but collectively also, all possessions whatever, trusting 
to daily charity for their daily bread. It was objected to him that 

* Let not the reader suppose (as Romanists assert in relation to everything they 
would rather keep secret) that these are protestant forgeries. These miracles 
stand as above related (with the exception of the titles) in the prayer-book of the 
Dominican order of Roman Catholics. 



330 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Immense increase of Franciscan friars. The holy stigmas or wounds of Saint Francis. 

no community, established upon such a principle, could subsist 
without a miracle : he referred to the lilies in the text, for scrip- 
tural authority ; to the birds, for an example ; and the marvellous 
increase of the order was soon admitted as full proof of the inspir- 
ation of its founder. In less than ten years, the delegates alone to 
its General Chapter exceeded five thousand in number ; and by an 
enumeration in the early part of the eighteenth century, when the 
Reformation must have diminished their amount at least one-third, 
it was found that even then there were 28,000 Franciscan nuns in 
900 nunneries, and 115,000 Franciscan friars in 7000 convents; 
besides very many nunneries, which, being under the immediate 
jurisdiction of the ordinary, and not of the order, were not included 
in the returns. 

§ 88. — The miracles ascribed to Saint Francis were no less ex- 
travagant than those related of the head of the rival order. " The 
wildest romance," says Dr. Southey, " contains nothing more ex- 
travagant than the legends of St. Dominic : yet even these were 
outdone by the more atrocious effrontery of the Franciscans. They 
held up their founder, even during his life, as the perfect pattern of 
our Lord and Saviour ; and, to authenticate the parallel, they ex- 
hibited him with a wound in his side, and four nails in his hands 
and feet, fixed there, they affirmed, by Christ himself, who had 
visibly appeared for the purpose of thus rendering the conformity 
between them complete ! Whether he consented to the villainy, 
or was in such a state of moral and physical imbecility, as to have 
been the dupe or the victim of those about him ; and whether it 
was committed with the connivance of the papal court, or only in 
certain knowledge that that court would sanction it when done, 
though it might not deem it prudent to be consenting before the 

fact, are questions which it is now impossible to resolve. 

Sanctioned, however, the horrible imposture was by that church which 
calls itself infallible ; a day for its perpetual commemoration was 
appointed in the Romish Calendar ;* and a large volume was com- 
posed, entitled the Book of the Conformities between the lives of 
the blessed and seraphic Father Francis and our Lord ! 

Jealous of these conformities, the Dominicans followed their 
rivals in the path of blasphemy. . . . They declared that the five 
wounds had been impressed also upon St. Dominic ; but that, in 
his consummate humility, he had prayed and obtained that this sig- 
nal mark of Divine grace might never be made public while he 
lived.f 

§ 89. — The two orders of Dominic and Francis, though engaged 
in the same work of hunting and persecuting the enemies of the 

* The day set apart by the Romish church to commemorate this abominable 
imposture, is September 17th. See Calendar in " Garden of the Soul," published 
witn approbation of Bishop Hughes, New York, 1844. It is the same in any 
Romish Calendar. See True Piety, St. Joseph's Manual, &c. The words oppo- 
site September 17th are, " The holy stigmas (Latin for wounds) cf St. Francis." 

t See Southey's Book of the Church, chap, xi., fifth edition, London, 1841. 



chap, x.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 331 

Prodigious influence acquired by the Mendicant Orders. Fourth council of Lateran 

papal church, and both professing an equal zeal in the service of 
the Pope, soon began most cordially to hate each other, and to 
assume an attitude of fierce hostility and rivalry. Yet they ob- 
tained, for a time, a prodigious influence among the people, pro- 
duced partly by their enthusiasm, partly by their appearance of 
sanctity and devotion, but chiefly by the implicit faith with which 
their enormous fables were received. Multitudes of the people 
were unwilling to receive the sacraments from any other hands 
than those of the mendicants, to whose churches they crowded to 
perform their devotions, while living, and were extremely desirous 
to deposit there also their remains after death ; all which occasion- 
ed grievous complaints among the ordinary priests, to whom the 
cure of souls was committed, and who considered themselves as 
the spiritual guides of the multitude. Nor did the influence and 
credit of the mendicants end here ; for we find, in the history of 
succeeding ages, that they were employed not only in spiritual 
matters, but also in temporal and political affairs of the greatest 
consequence ; in composing the differences of princes, concluding 
treaties of peace, concerting alliances, presiding in cabinet coun- 
cils, governing courts, levying taxes, and other occupations, not 
only remote from, but absolutely inconsistent with the monastic 
character and profession. During three centuries, these two fra- 
ternities governed, with an almost universal and absolute sway, 
both state and church, filled the most eminent posts, ecclesiastical 
and civil, taught in the universities and churches with an authority, 
before which all opposition was silent, and maintained the pretended 
majesty and prerogatives of the Roman pontiffs against kings, 
princes, bishops, and heretics, with incredible ardor and equal 
success. (Mosheim, cent, xiii., part 2. Waddington, chap, xix.) 



CHAPTER X. 

THE FOURTH COUNCIL OF LATERAN DECREES THE EXTERMINATION OF 
HERETICS, TRANSUBSTANTIATION, AND AURICULAR CONFESSION. 

§ 90. — In the year 1215 was held at Rome, under the pontificate 
of Innocent III., the twelfth general council, and fourth of Lateran. 
On many accounts — the character of the Pope who presided, the 
number of ecclesiastics who were present, the doctrines that were 
then first made articles of faith, the tyrannical and sanguinary cha- 
racter of its decrees in relation to the extermination of heretics, 
&c, — this council may be regarded as one of the most memorable 
in the history of Romanism. The number of church dignitaries 



332 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Innocent and the council give the dominions of Raimond to the popish butcher of heretics, Montfort. 

present on this occasion, in addition to the Pope, was seventy me- 
tropolitans, four hundred bishops, and eight hundred and twelve 
abbots, priors, &c, besides several princes, imperial ambassa- 
dors, &c. 

One of the most remarkable acts of this council, or rather of 
Pope Innocent, who was the sovereign dictator of all that was done 
in it. and which we mention first, because of its connection with 
matters already related, was the bestowment of the dominions of 
Raimond VI., the unfortunate count of Thoulouse, upon that obe- 
dient son of the Pope, the earl of Montfort, the bloodthirsty butcher 
of the Albigenses, as a reward for the service that he had ren- 
dered the church of Rome, in slaughtering such countless mul- 
titudes of the heretics and rebels against the Holy See. The per- 
secuted Raimond travelled to Rome for the purpose of averting, if 
possible, this additional misfortune, and promised to give whatever 
satisfaction the Pope and the council might require. But his ex- 
ertions were all in vain. " His dominions," says Bower, " were ad- 
judged to count Montfort as a reward for his zeal in the destruction 
of the innocent Albigenses, and Montfort henceforth assumed the 
title of count of Thoulouse, and continued to persecute the poor 
Albigenses with ffre and sword, though he could never entirely 
suppress them. Thus did the Pope and council, not only with the 
consent, but with the concurrence of princes, usurp an absolute 
power in temporals as well as in spirituals.'"* 

The excommunication of the barons of England in this council, 
and the haughty letter of pope Innocent in relation to them, have 
already been related in a preceding chapter. (See above, page 292.) 

§ 91. — But the fourth council of Lateran is most noted for its 
famous (or infamous) decree relative to the extirpation of heretics, 
and the thunders that were to be hurled at princes, and the punish- 
ment to be inflicted on them in case they should refuse to join in 
this pious, but bloody work. The following is a literal translation 
of the most important portion of this decree, translated from the 
Latin original as found in the summa conciliorum of Caranza, a 
celebrated Romanist author. The third chapter begins thus : " We 

EXCOMMUNICATE AND ANATHEMATIZE EVERY HERESY EXTOLLING IT- 
SELF AGAINST THIS HOLY, ORTHODOX, CATHOLIC FAITH WHICH WE 

before expounded, condemning all heretics by what names soever 
called. And being condemned, let them be left to the secular 
power, or to their bailiffs, to be punished by due animadversion. 
And let the secular powers be warned and induced, and if need be 
condemned by ecclesiastical censure, what offices soever they are 
in, that as they desire to be reputed and taken for believers, so they 

publicly TAKE AN OATH FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE FAITH, THAT THEY 
WILL STUDY IN GOOD EARNEST TO EXTERMINATE, TO THEIR UTMOST 
POWER, FROM THE LANDS SUBJECT TO THEIR JURISDICTION, ALL HERE- 
TICS denoted by the church ; * Pro defensione fidei prasstat jura- 

* Lives of the Popes, in vita Innoc. HI. 



chap, x.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 333 

Decrees of the Pope and council commanding princes, under heavy penalties, to exterminate heretics. 

mentum, quod de terris sua? jurisdictionis subjectos universos haere- 
ticos ab Ecclesia denotatos, bona fide pro viribus exterminare stude- 
bunt ;' so that every one, that is henceforth taken into any power, 
either spiritual or temporal, shall be bound to confirm this chapter 
by his oath." . . . " But if the temporal lord, required and warned 
by the church, shall neglect to purge his territory of this heretical 
filth, let him by the Metropolitan and Comprovincial Bishops be 
tied by the bond of excommunication ; and if he scorn to satisfy 
within a year, let that he signified to the Pope, that he may denounce 
his vassals thenceforth absolved from his fidelity (or allegiance), 
and may expose his country to he seized on by Catholics, who, the 
heretics being excommunicated, may possess it without any contra- 
diction, and may keep it in the purity of faith, saving the right of 
the principal lord, so be it he himself put no obstacle hereto, nor 
oppose any impediment ; the same law notwithstanding being kept 
about them that have no principal lord."* ..." And the Catho- 
lics that taking the badge of the cross shall gird themselves for the ex- 
terminating of heretics, shall enjoy that indulgence, and be fortified 
with that holy privilege which is granted to them that go to the help 
of the holy land." ..." And we decree to subject to excommu- 
nication the believers and receivers, defenders and favorers of here- 
tics, firmly ordaining, that when any such person is noted by ex- 
communication, if he disdain to satisfy within a year, let him be, 
ipso jure, made infamous." 

I make no comment on - the above outrageous decree of pope 
Innocent and the twelfth general council united (the highest legis- 
lative authority in the Romish church), nor is it needed. The 
history of the persecuted Raimond, hunted, excommunicated, ana- 
thematized, and finally deposed, for no other reason except that 
he did not use sufficient diligence in executing the Pope's commands 
" to exterminate, to the utmost of his power, all heretics from the 
lands subject to his jurisdiction," together with that of the slaugh- 
tered Albigenses, is an eloquent sermon on the above text. 

§ 92. — In this general council also, by the twenty-first canon, the 
practice of auricular confession was for the first time authorita- 
tively enjoined upon the faithful of both sexes at least once a year. 
They were also commanded, under severe penalties in case of neg- 
lect, to receive the eucharist at Easter, unless a particular dispensa- 
tion excusing from this duty should be granted to them. The sacra- 
ment was generally taken immediately after confession. Fleury, the 

* As this is the most important part of the decree, and it is a common device 
of Romanists to deny the accuracy of translations, we subjoin the original of the 
above remarkable paragraph. " Si dominus temporalis rcquisitus et monitus ab 
Ecclesia, terram suam purgare neglexerit ab hairetica foeditate, per Metropolitanos 
et cacteros Episcopos vinculo excommunicationis innodetur ; et si satisfacere con- 
tempserit infra annum, significetur hoc Summo Pontifici, et extunc ipse vassalos 
ab ejus fidelitate denunciet absolutos, et terram exponct Catholicis occupandam 
qui earn, haereticis exterminatis, sine ulla contradictione possideant, salvo jure 
Domini principalis, dummodo super hoc ipse nullum praestet obstaculum, cadera 
nihilominus lege servata, circa cos qui non habent Dominos principales." 
22 



334 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v, 



Priestly solicitation of females at confession. 



Romish historian, says, " this is the first canon, so far as I know, 
which imposes the general obligation of sacramental confession ;" 
and from this admission, it is easy for any one to calculate the 
date of this modern popish innovation.* 

The horrible disorders, seductions, adulteries, and abominations 
of every kind that have sprung from this practice of auricular 
confession, especially in Spain and other popish countries, are 
familiar to all acquainted with the history of Popery for the six 
centuries that have transpired since the fourth council of Lateran. 
The details of individual facts on this subject are hardly fit to meet 
the public eye, though multitudes of them might easily be cited, de- 
rived not merely from the testimony of protestants, but from the 
admissions of papists themselves, and from the numerous, though 
ineffectual laws that have been passed to restrain the practice of 
priestly solicitation of females at confession. Nor can this be mat- 
ter of surprise. The evil is inherent in the system. Let any per- 
son of common sense examine the list of subjects, and the ques- 
tions for examination of conscience in any popish book of devotion, 
but more especially (if he understands Latin) the directions to 
young priests iu Dens and other standard works for the study of 
popish theology ;f then let him remember that the subjects of these 

* From the following extract from Butler's Roman Cathojic catechism, it will 
be seen that this law, passed so late as 1215, is made one of theV" six command- 
ments of the. church," and is placed upon a level with the " ten commandments 
of God." 

Lesson xx. — On the Precepts of the Church. — Q. Are there any other command- 
ments besides the ten commandments of God ? Ans. There are the command- 
ments or precepts of the Church, which are chiefly six. 

Q. Say the six commandments of tne church? Ans. 1. To hear Mass on 
Sundays, and all holy days of obligation. 2. To fast and abstain on the days 
commanded. 3. To confess our sins at least once a year. 4. To receive 

WORTHILY THE BLESSED EUCHARIST AT EASTER, OR WITHIN THE TIME AP- 
POINTED. 5. To contribute to the support of our pastors. 6. Not to solemnize 
marriage at the forbidden times, nor to marry persons within the forbidden de- 
grees of kindred, or otherwise prohibited by the church, nor clandestinely. 

f The following extracts from the " Moral Theology of Peter Dens, as prepared 
for the use of Romish Seminaries and Students of Theology," are transcribed 
from the Mechlin edition, printed no longer ago than 1838. I dare not stir the 
scum of this pool of filth by translating a single paragraph from the Latin. Let 
the learned reader remember that in confession it is the duty of the priest to 
question and to cross-question, in every variety of form, the female penitents in 
relation to the sins described in the following extracts : — 

De modo contra naturam. — " Quinta species luxuries contra naturam com- 
mittitur quando quidam copula masculi Jit in vase feminoe naturali, sed indebito 
modo, v. g. standb, aut dum vir succumbit, vel a retro feminam cognoscit, sicut 
equi congrediuntur, quamvis in vase femineo. 

" Possunt autem hi modi inducere peccatum mortale juxta periculum perdendi 
semen, eo quod scilicet semen viri communiter non possit apte effundi usque in 
matricem feminae. 

" Et quamvis forte conjuges dicant quod periculum diligenter praecaveant, illi 
interim lascivi modi a gravi veniali excusari non debent, nisi forte propter impo- 
tentiam, v. g. ob curvitatem uxoris, nequeat servari naturalis situs et modus, qui 
est -ut mulier succumbat viro." (Vol. iv., No. 295.) 

Modus sive situs invertitur, ut servetur debitum vas ad copulam a natura ordi- 



chap.x.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 335 

The confessional a school of licentiousness, seduction, and adulteiy, 

beastly inquiries are often young, beautiful, and interesting fe- 
males ; and that the questioners are men, often young and vigorous, 
burning with the fires of passion, in some instances almost wrought 
up to phrenzy by a vow of celibacy which they would be glad to 
shake off, and then he will cease to wonder that the confessional 
has so often been turned into a school of licentiousness, seduction 
and adultery. 

§ 93. — A single fact will be sufficient to show the awful extent in 
popish countries of this crime of illicit intercourse with females at 

natum, v. g. si fiat accedendo a praepostere, a*4atare, s$mdo, sedendo, vel si vir sit 
succumbus. Modus is mortalis est, si inde suboriatur periculum pollutionis respectu 
alterius, sive quando periculum est, ne semen perdatur, prout saepe accidit, dum 
actus exercetur stando, sedendo, aut viro succumbente : si absit et sufficienter 
praecaveatur istud periculum, ex communi sententia id non est mortale : est autem 
veniale ex gravioribus, cum sit inversio ordinis naturae ; estque generatim modus 
ille sine causa taliter coeundi graviter a Confessariis reprehendendus : si tameri 
ob justam rationem situm naturalem conjuges immutent, secludaturque dictum peri- 
culum, nullum est peccatum. 

Quoad tactus libidinosos, quos conjugati exercent erga corpus alterutrius, ii 
sunt mortaliter mali, si fiant cum pollutione alterius, vel ejus periculo. 

Si absit periculum pollutionis, et ordinentur ad copulam, tunc vel ad earn ne- 
cessarii sunt, et sic non sunt peccaminosi, vel non sunt ad earn necessarii et erunt 
venialiter mali, quia solius causa voluptatis haberi supponuntur. 

Si tactus illi, secluso pollutionis periculo, non referantur ad copulam, non ita 
conveniunt Auctores ; docent plerique, quod si sint adeo infames, ut nequidem ex 
copulae intuitu excusentur a gravi peccato, eos esse mortaliter malos, si vero sint 
tactus ordinarii, nee diu in eis sistatur, docent plurimi contra eosdem esse tantum 
venialiter malos ; quia voluptas ilia non quaeritur extra limites Matrimonii. 

Quest. An uxor possit se tactibus excitare ad seminationem, si a copula conjugali 
retraxerit, maritus, postquam ipse seminaverit, sed antequam seminaverit uxor ? 

Resp. Plurimi negant ; eo quod, cum vir se retraxerit, actus sit completus, 
adeoque ilia seminatio mulieris foret peccatum pollutionis : alii vero affirmant : 
quia ista excitatio spectat ad actus conjugalis complementum et perfect ionem : 
exciniunt tamen casum, ubi periculum est ne semen ad extra profundatur. 

De Bestialitate. — Ad hoc crimen reducitur congressus carnalis cum daemone 
in corpore assumpto : quod scelus aggravatur per circumstantiam contra religio- 
nem, quatenus includit societatem cum daemone ; ideoque gravis est et gravissi- 
mum peccatum contra naturam : consideranda est etiam forma corporis vel homi- 
nis, vel bestiae, in qua apparet daemon ; item reprsesentatio personae virginis, mo- 
nialis, &c. Verum plerumque praesumendum est, talia solum fieri per fortem 
imaginationem, qua decipiuntur homines. 

The following instruction is given (vol. iv., No. 287) to the priest when examin- 
ing a young girl (puella) : — " Confessarius prudens omnem evadet invidiam hac 
methodo : dum puella confitetur se esse fornicatam, confessarius petat, an prima 
vice, qua simile peccatum commisit, exposuerit circumstantiam amissoa virginitatis. 
Si respondeat categorice, ita, vel non, cessat difficultas ; et quidem si jam sint 
primaa vices statim reponet, jam fuisse primas vices, adeoque solum ei dici debet, 
ut conteratur de ilia circumstantia, et earn confiteatur : si taceat, instruatur, illam 
circumstantiam tutius semel exprimendam, adeoque si id nunquam fecerit, jam 
desuper doleat et se accuset." See the first and last of these citations in a Sy- 
nopsis of this popish Theology, edited by Rev. Dr. Berg, of Philadelphia. The 
remainder, with enough similar ones to fill a volume, may be found in the fourth 
and sixth volumes of Dens' Latin work. I regard the work of Dr. Berg, which is 
a translation of enough of Dens' Theology to show the true character of Popery, 
as a work of immense value. The filthy extracts of this popish divine, on the 
subject of this note, the Doctor has wisely left in the original Latin. 



336 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v 

Priestly solicitation in Spain. Inquiry hushed up on account of the immense number of criminals. 

confession. About 1560, a bull was issued by pope Pius IV., direct- 
ing the Inquisition to inquire into the prevalence of this crime, 
which begins as follows : — " Whereas certain ecclesiastics, in the 
kingdoms of Spain, and in the cities and diocesses thereof, having 
the cure of souls, or exercising such cure for others, or otherwise 
deputed to hear the confessions of penitents, have broken out into 
such heinous acts of iniquity, as to abuse the sacrament of penance 
in the very act of hearing the confessions, nor fearing to injure the 
same sacrament, and him who instituted it, our Lord God and 
Saviour Jesus Christ, by enticing and provoking, or trying to entice 
and provoke, females to lewd actions, at the very time when they were 
making their confessions," fyc, fyc. 

Upon the publication of this bull in Spain, the Inquisition issued 
an edict requiring all females who had been thus abused by the 
priests at the confessional, and all who were privy to such acts, to 
give information, within thirty days, to the holy tribunal ; and very 
heavy censures were attached to those who should neglect or de- 
spise this injunction. When this edict was first published, such a 
considerable number of females went to the palace of the inqujsi- 
tor, in the single city of Seville, to reveal the conduct of their in- 
famous confessors, that twenty notaries, and as many inquisitors, 
were appointed to minute down their several informations against 
them ; but these being found insufficient to receive the depositions 
of so many witnesses, and the inquisitors being thus overwhelmed, 
as it were, with the pressure of such affairs, thirty days more were 
allowed for taking the accusations, and this lapse of time also 
proving inadequate to the intended purpose, a similar period was 
granted not only for a third but a fourth time. Maids and matrons 
of every rank and station crowded to the Inquisition. Modesty, 
shame, and a desire of concealing the facts from their husbands, 
induced many to go veiled. But the multitude of depositions, and 
the odium which the discovery threw on auricular confession, and 
the popish priesthood, caused the Inquisition to quash the prosecu- 
tions, and to consign the depositions to oblivion.* And thus for 
fear of the disgrace that would be brought upon an apostate church 
and its vicious and corrupt priesthood, these abominable crimes 
were hushed up, and their vile perpetrators permitted, with their 
hands all defiled as they were with the filth of unhallowed lust, to 
minister at the altar, and to enjoy still, in the words of pope Urban, 
" the eminence granted to none of the angels, of creating God, the 
Creator of all things." Well was it for these priests that they did 
nothing worse than to pollute the confessional with their filthy lusts ; 
had they been guilty of the crime, so much more horrible, in the 
estimation of papists, of denying that the bit of bread consecrated 
by hands like theirs was the eternal God, the Lord Christ, with " his 
body, soul, and divinity," they would not have slipped through the 
hands of these holy inquisitors so easily. For this latter crime, 
hundreds of heretics had, within a few years, been burned alive by 

* Gonsalv, 185; Llorente, 355 ; Limborch, 111 ; Edgar, 529; Da Costa, i., 117 



chap, x.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 337 

Council of Lateran decrees Transubstantiation. Feast of Corpus Christi. 

popish butchers at Smithfield, and the fires kindled by the bloody 
Mary, were scarcely extinguished in England, when the events I 
have just related occurred in Spain. Such is popish morality, and 
such is popish justice. 

§ 94. — It was in this council also, that the absurd dogma of tran- 
substantiation* was first enjoined as an article of faith by pope 
Innocent, who himself stamped upon that doctrine the name by 
which it has ever since been designated. Since the days of Inno- 
cent, what multitudes of holy men and women have expired amidst 
the flames of martyrdom, because they refused assent to this out- 
rage upon common sense, first established as an article of faith in 
the year 1215. The reader, familiar with the days of bloody 
queen Mary of England, need not be told that a belief in this dogma 
was then generally made the test question by popish persecutors, 
upon the denial of which the martyrs of that age were consigned 
to the flames. 

In the words of the learned Archbishop Tillotson, this doctrine 
of Transubstantiation " has been, in the church of Rome, the great 
burning article ; and as absurd and unreasonable as it is, more 
Christians have been murdered for the denial of it, than perhaps for 
all the other articles of their religion." What protestant will not 
join in the pious exclamation of this excellent prelate and powerful 
opponent of Popery. " O blessed Saviour ! thou best friend and 
greatest lover of mankind, who can imagine that thou didst ever 
intend that men should kill one another, for not being able to 
believe contrary to their senses? for being unwilling to think that 
thou shouldst make one of the most horrid and barbarous things 
that can be imagined, a main duty and principal mystery of thy 
religion ? for not flattering the pride and presumption of the priest 
who says he can make God, and for not complying with the folly and 
stupidity of the people who are made to believe that they can eat 
him?"} 

§ 95. — The worship of the Host or wafer was a natural result of 
the monstrous doctrine of Transubstantiation as established at this 
council of Lateran. Accordingly, we find that this idolatry was 
soon grafted upon that popish innovation. From the Roman canon 
law we learn that pope Honorius, who succeeded Innocent III., 
shortly after the council, ordered that the priests, at a certain part 
of the mass service, should elevate the consecrated wafer, and at 
the same instant the people should prostrate themselves before it in 
worship. (See Frontispiece.) 

About fifty years after the council — that is, in the year 1264 — 
that celebrated festival, still observed with so much pomp and 
parade in popish countries, called the Feast of Corpus Christi, or 
Body of Christ, was established by pope Urban IV. In this feast, 
the wafer idol is carried through the streets in procession, amidst 

* For the historical account of the origin of this doctrine, see above, Book 
iv., Chap. 2, pp. 192—206. 
t Tillotson on Transubstantiation, p. 277. 



338 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Procession of Corpus Christi in Roman Catholic countries. 

scenes of merriment, rejoicing and illumination, and upon its 
approach all fall down on their knees and worship it till it has 
passed by. The cause of the establishment of this festival of the 
holy sacrament, as it was also called, was as follows. A certain 
fanatical woman named Juliana declared that as often as she ad- 
dressed herself to God, or to the saints in prayer, she saw the full 
moon with a small defect or breach in it ; and that, having long 
studied to find out the signification of this strange appearance, she 
was inwardly informed by the spirit, that the moon signified the 
church, and that the defect or breach was the want of an annual 
festival in honor of the holy sacrament. Few gave attention or 
credit to this pretended vision, whose circumstances were extremely 
equivocal and absurd, and which would have come to nothing, had 
it not been supported by Robert, bishop of Liege, who, in the year 
1246. published an order for the celebration of this festival through- 
out the whole province, notwithstanding the opposition he knew 
would be made to a proposal founded only on an idle dream. After 
the death of Juliana, one of her friends and companions, whose 
name was Eve, took up her name with uncommon zeal, and had 
credit enough with Urban IV. to engage him to publish, in the year 
1264, a solemn edict, by which the festival in question was imposed 
upon all the Christian churches, without exception. Diestemus, a 
prior of the Benedictine monks, relates a miracle, as one cause of 
the establishment of this senseless, idolatrous festival. He tells us 
that a certain priest having some doubts of the real presence of 
Christ in the sacrament, blood flowed from the consecrated wafer 
into the cup or chalice, and also upon the corporate or linen cloth 
upon which the host and the chalice are placed. The corporate, 
having been brought, all bloody as it was, to Urban, the prior tells 
us that the Pope vfos convinced of the miracle, and thereupon ap- 
pointed the solemnity of Corpus Christi to be annually celebrated.* 

§ 96. — In all Roman Catholic countries, special honors are paid to 
the wafer idol, as it is borne through the streets either on the festival 
of Corpus Christi, or on any other occasion. In Spain, when a 
priest carries the consecrated wafer to a dying man, a person with 
a small bell accompanies him. At the sound of the bell, all who 
hear it are obliged to fall on their knees, and to remain in that pos- 
ture till they hear it no longer. 

" Its sound operates like magic on the Spaniards. In the midst of 
a gay, noisy party, the word, * Sa Majestad" (his Majesty, the term 
they apply to the host) will bring every one upon his knees until the 
tinkling dies in the distance. Are you at dinner ? you must leave 
the table ; in bed 1 you must, at least, sit up. But the most prepos- 
terous effect of this custom is to be seen at the theatres. On the 
approach of the host to any military guard, the drum beats, the 
men are drawn out, and, as soon as the priest can be seen, they 
bend the right knee and invert the firelocks, placing the point of the 

* Diestemus, Commen. ad annum 1496 — quoted by Bower vi., 296. 




Procession of Corpus Christi, at Rome-Colosseum in the foreground. 



chap.x.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 341 

Violence to a stranger in Rome for not bowing the knee to the idol. 

bayonet on the ground. As an officer's guard is always stationed 
at the door of a Spanish theatre, I have often laughed in my sleeve 
at the effect of the chamade both upon the actors and the company. 
Dios, Dios, (A God, A God,) resounds from all parts of the house, 
and every one falls that moment upon his knees. The actors' rant- 
ing, or the rattling of the castanets in the fandango, is hushed for a 
few minutes, till the sound of the bell growing fainter and fainter, 
the amusement is resumed, and the devout performers are once 
more upon their legs, anxious to make amends for the inter- 
ruption."* 

At such a time as this, wo be to the man, in any Popish country, 
who refuses to bend the knee, or at least to take off his hat in honor 
of the idol. Says Professor S. F. B. Morse, in a work published 
some few years ago, and who witnessed the celebration of the fes- 
tival of Corpus Christi at Rome, " I was a stranger in Rome, and 
recovering from the debility of a slight fever ; I was walking for 
air and gentle exercise in the Corso, on the day of the celebration 
of the Corpus Domini. From the houses on each side of the street 
were hung rich tapestries and gold embroidered damasks, and 
toward me slowly advanced a long procession, decked out with all 
the heathenish paraphernalia of this self-styled church. In a part 
of the procession a lofty baldichino, or canopy, borne by men, was 
held above the idol, the host, before which, as it passed, all heads 
were uncovered, and every knee bent but mine. Ignorant of the 
customs of heathenism, I turned my back to the procession, and 
close to the side of the houses in the crowd (as I supposed unob- 
served), I was noting in my tablets the order of the assemblage. I 
was suddenly aroused from my occupation, and staggered by a 
blow upon the head from the gun and bayonet of a soldier, which 
struck off my hat far into the crowd. Upon recovering from the 
shock, the soldier, with the expression of a demon, and his mouth 
pouring forth a torrent of Italian oaths, in which il diavolo Had a 
prominent place, stood with his bayonet against my breast. I could 
make no resistance ; I could only ask him why he struck me, and 
receive in answer his fresh volley of unintelligible imprecations, 
which having delivered, he resumed his place in the guard of honor, 
by the side of the officiating Cardinal."! Such is the manner in 
which those who refuse to bow the knee to idols are treated in 
popish countries, and such is the way, should Popery become gen- 
erally prevalent and powerful in the United States, that such would 
be treated here. J (See Engraving.) 

* Doblada's Letters from Spain, p. 13. 

f Foreign Conspiracy against the Liberties of the United States — by Saml. F. 
B. Morse, Prof, in the University of New York ; p. 172. 

| In Cincinnati, papists have already become sufficiently daring to insult Amer- 
ican citizens, and knock off their hats unless they render proper homage to the 
popish processions, which are already beginning to make the " Queen City of the 
West" resemble some of the popish cities of Europe. I have before me a letter of 
the Honorable Alexander Duncan, at that time a Senator of the State of Ohio, 
dated January 10th, 1835, giving an account of such an insult offered to him in 



344 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Death of pope Gregory IX. Innocent IV. excommunicates and deposes the Emperor at the council of Lyons. 

culties, the latter convened, in the year 1240, a general council at 
Rome, with a view to depose Frederick, by the unanimous suffrages 
of the cardinals and prelates, that were to compose that assembly. 
But the Emperor disconcerted that audacious project, by defeating, 
in the year 1241, a Genoese fleet, on board of which the greatest 
part of these prelates were embarked, and by seizing, with all their 
treasures, these reverend fathers, who were all committed to close 
confinement. Thus were the designs of Gregory frustrated, and 
shortly afterward this restless and imperious pontiff died, and was 
succeeded by Celestine IV., who, however, only occupied the papal 
throne eighteen days, before he was removed by death, and made 
way for Innocent IV., who was chosen to the vacant See in 1243. 

§ 100. — Upon the accession of Innocent, who had always professed 
great friendship for Frederick, the friends of the Emperor congratu- 
lated him upon the election of one who would be likely to prove so 
favorable to his interests ; but having more penetration than those 
about him, he sagely replied, " I see little reason to rejoice. The 
Cardinal was my friend, but the Pope will be my enemy." Innocent 
soon proved the justice of this conjecture. He ambitiously attempt- 
ed to negotiate a peace for Italy, but not being able to obtain from 
Frederick his exorbitant demands, and in fear for the safety of his 
own person, he fled into France, assembled a general council, and 
deposed the Emperor. " I declare," said he, " Frederick II. attainted 
and convicted of sacrilege and heresy, excommunicated and dethron- 
ed ; and I order the electors to choose another emperor, reserving 
to myself the disposal of the kingdom of Sicily." Frederick was at 
Turin when he received the news of his deposition, and behaved in 
a manner that seemed to border upon weakness. He called for the 
casket in which the imperial ornaments were kept ; and opening it, 
and taking the crown in his hand, " Innocent," cried he, " has not yet 
deprived me of thee : thou art still mine ! and before I part with 
thee, much blood shall be spilt."* 

§ 101. — The council at which the Emperor was deposed, was held 
at Lyons in France, in 1245, and is reckoned the thirteenth general 
council. The sentence of pope Innocent, says Bower, " deprived 
him of the empire, of all his other kingdoms, dignities, and dominions, 
and absolved his subjects from their allegiance, forbidding them, on 
pain of excommunication, to lend him any assistance whatever."^ It 
is related also, that in this council the cardinals were distinguished 
by pope Innocent with the red hat, a distinction which has ever 
since been regarded as the peculiar badge of that ecclesiastical dig- 
nity, second in rank only to that of the sovereign pontiff. 

Frederick not only refused to submit to the Pope's decree of de- 
position, but also punished as rebels those who should regard the 
interdict laid upon his kingdom, and should, in consequence thereof 
refuse to perform funeral or other services of religion. In this con- 

* M. Paris, Hist. Major. — Russell i., page 195. 
f See Lives of the Popes, in vita Innocent IV. 



chap, xi.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 345 

Guelphs and Ghibelines. Death of the Emperor. Quarrel of the Pope with Frederick's son Manfred. 

test, the party of the Emperor was called the Ghibelines, and those 
who sided with the Pope, the Guelphs. Frederick did not live to 
carry on this contest long ; he died in the year 1250, as is generally 
thought, of a fever, though some supposed him to have suffered from 
the effects of a dose of poison secretly administered. 

Innocent IV. was in France, when he heard of his death, and 
returning thence in the beginning of the spring of 1251, he wrote to 
all the towns to celebrate the deliverance of the church ; gave bound* 
less expression to his joy, and made his entry into Milan, and the 
principal cities of Lombardy, with all the pomp of a triumph. He 
supposed that the republicans of Italy had fought only for him, 
and that he alone would henceforth be obeyed by them ; of this he 
soon made them too sensible. He treated the Milanese with arro- 
gance, and threatened to excommunicate them for not having re- 
spected some ecclesiastical immunity. It was the moment in which 
the republic, like a warrior reposing himself after battle, began to 
feel its wounds. It had made immense sacrifices for the Guelph 
party; it had emptied, the treasury, obtained patriotic gifts from 
every citizen who had anything to spare ; pledged its revenues, and 
loaded itself with debt to the extent of its credit. The ingratitude 
of the Pope, at a moment of universal suffering, deeply offended the 
Milanese ; and the influence of the Ghibelines in a city, where, till then, 
they had been treated as enemies, might be dated from that period.* 
Innocent soon found that though his most formidable antagonist was 
dead, there were many surviving of the party which had acknow- 
ledged him as its chief, and after some further contests with the 
Ghibelines, who continued to offer a steady resistance to the over- 
bearing tyranny of the Pope, he died about four years after Fred- 
erick, in the year 1254. 

§ 102. — The immediate successors of Innocent IV. were Alexander, 
Urban and Clement, each fourth of the name. Alexander suc- 
ceeded in 1254, Urban in 1261, and Clement in 1265. The pontifi- 
cates of the two latter were distinguished chiefly by the fierce con- 
tests between the Guelphs, the party of the Pope, and the Ghibe- 
lines, the adherents of the family of the deceased emperor Frederick, 
especially in the kingdom of the two Sicilies. At the accession of 
Urban IV. in 1261, Manfred the son of the emperor Frederick, and 
(since his father's death), the chief of the Ghibeline party, was 
firmly established upon the throne of the Two Sicilies. The Pope 
saw with great uneasiness his growing power, and the consequent 
increasing influence of his faction. Feared even in Rome and the 
neighboring provinces, master in Tuscany, and making daily pro- 
gress in Lombardy, Manfred seemed on the point of making the 
whole peninsula a single monarchy ; and it was no longer with the 
arms of his German or Italian friends that the Pope could hope to 
subdue him. 
The thunders of excommunication, and even the severe sentence 

* Sismondi's Italian Republics, chapter iv. 



346 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

The Pope invites Charles of Anjou to make war upon Manfred. The Pope's care for number one. 

of deposition, had already been tried against the refractory Man- 
fred, but since the successful resistance of his father Frederic, 
the terror produced by these spiritual weapons had evidently begun 
to diminish. It was deemed necessary, therefore, by the Pope to 
call in the aid of more substantial weapons than those forged by 
spiritual despotism, and before which the superstitious multitude had 
so often trembled. Accordingly, Urban addressed himself to the brave 
and powerful Charles, Count of Anjou, brother to the king of France 
and sovereign in right of his wife of the county of Provence ; and 
offered to his ambition the splendid prize of the crown of the two Sici- 
lies, upon condition of his subduing the rebellious Ghibeline, Manfred. 

§ 103. — Charles had already signalized himself in war ; he was, like 
his brother, a bigoted papist, and still more fanatical and bitter toward 
the enemies of the church, against whom he abandoned himself 
without restraint to his harsh and pitiless character. His religious 
zeal, however, did not interfere with his policy; his interest set 
limits to his subjection to the church ; he knew how to manage 
those whom he wished to gain ; and he could flatter, at his need, 
the public passions, restrain his anger, and preserve in his language 
a moderation which was not in his heart. Avarice appeared his 
ruling passion ; but it was only the means of serving his ambition, 
which was unbounded. He accepted the offer of the Pope. His 
wife Beatrice, ambitious of the title of Queen, borne by her three 
sisters, pawned all her jewels to aid in levying an army of 30,000 
men, which she led herself through Lombardy. The Count had 
preceded her. Having gone by sea to Rome, with 1000 knights, 
he made his entry into that city on the 24th of May, 1265. 

A new pope, like his predecessor a Frenchman, named Clement 
IV., had succeeded Urban, and was not less favorable to Charles of 
Anjou. He caused him to be elected senator of Rome, and at the 
hands of four of his most distinguished cardinals, conferred on him 
the investiture of the kingdom of Sicily. 

The crafty and ambitious Pope, however, took care to clog this 
gift with conditions, which in effect rendered the count of Anjou, in 
the event of his success, a tributary and a vassal of the Holy See. 
Among other articles, there was one in which Charles engaged to 
take an oath of fealty to the Pope, and to do homage to Clement 
and his successors on the papal throne ; by another article, the 
clergy of the kingdom were to be exempted from all accountability 
to me secular tribunals, in criminal as well as in civil cases ; by 
another, the King was to pay the Pope an annual sum of eight thou- 
sand ounces of gold, and to present his Holiness with a fair and 
good white horse, ' unum palafraenum pulchrum et bonum ;' and by 
another article the King engaged to keep one thousand horsemen 
constantly ready for war, with arms and equipments, to be em- 
ployed by the Pope in the Holy War, or in the defence of the church. 
Upon Gharles assenting to these articles of agreement — in which 
it will be seen that the Pope took good care of his own interests — 
he was proclaimed at Rome king of Sicily on the 29th of May, 1265, 



chap, xi.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 347 

Manfred killed in battle, refused burial, and cast into a ditch. Murder of the youthful Coniadin 

and solemnly crowned, with his wife Beatrice, on the 16th of 
January following. 

§ 104. — The victory which Charles soon obtained over Manfred, 
and the death of the latter on the field of battle, restored the ascend- 
ency of the Guelph party, the adherents of the Pope, in Italy. The 
body of Manfred, by order of the Pope's legates, was forbidden, on 
account of his dying while under a sentence of excommunication, 
to be buried in consecrated ground, and was therefore thrown into 
a ditch. Charles exercised his dominion in Sicily with cruelty and 
rigor, and oppressed the Sicilians, as their conqueror, with intolera- 
ble burdens. One act of the tyranny of this obedient vassal of the 
Pope deserves to be recorded as a specimen of his vindictiveness 
and cruelty. It was about the end of the year 1267 that the young 
Conradin, grandson of Frederic and nephew of Manfred, aged only 
sixteen years, in compliance with the invitation which had been pri- 
vately sent him by many of the Sicilian barons, to come and take 
possession of his paternal and hereditary kingdom, arrived at 
Verona, with 10,000 cavalry, to claim the inheritance of wdiich the 
popes had despoiled his family. All the Ghibelines and brave cap- 
tains, who had distinguished themselves in the service of his grand- 
father and uncle, hastened to join him, and to aid him with their 
swords and counsel. Conradin entered the kingdom of his fathers, 
and met Charles of Anjou in the plain of Tagliacozzo, on the 23d 
of August, 1368. A desperate battle ensued ; victory long remained 
doubtful. Conradin, forced at length to fly, was arrested, forty-five 
miles from Tagliacozzo, as he was about to embark for Sicily. He 
was* brought to Charles, who, without pity for his youth, esteem for 
his courage, or respect for his just right, exacted, from the iniqui- 
tous judges, before whom he subjected him to the mockery of a 
trial, a sentence of death : and this interesting and unfortunate 
young prince was beheaded in the market-place at Naples, on the 
26th of October, 1268. Thus by this series of usurpations, oppres- 
sions and cruelties, undertaken by order of the popes, was the pre- 
ponderance of the papal party once more established throughout 
Italy and Sicily.* 

§ 105. — The inhabitants of Sicily, though always distinguished 
for their zealous adherence to the Romish faith, submitted with 
impatience to the foreign yoke imposed on them through the influ- 
ence of the Pope. Oppressed by the victorious French soldiery 
which Charles of Anjou had brought with him into that island, they 
sighed for a return of the mild rule of their ancient race of sove- 
reigns, and had formed the design of expelling their oppressors, 
and establishing upon the throne Don Pedro, king of Arragon, the 
son-in-law of Manfred, and husband of Constance, who was a 
daughter of Manfred, and consequently a granddaughter of Fred- 
erick II. But, says Sismondi, " Sicily was destined to be delivered 
by a sudden and popular explosion, which took place at Palermo, 

* See Sismondi's Italian Republics, chap. iv. 



348 HI&TORY OF EOMAN1SM. [book v. 

The Sicilian vespers. Council of Lyons. Election of Pope in conclave decreed. 

on the 30th of March, 1282. It was excited by a French soldier, 
who treated rudely the person of a young bride, as she was pro- 
ceeding to the church of Montreal, with her betrothed husband, to 
receive the nuptial benediction. The indignation of her relations 
and friends was communicated with the rapidity of lightning to 
the whole population of Palermo. At that moment the bells of the 
churches were ringing for vespers : the people answered by the 
cry, ' To arms — death to the French !' The French were at- 
tacked furiously on all sides, and in a few hours more than 4000 of 
that hated nation were destroyed. Thus the Sicilian vespers over- 
threw the tyranny of Charles of Anjou and the Guelphs ; sepa- 
rated the kingdom of Sicily from that of Xaples ; and transferred 
the crown of the former to Don Pedro of Arragon, who was con- 
sidered the heir to the house of Hohenstaufen." 

§ 106. — The pontificate of Gregory X., who succeeded Clement 
IV. in 1271, is distinguished chiefly by the fourteenth general coun- 
cil, which was held at Lyons in 1274, in which the two principal 
subjects of deliberation were (1), the relief of the Christians in 
Palestine, and the preservation of the conquests of former cru- 
saders, and (2) the reunion of the Greek and Latin churches, which 
had for a long time been alienated from each other. Ambassadors 
were sent to it from the Greek emperor at Constantinople, and arti- 
cles of concord and union between the Greek and the Latin 
churches were agreed upon and adopted, and a eulogy was pro- 
nounced upon the emperor Michael Palaeologus, and his son An- 
dronicus, by the Pope, in the fourth session of the council, as the 
chief authors and promoters of this union. During the sessions of 
the council, the Pope and cardinals prevailed upon the archbishops, 
bishops, and abbots, to grant the tenth part of their income for the 
relief of the Christians in Palestine for the space of six years. But 
the most memorable act of this council was the law relative to the 
mode of electing a new pope, by which the cardinals were required 
to be shut up together in conclave during the election. The doors 
were to be carefully watched and guarded, so as to prevent all im- 
proper ingress or egress, and everything examined that was car- 
ried in, lest it should be calculated to influence the election. If the 
election were not over in three days, they were to be allowed but 
one dish for dinner ; and if protracted a fortnight longer, they were, 
after that, to be confined altogether to bread, wine, and water, and 
a majority of two thirds of the cardinals was required to make a 
lawful election. This famous law, though with some modifications, 
has been continued in force to the present time. 

§ 107. — Some time before this, the Pope had sent a letter of re- 
monstrance and warning to Henry, bishop of Liege, in relation to 
his vicious life. Of this letter the following is an extract. i; We 
hear/' says the Pope, "with great concern, that you are abandoned 
to incontinence and simony, and are the father of many children, 
some born before and some after your promotion to the episcopal 
dignity. You have taken an abbess of the order of St. Benedict 



cilip. xi.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 349 

Horrible profligacy in a popish bishop. The Annals of Baronius and Raynaldus. 

for your concubine, and have boasted, at a public entertainment, of 
your having had fourteen children in the space of two-and-twenty 
months, (!) To some of your children you have given benefices, 
and even trusted them, though under age, with the cure of souls. 
Others you have married advantageously at the expense of your 
bishopric. In one of your houses, called the park, you keep a nun, 
and when you v;sit her you leave all your attendants at the gate. 
The abbess of a monastery in your diocese dying, you annulled the 
canonical election of another, and named in her room the daughter 
of a count whose son has married one of your daughters ; and it is 
said that the new abbess has been delivered of a child by you." 
One would have thought that these charges were sufficient to ren- 
der the mitred criminal worthy of immediate deposition, but the 
Pope only exhorted him to lead a different life, and warned him that 
unless he should reform his manners, he should be obliged to pro- 
ceed against him. As he continued, however, to persevere in his 
course of open and shameless vice, he was compelled by the Pope, 
during the sessions of the council, to resign his bishopric. This 
notoric-us specimen of ecclesiastical profligacy was at last killed by 
some nobleman, whose female relative he had dishonored, and (as 
we are informed by the historian) left behind, at his death, no less 
than sixty-five illegitimate children !* While it is not denied that 
in this instance, the horribly vicious man who disgraced the episco- 
pal office was, ultimately, deposed for his crimes ; yet it affords a 
lamentable and striking illustration of the state of morals among 
the Romish clergy of that age, that a bishop could retain his office 
while engaged in such a course of open and notorious profligacy, 
long enough to warrant him in making the shameless boast at a 
public entertainment, mentioned in the above letter of the Pope. 

§ 108. — Gregory X., though of a much milder character than 
Hildebrand or Innocent III., yet did not hesitate, when occasion 
offered, of acting upon the odious maxim of these two popes — that 
the pope of Rome is lord of the world, and possesses an authority 
over all earthly princes and potentates. Thus, for instance, in the 
year 1271, when the empire was claimed by Alphonsus of Castile, 
to whose pretensions the Pope was opposed,f he wrote an imperi- 
ous letter to the German princes, commanding them to elect an em- 

* Concil., torn, xi., p. 922 ; Magnum Chron. Belgic. ; Bower, vi., 295. 

t See the letters of the Pope to Alphonsus, in the Annals of Raynaldus, the 
continuator of Baronius, ad Ann. 1274. As the great work of Baronius and 
Raynaldus has already heen, and will yet be, frequently referred to, and is a work 
of great weight and authority among Romanists, I would remark in this place, 
that cardinal Baronius was born in 1538, made a Cardinal by pope Clement VIII. 
in 1590, who also appointed him librarian of the Apostolic See. Upon the death 
oi Clement in 1605, he came near being chosen pope, as he had thirty votes of 
the cardinals in his favor. He undertook his Annals when 30 years of age, and 
after collecting and digesting materials, published the iirst volume in 1588, and 
the twelfth, which concludes with the year 1198, was published in the year of his 
death 1007. Baronius left materials for three more volumes, which were used by 
Raynaldus in his continuation of the work, from 1198 to 1534 
23 



350 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Under pope Nicholas III., the papal states become entirely independent of the empire. 

peror without delay, and assuring them that unless they immediately 
complied with his wishes he would save them the trouble by choos- 
ing one for them.* This threat was effectual, and Rudolph of Haps- 
burg was elected. 

§ 109. — Pope Gregory died in 1276, and after Innocent V., 
Adrian V. and John XXL, whose united reigns amounted to but a 
little over a year, was succeeded by the famous cardinal John 
Cajetan, who was elected Pope in November, 1277, and took the 
name of Nicholas III. It was under this Pope, as has already been 
mentioned, in the chapter on the temporal power of the popes (see 
page 178), that the last tie of the dependence of the popes upon 
the empire for their temporal sovereignty was broken. The cir- 
cumstances were these : — The chancellor of the empire had caused 
homage to be done to his imperial master, Rudolph, in the cities of 
Bologna, Ravenna, Urbino, &c, belonging to the states of the 
church. The Pope thinking the time had come to break off this 
nominal dependency on the empire, remonstrated, and Rudolph at 
once yielded to his wishes. The Pope then forwarded copies of 
all the grants (both pretended and real) of former emperors, and 
accompanied them with a new form of donation which he wished 
Rudolph to grant. The Emperor, knowing that he was chiefly in- 
debted to pope Gregory, one of the predecessors of Nicholas, for 
his own elevation, and that he needed the powerful support of the 
Pope against his own enemies, complied immediately with his re- 
quest, and granted the document confirming all former grants, as- 
signing the limits of the papal territory, and releasing for ever the 
Pope and his successors from all dependence for their dominion 
upon the empire.f * 

§ 110. — Nicholas III., who had thus augmented the authority of the 
Roman pontiffs, and placed their temporal sovereignty on a securer 
basis than ever before, died in the year 1281, and was succeeded 
by Martin IV., a pope who was inferior in arrogance and ambition 
to but few of his predecessors. As evidence of this may be men- 
tioned his excommunication of the emperor of Constantinople, 
Michael Palseulogus, in 1281, for pretended heresy and schism, and 
for having bioken the peace concluded between the Latin and 
Greek churches at the council of Lyons, a few years before, and 
also his excommunication the following year, of Don Pedro, king of 
Arragon, whose kingdom he also placed under an interdict, on ac- 
count of lu's opposition to Charles of Anjou, whom, as we have seen, 

* Praecepit principibus Alemanniae electoribus, ut de Romanorum rege, sicut 
sua ab antiqua et approbata consuetudine intererat, providerent, infra tempus eis 
ad hoc de Papa Gregorio statutum : alias ipse de consensu Cardinalium Romani 
imperii providere vellet desolationi. (Urslisii German Histor., ii., 93. Gieseler, 
ii., 234.) 

f Raynaldi Annal. ad Ann. 1279. Also, Annales veteres Mutinensium (inMu- 
ratorii Script. Rer. Ital.) : De anno 1277 : "Rodolphus Rex Romanorum donavit 
Civitatem Bononiae et Comitatum Romandiolae Papse Nicholas III., et sic Ec* 
clesia Romana facta fait domina illarum civitatum et ierrarum." 



chap, xi.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. 1). 1073-1303. 351 

Pope Martin deposes the king of Arragon. The sentence disregarded. Pope Celestine the hermit. 

popes Urban and Clement had aided in usurping the sovereignty of 
Sicily. But the terrors of these spiritual thunders had, for some 
years past, been gradually diminishing, and but little regard was 
paid by Don Pedro to the sentence of the Pope. Martin, therefore, 
proceeded to issue on the 22d of March, 1283, his papal bull, de- 
posing him from his kingdom of Arragon, absolving his subjects 
from their allegiance, and forbidding them on pain of excommuni- 
cation to obey him, or to give him the title of King, and granting 
his kingdom to any prince who would seize it; but of so little 
account was all this regarded by the king of Arragon, that we are 
informed he was accustomed to call himself, by way of derision of 
the Pope's sentence, " Don Pedro, a gentleman of Arragon, the 
father of two kings, and lord of the sea."* 

The fact is, that the long period of successful papal usurpation 
and tyranny was now rapidly drawing to a close. The gloom and 
darkness which had so long brooded over the world, was in many 
places beginning to disappear, before the glimmering light of 
increasing intelligence, and returning common sense. The mon- 
strous and tyrannical doctrines of Gregory VII. and Innocent III. 
had almost had their day, and emperors and kings had well nigh 
ceased to tremble at the nod of the spiritual tyrant of Rome, or like 
Henry of Germany, or John of England, humbly to sue for the 
privilege of kissing his foot, or prostrate to kneel at the feet of his 
Legate, and accept their crowns from his hands, to be worn as 
his vassals and tributaries. The period of papal usurpation intro- 
duced by Hildebrand, was about soon to terminate, and in nine 
years after the death of pope Martin, which took place in 1285, the 
last of the popes properly belonging to this period, ascended the 
papal throne. 

§111. Honorius IV., Nicholas IV. and Celestine V., successively 
occupied the chair of St. Peter during these nine years. Of the 
two former it is sufficient to say that, in their efforts to maintain 
the papal authority, they trod in the steps of their predecessors. 
The last named was a venerable old man of irreproachable morals, 
who had lived for years the life of a hermit. The circumstances of 
his election were as singular as the fact of a holy man being elected 
was rare. After the death of pope Nicholas, the cardinals, who 
were divided into two opposing parties, had spent more than two 
years in the vain attempt to agree upon a successor ; when one of 
them, after mentioning this hermit, inquired " why should we not 
put an end to our divisions and elect him V- and in a sudden burst of 
enthusiasm the proposal was unanimously adopted ; and the old 
hermit, much against his will, was persuaded to leave his retreat* 
and assumed the name of Celestine V. But it was an uncommon 
thing to see a man in the chair of St. Peter, who had even the repu- 
tation of sanctity, and the austerity of his manners was a tacit 
reproach upon the corruption of the Roman court, and more espe- 

* Villani, lib. vii., cap. 86, quoted by Bower, vi., p. 323. 



352 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [boox v. 

A good man for Pope ! Persuaded to resign, as unworthy of the office. Tyranny of Boniface VIII 

cially upon the luxury of the cardinals, and rendered him extremely 
disagreeable to a degenerate and licentious clergy ; and this dislike 
was so heightened by the whole course of his administration, 
which showed that he had more at heart the reformation and purity 
of the church, than the increase of its opulence and the propagation 
of its authority, that he was almost universally considered as unwor- 
thy of the pontificate. Hence it was, that several of the cardinals, 
and particularly Benedict Cajetan, who succeeded him, advised him 
to abdicate the papacy, which he had accepted with such reluctance, 
and they had the pleasure of seeing their advice followed with the 
utmost facility. The good man resigned his dignity the fourth 
month after his election, and died in the year 1296, in the castle of 
Fumone, where his tyrannic and suspicious successor kept him in 
captivity, that he might not be engaged, by the solicitations of his 
friends, to attempt the recovery of his abdicated honors. 

§ 112. — Cardinal Benedict Cajetan, after thus persuading the inof- 
fensive old man to resign, was himself, as he had anticipated, ele- 
vated to the popedom in the month of December, 1294, and assumed 
the name of Boniface VIII. The efforts of Boniface to exercise 
the despotism of Hildebrand were carried to a length that amounted 
almost to a phrenzy. But these insane attempts were behind the 
age ; it was half a century too late, and his mad sallies of ambition 
and passion resembled only the convulsive struggles of an expiring 
man. They were, in fact, the death-throes of papal tyranny and 
despotism. His most famous struggle, which is all we shall relate, 
was with Philip the Fair, king of France, on account of the levies 
made by that prince on the enormous revenues of the clergy, to 
aid in supporting the expenses of the state. With the hope of stop- 
ping these exactions, the Pope issued a bull, known by the initial 
words Clericus laicos, absolutely forbidding the clergy of every 
kingdom to pay, under whatever pretext of voluntary grant, gift, or 
loan, any sort of tribute to their government without his especial 
permission. Though France was not particularly named, the king 
understood himself to be intended, and took his revenge by a prohi- 
bition to export money from the kingdom. This produced angry 
remonstrances on the part of Boniface ; but the Gallican church 
adhered so faithfully to the crown, and showed indeed so much wil- 
lingness to be spoiled of their money, that he could not insist upon 
the most reasonable propositions of his bull, and ultimately allowed 
that the French clergy might assist their sovereign by voluntary 
contributions, though not by way of tax. For a very few years 
after these circumstances, the Pope and king of France appeared 
reconciled to each other. 

§ 113. — In the first year of the fourteenth century, however, a 
terrible storm broke out on the following occasion. A certain 
bishop of Pamiers was sent by the Pope as his nuncio, and had the 
insolence to threaten the King with deposition, unless he complied 
with the demands of his Holiness, in whom, he asserted, was vested 



chap, xi.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 353 

Pope Boniface's Hildcbrandic bull, Unam Sanctum. 

all power, both spiritual and temporal ;* in consequence of which 
behavior, Philip considering him as his own subject, was provoked 
to put. him under arrest with a view to institute a criminal process. 
Boniface, incensed beyond measure at this violation of ecclesiastical 
and legatine privileges, published several bulls addressed to the 
king and clergy of France, charging the former with a variety of 
offences, some of them not at all concerning the church, and com- 
manding the latter to attend a council which he had summoned to 
meet at Rome. In one of these instruments he declares in concise 
and clear terms that the king was subject to him in temporal as well 
as spiritual matters. Philip replied by a short letter in the rudest 
language, and ordered the Pope's bulls to be publicly burnt at Paris. 
Determined, however, to show the real strength of his opposition, he 
summoned representatives from the three orders of his kingdom. 
This is commonly reckoned the first assembly of the States-Gen- 
eral A. D. 1303. The nobility and commons disclaimed with firm- 
ness the temporal authority of the Pope, and conveyed their senti- 
ments to Rome through letters addressed to the college of cardinals. 
The clergy endeavored to steer a middle course, and were reluc- 
tant to enter into an engagement not to obey the Pope's summons, 
though they did not hesitate unequivocally to deny his temporal 
jurisdiction. 

§ 114. — Boniface opened his council at Rome, and notwithstand- 
ing the king's absolute prohibition, many French prelates held them- 
selves bound to be present. In this assembly Boniface promulgated 
his famous constitution, denominated Unam Sanctam. This is one 
of the most remarkable documents ever issued by the popes. 
It maintains that the church is one body, and has one head (the 
Pope). Under its command are two swords, the one spiritual and 
the other temporal. But I will let the decree speak for itself. 

" Uterque est in potestate ecclesiae, spir- Either sword is in the power of the 

itualis scilicet gladius et materialis. Sed church, that is to say, the spiritual and 

is quidem pro ecclesia, ille vero ab ec- the material. The former is to be used 

clesia exercendus : ille sacerdotis, is by the church, but the latter for the 

manu regum ac militum, sed ad nu- church. The one in the hand of the 

tum et patentiam sacerdotis. Opor- priest, the other in the hand of kings and 

tet autem gladium esse sub gladio, soldiers, but at the will and pleasure 

et temporalem auctoritatem spirituali of the priest. It is right that the tem- 

subjici potestati. Porro subesse Ro- poral sword and authority be subject to 

mano pontifici omni humante crea- ' the spiritual power. Moreover we de- 

TURJE DECLARAMUS, DICIMUS, DEFINIMUS, CLARE, SAY, DEFINE, AND PRONOUNCE 
ET PRONUNCIAMUS OMNINO ESSE DENECES- THAT EVERY HUMAN BEING SHOULD BE 

sitate fidei." (Exirav., lib. i., tit. 8, c. subject to the Roman pontiff, to be 

1.) AN ARTICLE OF NECESSARY FAITH. 

Another bull issued by the Pope at this time, commands all 
persons of whatever rank, to appear when personally cited before 
the audience or apostolical tribunal of Rome : " since such is our 
pleasure, who, by divine permission, rule the world." 

* Raynald Annal., ad Ann. 1300. 



354 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Death of Boniface VIII. Decline of the power of papacy from this time. 

§ 115. — As Philip treated the bulls of the Pope with neglect and 
contempt, Boniface issued a bull of excommunication against him, 
and made an offer of the crown of France to the emperor Albert L 
This prince, however, felt no eagerness to realize the liberal prom- 
ises of Boniface, who was on the point of issuing a bull, absolving 
the subjects of Philip from their allegiance, and declaring his for- 
feiture, when a very unexpected circumstance interrupted all his pro- 
jects. In the assembly of the states at Paris, king Philip preferred 
virulent charges against the Pope, denying him to have been legiti- 
mately elected,* imputing to him various heresies, and ultimately 
appealing to a general council and lawful head of the church. 
Without waiting, however, to mature this scheme of a general 
council, Philip succeeded in a bold and singular attempt. Nogaret, 
a minister who had taken an active share in all the proceed- 
ings against Boniface, was secretly dispatched into Italy, and, join- 
ing with some of the Colonna family, proscribed as Ghibelins, and 
rancorously persecuted by the Pope, arrested him at Anagnia, a 
town in the neighborhood of Rome, to which he had gone without 
guards. This violent action was not, one would imagine, calculated 
to place the King in an advantageous light ; yet it led accidentally 
to a favorable termination of his dispute. Boniface was soon res- 
cued by the inhabitants of Anagnia ; but rage brought on a fever, 
which ended in his death. 

§ 116. — " The sensible decline of the papacy," says HaJlarn, "is 
to be dated from the pontificate of Boniface VIII.,, who had strained 
its authority to a higher pitch than any of his predecessors. There 
is ajspefl wrought by uninterrupted good fortune, which captivates 
men's understanding, and persuades them, against reasoning and 
analogy, that violent power is immortal and irresistible. The spell 
is broken by the first change of success. Imprisoned, insulted, de- 
prived eventually of life by the violence of Philip, a prince excom- 
municated, and who had gone all lengths in defying and despising 
the papal jurisdiction, Boniface had every claim to be avenged by 
the inheritors of the same spiritual dominion. When Benedict XL, 
the successor of Boniface, perhaps learning wisdom from the fate 
of his predecessor, rescinded his bulls, and admitted Philip the 
Fair to communion, without insisting on any concessions, he acted 
perhaps prudently, but gave a fatal blow to the temporal authority 
of Rome."t 

With the death of Boniface we close the present division in our 
History of Romanism. In taking leave of the centuries during 
which Popery reigned Despot of the World, we are not to suppose 
that the popes subsequent to Boniface VIII., ever discarded, or 
indeed that the Romish church either at that time, or at any subse- 
quent period, has formally renounced the doctrine, which the popes 

* The reason for this charge, which was also preferred by the powerful family 
of the Colonna at Rome, against Boniface, was that the resignation of pope Celes- 
tine was not valid or legal, and was effected by means of Boniface. 

| Hallam's Middle Ages, chap. vii. 



chap, xi.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 355 

Popery unchanged and unchangeable in its principles. What Popery is, and what it has been 

of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries used to justify their usurpa- 
tions. By no means. The memory of Saint Gregory VII., to 
papists, is as fragrant as ever. Popery is unchanged and unchange- 
able. It is not, therefore, to be supposed that the successors of Boni- 
face had renounced the right of deposing kings and ruling the nations 
with a rod of iron, because the period of Popery the World's Despot 
is said to close with that pontiff, but only that by the successful oppo- 
sition of Philip of France, to this haughty and imperious Pope, this 
assumption of universal dominion over the whole earth received 
such a check, that future pontiffs were deterred from carrying the 
doctrines of Gregory VII. into practice with the same boldness or 
to the same extent as Hildebrand himself or his successors and 
imitators of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. 

In future periods we shall discover evidences that this doctrine 
was by no means abandoned, as in the instance of pope Pius V., 
and Elizabeth of England, and others ; but we shall see that in 
future periods the power of the pontiffs became so sensibly dimin- 
ished, that in order to carry into effect their maledictions against 
the sovereigns of the earth, the knife of the assassin or the torch of 
the incendiary were needed in addition to the spiritual fulminations 
of the Vatican. 

In closing our account of this most memorable period in the his- 
tory of Romanism, extending from Gregory VII., to Boniface VIIL, 
the more than two centuries during which Popery sat on the throne 
of the earth, and reigned Despot of the World, we cannot do better 
than borrow the words of the eloquent Hallam. " Five centuries 
have now elapsed, during every one of which the authority of the 
Roman See has successively declined. Slowly and silently reced- 
ing from their claims to temporal power, the pontiffs hardly pro- 
tect their dilapidated citadel from the revolutionary concussions of 
modern times, the rapacity of governments, and the growing averse- 
ness to ecclesiastical influence. But, if thus bearded by unmannerly 
and threatening innovation, they should occasionally forget that 
cautious policy which necessity has prescribed ; if they should 
attempt (an unavailing expedient !) to revive institutions which can 
be no longer operative, or principles that have died away, their 
defensive efforts will not be unnatural, nor ought to excite either 
indignation or alarm. A calm, comprehensive study of ecclesias- 
tical history, not in such scraps and fragments as the ordinary par- 
tisans of our ephemeral literature obtrude upon us, is perhaps the 
best antidote to extravagant apprehensions. Those who know 

WHAT ROME HAS ONCE BEEN, ARE BEST ABLE TO APPRECIATE WHAT SHE 
IS ; THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN THE THUNDERBOLT IN THE HANDS OF THE 
GREGORIES AND THE INNOCENTS, WILL HARDLY BE INTIMIDATED AT THE 
SALLIES OF DECREPITUDE, THE IMPOTENT DART OF PltlAM AMID THE 
CRACKLING RUINS OF TrOY !"* 

* History of Middle Ages, page 304. 



356 



CHAPTER XII. 

PURGATORY, INDULGENCES, AND ROMISH JUBILEES. 

§ 117. — The establishment by Boniface VIII. of the Romish Ju- 
bilee, a periodical festival at which indulgences were granted to 
all who should visit, during the Jubilee year, the churches of St. 
Peter and St. Paul at Rome, presents us with a suitable opportunity 
of tracing the origin of indulgences ; or of the power claimed 
by the popes, for certain pecuniary or other considerations, of re- 
mitting the temporal penalties annexed to sin in this life, and of 
shortening or remitting altogether the period of suffering in the 
flames of the imaginary purgatory, to which the souls of the de- 
parted were to be consigned after death. It is a part of the faith 
of Romanists, that a satisfaction in the place of these punishments 
has been instituted in what they call the sacrament of penance, and 
that the Pope has the power of remitting that satisfaction. This 
act of remission is called an indulgence ; it is partial or complete, 
as the indulgence is for a stated time or plenary, and the conditions 
of repentance and restitution are in strictness annexed to it. 
Through this doctrine the popes were, in fact, invested with a vast 
control over the human conscience, even in the moderate exercise 
of their power, because it was a power which overstepped the 
limits of the visible world. But when they proceeded, as, accord- 
ing to Dean Waddington, " they did proceed flagitiously to abuse 
it, and when, through the progress of that abuse, people were 
taught to believe, that perfect absolution from all the penalties of 
sin could be procured from a human being ; and procured too, not 
through fervent prayer and deep and earnest contrition, but by mili- 
tary service, or by pilgrimage, or even by gold — it was then that 
the evil was carried so far, as to leave the historian doubtful whe- 
ther anything be anywhere recorded more astonishing than the 
wickedness of the clergy, except the credulity of the vulgar."* 

§ 118. — That this pretended power of granting indulgences was 
unknown to the ancients, is evident from the writings of Romish 
authors themselves. Thus in the work of Alphonsus against here- 
sies, under the title of indulgences he makes the following candid 
admission, " Among all the matters of which we treat in this work, 
there is no one which the Scriptures less plainly teach, and of which 
the ancient writers say less." While we assent fully to the truth ol 
this remark, for the plain reason that there can be no quantity less 
than nothing at all, we cannot agree with the remark which fol- 
lows — " nevertheless indulgences are not on this account to be de- 
spised, because the use of them seems to have been late received 
in the church." Alphonsus then proceeds to a remark, the truth of 

* Waddington's Church History, p. 529. 



chap, xn.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 357 

Indulgences unknown to the ancients. Confessed by Romanist authors. Fiction of Purgatory- 

which cannot be doubted in relation to the doctrines of his own 
church — "There are many things of which the ancient writers 
were altogether ignorant, that are known to those who lived in a 
later age * posterioribus.' " After thus plainly speaking out the 
truth, he proceeds to inquire — " what is there so wonderful then, 
that, in relation to indulgences, it should happen that among the an- 
cients there should be no mention of them ? Although," he adds, 
"the testimony of the sacred Scriptures may be wanting in 
favor of indulgences, yet he who despises them is deservedly 
accounted a heretic," &c. Let the reader mark this extract 
well, as it declares, without disguise, what is the doctrine of Popery, 
in distinction from the grand protestant principle. — ' The bible and 
the bible only.' — On account of its importance the original of this 
extract is given in the note.* 

A similar testimony to the novelty of popish indulgences is 
given by Polydore Virgil, another famous Romish author, who, 
after stating that Boniface VIII. was the first who introduced the 
Jubilee and granted indulgences, * pcenarum remissionem,' to those 
who visited the thresholds of the apostles, then adds in words which 
are worthy of special attention, " and then the use of pardons, which 
they call indulgences, began to be famous, which pardons, for what 
cause, or by what authority they were brought in, or what they are 
good for, much troubles our modern divines to show."f 

" If we could have any certainty concerning the origin of indul- 
gences," says Cardinal Cajetan, " it would help us much in the dis- 
quisition of the truth of Purgatory : but we have not by writing 
any authority either of the holy Scriptures, or ancient doctors, 
Greek or Latin, which afford us the least knowledge thereof." J 

§ 119. — The truth is, that Romish indulgences, such as were 
granted in the days of Boniface VIII., and in the time of the crusades, 
were dependent for all their supposed importance upon the fiction of 
Purgatory. The comparatively trifling penances enjoined in this 
life, remitted by indulgences, were looked upon as of small account. 
It was the pretended power of the popes to remit hundreds or thou- 
sands of years of the tortures of purgatory, or, as in the case of a 
person who should die immediately after receiving plenary indul- 

* Inter omnes res de quibus in hoc opere disputamus, nulla est quam minus 
aperte sacrae literae prodiderint, et de qua minus velusti Scriptores dixerint . . . 
neque tamen hac occasione sunt condemnandae indulgentiae quod earum usus in 
ecclesia videatur sero receptus : quoniam multa sunt posterioribus nota, quae 
vetusti ill! Scriptores prorsus ignoraverunt. . . . Quid ergo minim si ad hunc 
modum contigerit de indulgentiis, ut apud priscos nulla sit de eis mentio ? . . . 
Etsi pro indulgentiarum approbatione sacrae IScripturae testimonium apcrtum desit, 
tamen qui contemnit, haereticus merito censeatur, &c. (Alphons. de Castro. Ad' 
vcr. Hares., lib. 8, Indulgeniia, as cited in the Cripplegate lectures.) 

f Ac ita veniarum quas indulgentias vocant jam turn usus Celebris esse ccepit, 
quae qua de causa, quave ex auctoritate inductac fuerint, aut quantum vMere vide- 
antur, nostri recentiores theologi ea de re egregie laborant. (Pdydor Virgil, de 
Invent. Rerum, lib. 8, cap. 1.) 

I De Ortu Indulgentiarum si certitudo habere posset, veritati indagandae opera 
ferret, &c. (Cajet. de Indulg. Opusc, torn. 1, tract 15, cap. 1.) 



358 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookv 

Purgatory established the importance of Indulgences. Origin of the purgatorian fiction. 

gence, to send the soul at once to heaven, without stopping at all 
at these purifying, but tormenting fires — it was this that gave to 
indulgences all their importance, and that enabled those who thus 
blasphemously pretended to this power over the invisible world, to 
wield such a tremendous influence over the ignorant and supersti- 
tious, and not only to enhance their authority, but to enrich their 
coffers at the expense of the deluded and terror-stricken multitude. 

Now, as it is impossible for the source to rise higher than the 
fountain, the invention of indulgences must be subsequent to that of 
purgatory, and as the latter can boast no higher origin than the age 
of Gregory, about the close of the sixth century,* or at the very ear- 
liest, the time of Augustine, who died in 430, of course the doctrine 
of indulgences must be of still more recent date. 

§ 120. — Augustine, according to the learned Edgar,f seems to have 
been the first Christian author, who entertained the idea of purify- 
ing the soul while the body lay in the tomb. The African Saint, 
though, in some instances, he evinced judgment and piety, dis- 
played, on many occasions, unqualified and glaring inconsistency. 
His opinions on purgatorian punishment exhibit many instances of 
fickleness and incongruity. He declares, in many places, against 
any intermediate state after death between heaven and hell. He 
rejects, in emphatical language, " the idea of a third place, as un- 
known to Christians and foreign to revelation." He acknowledges 
only two habitations, the one of eternal glory and the other of end- 
less misery. Man, he avers, " will appear in the last day of the 
world as he was in the last day of his life, and will be judged in the 
same state in which he had died." J 

But, notwithstanding this unequivocal language, Augustine is, at 
other times, full of doubt and difficulty. The subject, he grants, 
and with truth, is one that he could never clearly understand. He 
admits the salvation of some by the fire mentioned by the Apostle. 
This, however, he sometimes interprets to signify temporal tribula- 
tion before death, and sometimes the general conflagration after the 
resurrection. He generally extends this ordeal to all men without 
any exception : and he conjectures, in a few instances, that this fire 
may, as a temporary purification, be applied to some in the interval 
between death and the general judgment. This interpretation, 
however, he offers as a mere hypothetical speculation. He cannot 
tell whether the temporary punishment is " here or will be hereafter ; 
or whether it is here that it may not be hereafter." The idea, he 

* Gabriel Biel, on the Canon of the Mass, lect. 57, saith, " We must confess, 
that before the time of Gregory (Anno 596), the use of indulgences was very little 
if at all known, but now the practice of them is grown frequent." Dicendum 
quod ante tempora B. liregorii, modicus vel nullus fuit usus Indulgentiarum, nunc 
autem crebrescit usus earum. (G. Biel, lect. 57.) 

f See Edgar's Variations, ch. xvi. passim. 

I In quo enim quemque invenerit suus novissimus dies, in hoc eum comprehen- 
det mundi novissimus dies ; quoniam qualis in die isto quisque moritur, talis in die 
illo judicabitur. (Auguslin, ad Hesych., 2, 743.) 



chap, xii.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 359 

Augustine's and Gregory's obscure hints relative to Purgatory. Inconsistent with themselves. 

grants, is a supposition without any proof, and H. unsupported by any 
canonical authority." He would not, however, " contradict the pre- 
sumption, because it might perhaps be the truth."* 

Augustine's doubts show, to a demonstration, the novelty of the 
purgatorian chimera. His conjectural statements and his difficulty 
of decision afford decided proof, that this dogma, in bis day, was no 
article of faith. The saint would never have made an acknow- 
ledged doctrine of the church a subject of hesitation and inquiry. 
He would not have represented a received opinion as destitute of 
canonical authority : much less would he have acknowledged a 
heaven and a hell, and, at the same time, in direct unambiguous 
language, disavowed a third or middle place. Purgatory, there- 
fore, in the beginning of the fifth century, was no tenet of theology. 
Augustine seems to have been the connecting link between the ex- 
clusion and reception of this theory. The fiction, after his day, was, 
owing to circumstances, slowly and after several ages admitted into 
Romanism. 

The innovation, however, notwithstanding the authority of Au- 
gustine and the Vandalism of the age, made slow progress. A loose 
and indetermined idea of temporary punishment and atonement after 
death, floated at random through the minds of men. The super- 
stition, congenial with the human soul, especially when destitute of 
religious and literary attainments, continued, in gradual and tardy 
advances, to receive new accessions. The notion, in this crude and 
indigested state, and augmenting by continual accumulations, pro- 
ceeded to the popedom of Gregory in the end of the sixth century. 

§ 121. — Gregory, like Augustine, spoke on this theme with striking 
indecision. The Roman pontiff and the African saint, discoursing 
on venial frailty and posthumous atonement, wrote with hesitation 
and inconsistency. In his annotations on Job, Gregory disclaims 
an intermediate state of propitiation. " Mercy, if once a fault con- 
sign to punishment, will not, says the pontiff, afterward return to 
pardon. A holy or a malignant spirit seizes the soul, departing at 
death from the body, and detains it for ever without any change."f 
This, at the present day, would hardly pass for popish orthodoxy. 
This, in modern times, would, at the Vatican, be accounted little 
better than Protestantism. His Holiness, however, dares nobly to 
vary from himself. The annotator and the dialogist are not the 
same person, or at least do not teach the same faith. The vicar- 
general of God, in his dialogues, " teaches the belief of a purga- 
torian fire, prior to the general judgment, for trivial orTences."{ 

* Sive ibi tantum, sive et hie et ibi, sive ideo hie ut non ibi non redarguo, quia 
forshan verum est. {Aug. C. D. XXI. 26, P. 649.) In eis nulla velut canonica con- 
Btituitur authoritas. (Aug. Did. 6, 131, 132.) 

f Si sernel culpa ad pcenam pertrahit, misericordia ulterius adveniam non red li- 
cet. (Greg, in Job viii., 10.) Humani casus tempore, sive sanctus sive malignus 
spiritus, egredientem animam claustra carnis acceperit, in acternum secum Bine 
ulla permutatione retinebit. (Greg, in Job viii., 8.) 

J De quibusdam levibus culpis, esse, ante judicium, purgatorius ignis credendus 
est. (Greg. Dial, iv. } 39.) 



360 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Gregory the discoverer of Purgatory. Progress of the fiction slow. 

Gregory has, by several authors, been represented as the dis- 
coverer or rather the creator of purgatory. Otho, a learned histo- 
rian of the twelfth century, and a man of extensive information, 
accounted this pontiff's fabulous dialogues the foundation of the pur- 
gatorian fiction. Bruys, in modern times, agreeing with Otho, 
represents Gregory as the person who discovered this middle state 
for venal sinners.* The pontiff himself seems to confess the nov- 
elty of the system. Many things, says he, have in these last times 
become clear, which were formerly concealed. f This declaration 
is in the dialogue that announces the existence of purgatory ; which, 
he reckons, was one of the bright discoveries that distinguished his 
age. This consideration perhaps will account for the pontiff's incon- 
sistency. The hierarch, as already shown, both opposed and advo- 
cated the purgatorian theology. The innovation mentioned in this 
manner with doubt by Augustine, and recommended with inconsis- 
tency by Gregory, men of high authority in their day continued to 
spread and claim the attention and belief of men. 

The progress of the fabrication, however, was slow. Its move- 
ments to perfection were as tardy, as its introduction into Chris- 
tendom had been late. Its belief obtained no general establish- 
ment in the Christian commonwealth for ages after Gregory's death 
The council of Aix la Chapelle, in 838, decided in direct opposi- 
tion to posthumous satisfaction or pardon. This synod mentions 
" three ways of punishment for men's sins." Of these, two are in 
this life and one after death. " Sins," said this assembly, " are, in this 
world, punished by the repentance or compunction of the transgres- 
sor, and by the correction or chastisement of God. The third, after 
death, is tremendous and awful, when the judge shall say, depart 
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and 
his angels."J The fathers of this council knew nothing of purga- 
tory, and left no room for its expiation. The innovation, in 998, 
obtained an establishment at Clugny. Odilo, whom Fulbert calls " an 
archangel," and Baronius the " brightest star of the age," opened an 
extensive mart of prayers and masses for the use of souls detained 
in purgatory. Fulbcrt's archangel seems, in this department, to 
have excelled all his predecessors. A few, in several places, had 
begun to retail intercessions for the purgatorians. But Odilo com- 
menced business on a much larger scale, upon the establishment of 
the feast of All-souls in 993, prompted by the howlings of the devils 
of Etna, in consequence of the efficacy of the prayers of Odilo's 
holy monks, in snatching from their hands the souls of those who 
were tormented in purgatorian fires. 

* Gregoire en fit la (purgatoire) decouverte dans ses beaux dialogues. (Bruys, 
1, 378. Otho, Ann. 1146.) 

f In his extremis temporibus, tam multa animabus clarescunt, quae ante latue- 
runt. (Gregory, Dial. IV., 40.) 

\ Tribas modis peccata mortalium vindicantur ; duobus in hac vita: tertio vero 
in futura vita. Tertia autem extat valde pertimescenda et terribiJis, quae non in 
hoc sed in futuro justissimo, Dei judicio fiet saeculo, quando Justus judex dicturus 
est, discedite a mc, malediciti, in ignem aeternum. (Labb., 6, 844. Brab., 2, 711.) 



chap, xii.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 361 

Drithelm's visit to the purgatorian regions. Horrible description of tormenta 

§ 122. — The most dreadful descriptions of the torments endured 
in these imaginary regions, founded upon dreams, visions or super- 
natural revelations, were given by fanatical or designing priests and 
monks, calculated to awaken the terror of the superstitious, and to 
induce them to leave no means untried which might shorten their 
own period of suffering, or by a better fortune, enable them to 
avoid altogether the necessity of making a visit to purgatory, on 
their way to heaven. A single instance of these descriptions will 
be sufficient to give an idea of the general character of the whole. 
It is related by Bellarmine and others that one Drithelm, dur- 
ing a visit to the spiritual world, was led on his journey by 
an angel in shining raiment, and proceeded, in the company of his 
guide, toward the rising of the sun. The travellers, at length, 
arrived in a valley of vast dimensions. This region, to the left, was 
covered with roasting furnaces, and, to the right, with icy cold, hail, 
and snow. The whole valley was filled with human souls, which a 
tempest seemed to toss in all directions. The unhappy spirits, 
unable in the one part to bear the violent heat, leaped into the shiv- 
ering cold, which again drove them into the scorching flames which 
cannot be extinguished. A numberless multitude of deformed souls 
were, in this manner, whirled about and tormented without inter- 
mission in the extremes of alternate heat and cold. This, according 
to the angelic conductor who piloted Drithelm, is the place of chas- 
tisement for such as defer confession and amendment till the hour of 
death. All these, however, will, at the last day, be admitted to 
heaven : while many, through alms, vigils, prayers, and especially 
the mass, will be liberated even before the general judgment.* 

§ 123. — With such horrible materials to work upon the fears of 
the superstitious multitude — ever ready, in the dark ages, to swal- 
low the grossest absurdities of monkish imposture, and cherishing 
implicit faith in the almost unbounded power of their spiritual 
guides — it was no difficult thing to base upon the fiction of purga- 
tory the doctrine of indulgences ; first to excite the fears of the 
multitude by portraying in vivid colors the torments of the one, and 
then by working upon those fears, and inculcating the unlimited 
power of the Pope and the priesthood over these terrible regions, to 
lay a foundation for the establishment of the other, f " So long," 
says a Roman Catholic author, " as there was no fear of purga- 
tory, no man sought indulgences, for all the account of indulgence 
depends on purgatory. If you deny purgatory, what need of indul- 

* Bell., 1, 7. Faber, 2, 449. Edgar, 456. 

f There is much force in the following sarcastic but truthful rebuke, by arch- 
bishop Tillotson, of the popish fictions of Purgatory and Indulgences: — " We 
make no money," says that learned prelate, "of Lhe mistakes of the people ; nor 
do we fill their heads with fears of new places of torment, to make them empty 
their purses in a vainer hope to be delivered out of them : we do not, like them, 
pretend a mighty bank and treasure of merits in the church, which they .-ell for 
ready money, giving them bills of exchange from the Pope on Purgatory $ when 
they who grant them have no reason to believe they will avail them, or be accepted 
in the other world." (Til, vol. iii., serm. 30, p. 320.) 



362 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book v. 

Indulgences to reward the crusaders in Palestine, and the piou3 butchers of the Waldensian heretics. 

gences ? Indulgences began after men were frighted with the 

PAINS OF PURGATORY."* 

A similar opinion is expressed by Navarrius, the Pope's peniten- 
tiary, who asks, " What is the cause that among the ancients so 
little mention is made of indulgences, and among the moderns they 
are in such use ? John of Rochester, most holy and reverend for 
his dignity of bishop and cardinal, hath taught us the reason, saying 
that the explicit faith of purgatory or indulgences was not so neces- 
sary in the primitive church as now ; and again, while there was 
no heed taken to purgatory, and no man inquired after indulgences, 
because thereupon dependeth the property and worth of them." 
* Quare autem apud antiquos tarn rara, et apud recentiores tarn fre- 
quens Indulgentiarum mentio V &c. (Navar. Com. de Joel, et In- 
dulge p. 445.) 

The practice of granting indulgences remitting for certain pecu- 
niary or other considerations, a portion or the whole of the pains 
of purgatory, was gradually grafted upon the belief of that fiction, 
but was little used for several centuries after the invention of purga- 
tory. Pope Urban II., the originator of the crusades, in the elev- 
enth century, appears to have been the first who made any exten- 
sive use of these indulgences, as a recompense for those who engag- 
ed in the glorious enterprise of conquering the Holy land ; though 
it is admitted by Cardinal Baronius, that Gregory VII. had some 
few years earlier granted the full remission of all their sins, to 
those who should fight against his celebrated enemy, the unfortu- 
nate Henry IV. 

The same use was made of this imaginary power of the Pope 
and the priesthood, in exciting the fierce and fanatical multitude a 
century or two later, against the persecuted Albigenses of the South 
of France. Plenary remission of sins, and immediate admission to 
heaven, if they should die in the enterprise, were liberally promised 
to all who should engage in the pious work of exterminating with 
fire and sword, the Waldensian heretics ;f and some who from 
their sex or age could take no part in this holy war, would cast a 
stone into the air, with an exclamation that it was aimed " against 
the wicked Raimond and the heretics," in order that they might claim 
a share in these papal indulgences. 

§ 124. — In the twelfth century, according to Mosheim, the 
Roman pontiffs thought proper to limit the power of the bishops, 
who had lately been driving a lucrative trade in the sale of indul- 
gences, and assumed, almost entirely, this profitable traffic to them- 

* Quamdiu nulla fuerat de purgatorio cura, nemo quaesivit indulgentias, nam 
ex Mo pendet omnis indulgentiarum existimatio. Si tollas purgatorium, qnorsum 
indulgentiis opus erit ? Cjeperunt iglttjr indulgently, postqtjam ad purgatorii 
crtjciattjs aliqtjanditj TREPIDATUM est. (Johan. Roffen. Assert. Lutheran Con* 
fat., cited in Crip lee.) 

* Plenam peccaminum veniam indulgemus, et in retributione justorum salutis 
aeternas pollicemur augmentum. (Labb., 14, 64. Bury, 3, 13. Du Pin, 2, 335. 
Edgar, 218.) 



chap, xh.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 363 

Works of Supererogation. Still the doctrine of Rome. Jubilee bull of 1824. 

selves. In consequence of this new measure, the court of Rome 
became the general magazine of indulgences ; and the pontiffs, 
when either the wants of the church, the emptiness of their coffers, 
or the demon of avarice, prompted them to look out for new sub- 
sidies, published, not only a universal, but also a complete* or what 
they called a plenary remission of all the temporal pains and penal- 
ties, which the church had annexed to certain transgressions. They 
went still farther ; and not only remitted the penalties, which the 
civil and ecclesiastical laws had enacted against transgressors, but 
audaciously usurped the authority which belongs to God alone, and 
impiously pretended to abolish even the punishments which are re- 
served in a future state for the workers of iniquity. Such proceed- 
ings stood much in need of a plausible defence, but this was im- 
possible. To justify therefore these scandalous measures of the 
pontiffs, the monstrous and absurd d"Octrine of Works of Superero- 
gation was now invented, which was modified and embellished by 
St. Thomas in the thirteenth century, and which contained among 
others the following enormities : " That there actually existed an 
immense treasure of merit, composed of the pious deeds, and vir- 
tuous actions, which the saints had performed beyond what was ne- 
cessary for their own salvation, and which were therefore applica- 
ble to the benefit of others ; that the guardian and dispenser of this 
precious treasure was the Roman pontiff; and that of consequence 
he was empowered to assign to such as he thought proper, a por- 
tion of this inexhaustible source of merit, suitable to their respec- 
tive amount of guilt, and sufficient to deliver them from the punish- 
ment due to their crimes." " It is a most deplorable mark," adds 
Mosheim, " of the power of superstition, that a doctrine, so absurd 
in its nature, and so pernicious in its effects, should still be retained 
and defended in the church of Rome."*' 

§ 125. — It was reserved for the ingenuity of pope Boniface VIII. 
to devise an expedient whereby this gainful traffic in indulgences 
might realize, in a single year, an amount of money equal, perhaps, 

* As a proof that this doctrine of Works of Supererogation has not been aban- 
doned, during the century that has almost elapsed from the death of Mosheim, 
and that the Pope still claims the possession of the key of that superabundant store 
of merit, consisting not only of the merits of Christ, but also of the Virgin and 
all the saints, we quote the following extract from the Jubilee Bull of pope 
Leo, issued from the Vatican at Rome, in 1824. "We have resolved," says he, 
"by virtue of the authority given. to us from heaven, fully to unlock that sacred 
treasure composed of the merits, sufferings, and virtues of Christ our Lord, and 
of his virgin mother, and of all the saints which the author of human sal- 
vation has intrusted to our dispensation. To you, therefore, venerable 
brethren, patriarchs, primates, archbishops, bishops, it belongs to explain with per- 
spicuity the power of indulgences: what is their efficacy in the remission, not 
only of the canonical penance, but also of the temporal punishment due to the 
divine justice for past sin ; and what succor is afforded out of this heavenly treasure, 
from the merits of Christ and his saints, to such as have departed real penitents 
in God's love, yet before they had duly satisfied by fruits worthy of penance for 
sins of commission and omission, and are now purifying in the fire or 

PURGATORY." 



364 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book y. 

Romish Jubilee established by Boniface VIII. Jubilee for indulgences on a smaller scale in Ireland 

to the united previous gains of a century. This was by the esta- 
blishment in the year 1300, of the famous Jubilee, which is still 
celebrated at Rome at stated periods,* and continues to be a profit- 
able source of enriching the coffers of the popes, though the income 
arising therefrom, amidst the light of the nineteenth century, must, 
of course, fall vastly short of the immense revenue extorted from 
the fears of the ignorant and the superstitious at the comparatively 
dark and gloomy period of its original establishment. 

Boniface was, doubtless, the inventor of the Jubilee ; notwith- 

* These Jubilees for plenary indulgence, are sometimes granted on a smaller 
scale, by the special favor of his Holiness, the Pope. Thus, for instance, a few 
years ago, a plenary indulgence in the form of a Jubilee, was sent by pope Pius 
VTL, to Dr. Moylan, bishop of Cork, granted on the 14th of May, 1809, and pub- 
lished in Cork, Anno 1813, as appears by the following extracts from the doctor's 
pastoral address : 

" Beloved Brethren. — Animated with the warmest desires of promoting your 
eternal welfare, we resolved immediately on completing our cathedral chapel, to 
establish a mission in it of pious exercises and instructions for the space of a 
month, in order to induce our brethren to attend thereat, and to profit by those 
effectual means of sanctification, we have applied to the holy See for a solemn 
plenary indulgence, in the form of a Jubilee, which the holy father was most graci- 
ously pleased to grant by a bull, as follows : 

"'Pius VII., by divine Providence, pope, grants unto each and to every one of 
the faithful of Christ, who, after assisting at least eight times at the holy exercise 
of the mission (in the new cathedral of Cork), shall confess his or her sins, with 
true contrition, and approach unto the holy communion — shall visit the said cathe- 
dral chapel, and there offer up to God for some time, pious and fervent prayers for 
the propagation of the holy Catholic faith, and to our intention, a plenary indul- 
gence, applicable to the souls in purgatory by way of suffrage, and in this form of 
a Jubilee.' 

" Such, beloved brethren, is the great, the inestimable grace offered to us by the 
vicar of Jesus Christ. Let sinners, by its means, become just, and let the just, by it, 
become more justified. Behold, the treasures of God's grace are now open to you ! 
The ministers of Jesus Christ, invested with his authority, and animated by his 
Spirit, expect you with a holy impatience, ready to ease you of that heavy burden of 
sin, under which you have so long labored. Were your sins as red as scarlet, by the 
grace of the absolution and application of this plenary indulgence, your souls shall 
become white as snow, &c. 

" Wherefore, dearly beloved, that you may all know that which, according to 
the bull of his Holiness, is necessary to gain the benefit of this plenary indulgence; 
granted in the form of a Jubilee, you will observe, 

" First, That it will commence in the new cathedral chapel on the first Sunday 
in Advent, being the 28th day of November instant, and to continue to the festival 
of St. John the evangelist, the 27th day of December. Second, to gain this ple- 
nary indulgence, it is necessary to be truly penitent, to make a good confession, &c, 
according to the above bull and intention of our holy father the Pope, five paters, 
and five aves, and a creed, to the above intention, fulfil the above obligations. 
Thirdly, All priests approved of by us to hear confessions can, during the above 
time, absolve all such persons as present themselves with due dispositions at con- 
fession, in order to obtain this plenary indulgence, from all sins and censures re- 
served to the holy See or to us, they enjoining on such persons as are thus absolv- 
ed, a salutary "penance. 

" We order this pastoral letter and instruction to be read in every chapel in the 
diocese, in town and country, at every mass, on Sunday the 14th, the 21st, the 
28th of November instant, and on Sunday the 5th of December next. Given at 
Cork,Nov. 2, 1813." (Letters of i( Amicus Hibernicus." Rev. P. Roe, Dublin, 1816.) 



chap, xii.] POPERY THE WORLD'S DESPOT— A. D. 1073-1303. 365 

Pomp and splendor of the Jubilee of Boniface. Immense sums obtained by means of it. 

standing the vague and fabulous story related by Cardinal Cajetan, 
about the aged Savoyard, 107 years old, who, upon his arrival at 
Rome, is said to have asserted, that at the close of the preceding 
century, he had visited that city on a similar occasion, in company 
with his father, and that now in his extreme old age, he had tra- 
velled to Rome in consequence of his father's words to him on his 
former visit, " that if he lived to the end of the next century, and 
then came to Rome, he would obtain a plenary indulgence, or full 
remission of all his sins."* It would be of very little importance 
if this story were true, as it would only throw the origin of this 
popish invention a century or two back, yet it is worthy of remark, 
that if the Jubilee had been before observed, there would doubtless 
have been some historical record of the fact, and its truth would 
not have been dependent upon the pretended recollection of an ob- 
scure old man. 

§ 126. — The pomp and splendor of this Jubilee of Boniface, the 
countless multitudes that thronged the city, and the immense 
amount of treasure that was left behind by the pilgrims, are the 
themes upon which contemporary and succeeding writers delight 
to dwell with rapture and admiration. Some relate that on the 
first day of the Jubilee, the Pope presented himself before the peo- 
ple to give them his blessing, in his gorgeous pontifical robes, and 
on the second day in an imperial mantle, with two swords carried 
before him, denoting his supreme, temporal, and spiritual power. 
Villani, the contemporary Florentine historian, who was at Rome, 
on this occasion, gives an amusing account of the innumerable mul- 
titudes who visited that city to avail themselves of these indul- 
gences, and thus escape the pains of purgatory, so that the whole 
city had the appearance of a vast crowd, and in passing from one 
part of the city to another, it was difficult to press through the 
multitude^ 

Cardinal Cajetan relates that the offerings made at the tombs of 
St. Peter and Paul, in brass money alone, and, of course, princi- 
pally by the poorer pilgrims, amounted to fifty thousand florins of 
gold, and hence leaves his readers to imagine the almost incalcu- 
lable sums contributed by the more wealthy in gold and silver ;f 
and another writer describes " a couple of priests, standing at the 
altar of St. Paul, night and day, holding in their hands small rakes, 
4 rastcllns,' and raking up * rastellantes,' an infinite amount of 
moncy."§ 

§ 127. — In the year 1343, pope Clement VI., being unwilling to let 

* The work from which this story is derived, is entitled " Relalio ds Cenlesimo 
seu Jubilxo anno" by James Cajetan, cardinal of St. George. The false and 
fabulous character of the story has been well exposed by M. Chais, in his " Lei- 
Ires 8ur les Jubiles," torn i., p. 53. 

t Villani, lib. viii., c. 36. Bower, vi., 356. 

J Apud. Raynald. Annal., ad Ann. 1300. 

§ " Papa innumerabilem pectiniam ab iisdem reccpit quia, die et nocte, duo clerici 
stabant ad altare Sancti Pauli, tencntcs in eorum manibus rastcllos, rastellantes 
pecuniam inlinitam." (Muralori.) 
24 



366 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

Jubilee of Clement VI. Vast number present. Altered eventually to 25 years 

so favorable an opportunity slip of enriching his coffers, reduced the 
time of a Jubilee from once to twice in a century, and issued his bull 
for another celebration in 1350. "This bull being everywhere 
published, pilgrims flocked in such crowds to Rome, from all parts 
of the then known world, that one would have thought," says 
Petrarch, who was present, " that the plague, which had almost 
unpeopled the world, had not so much as thinned it :" and another 
spectator tells us that on Passion-Sunday, when the famous Ve- 
ronica was shown, the crowd was so great, that many were 
stifled on the spot. Matthew Villani, who has continued the valu- 
able history of his brother John Villani, and was at this time in 
Rome, says it was impossible to ascertain the present number of 
pilgrims, constantly in that city, from the beginning of the Jubilee 
year to the end, but that, by the computation of the Romans, it 
daily amounted to between a million and twelve hundred thousand 
from Christmas, 1349, to Easter, which, in 1350, fell on the 28th of 
March, and to eight hundred thousand from Easter to Ascension- 
Day and Whitsunday ; that notwithstanding the heats of that sum- 
mer, and the busy harvest time, it was no day under two hundred 
thousand, and that the concourse at the end was equal to that at the 
beginning of the year.* Meyer writes, that " out of such an immense 
multitude of persons of both sexes, of all ages and conditions, scarce 
one in ten" had the good luck to return home, but died either of the 
fatigues of so long a journey, or for want of necessaries."! The 
time of the popish Jubilee was subsequently altered to twenty-five 
years, at which it still continues. The last was held in 1825, and 
the next will, of course, take place in 1850. 

* Villani, 1. i., c. 56. t Bower vi., 471. 



367 



BOOK VI 



POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE. 



FROM THE DEATH OF BONIFACE VIII. A. D. 1303, TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF TIIE 
COUNCIL OF TRENT, A. D. 1545. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE RESIDENCE OF THE POPES AT AVrGNON, AND THE GREAT WEST- 
ERN SCHISM. 

§ 1. — In tracing the history of Romanism hitherto, we have seen 
that its progress has been constantly onward. Springing up by 
degrees, in various early 'forms of error, we have traced the pro- 
gress of Popery in embryo, till the establishment of papal su- 
premacy cemented those errors into a system, and the newly-ac- 
quired authority of the pretended successor of St. Peter rendered 
them obligatory upon all. From Popery at its birth in 606, we 
have followed that anti-Christian power in its onward march, till, 
increasing in pride and strength, it united the temporal sovereignty 
to the spiritual supremacy in 756. From that epoch, w T e have seen 
it steadily advancing step by step, with giant strides, till, at length, 
trampling upon the pride of the mightiest monarchs, and marching 
onward through seas of blood — the blood of the martyrs of Jesus 
— we have beheld the professed successors of the humble apostle 
Peter, claiming and exercising universal sovereignty over the na- 
tions of the earth ; and successfully daring, for more than two cen- 
turies — from Hildebrand to Boniface — to fulminate their excommu- 
nications at the heads of emperors and kings, to clothe whole na- 
tions in mourning and sackcloth by the mysterious and terrible 
power of their interdicts, and to claim for themselves the same un- 
limited obedience and submission from all the dwellers upon earth, 
as is due to Almighty Cod himself, of whom they declared them- 
selves the vicegerents. In centuries of universal degeneracy and 
darkness, we have seen them doing all this, in spite of the greatest 
moral turpitude and profligacy of character, and their total want 
of resemblance to HIM who was meek and lowly of heart, and 
who said, " my kingdom is not of this world." 

We have now followed the march of Popery to its culminating 
point, and henceforward we are to contemplate its retrograde mo- 



368 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Decline of the tyrannical power of the popes from the time of Boniface VIII. 

tion ; not in pride, but m power ; not in willingness, but in ability 
to carry into exercise those tyrannical and bloody principles which 
it has never renounced, and of the retention of which we shall yet 
have abundant evidences in succeeding centuries. 

From the age of pope Boniface and king Philip, we shall see 
this mighty power which had so long reigned as Despot of the 
world, under the repeated blows, at one period, of some puissant 
monarch disgusted with its tyranny and pride ; and at another, of 
some bold and fearless reformer — of a "Wickliff, a Huss, a Jerome, 
a Luther — aiming with strong and sturdy arm, at its very founda- 
tions, — shaking upon a tottering throne, — and trembling for its 
very existence ; and yet striving, in efforts which may be compared 
to the convulsive death-throes of an expiring giant, to crush all its 
assailants, and to hold the nations of the earth yet longer in its 
slavish chains. 

§ 2. — Up to the commencement of the fourteenth century, the 
progress of Popery was like that of a young Hercules — with 
strength enough, even in his cradle, to strangle his assailants — from 
birth to boyhood, from adolescence to manhood, from manhood to 
giant strength. The attempt of Boniface to wield the powder of a 
Gregory, was like Hercules arraying himself in the poisoned tunic 
of the Centaur. From that hour the giant strength of Popery was 
paralysed; the might of the Romish Horcules had departed, and 
monarchs and nations no longer quaked at the sight of his club. 

" The reign of Boniface," says a recent historian, " was fatal to 
the papal power ; he exaggerated its pretensions at the moment 
when the world had begun to discover the weakness of its claims; 
in the attempt to extend its influence further than any of his pre- 
decessors, he exhausted the sources of his strength ; and none of his 
successors, however ardeut, ventured to revive pretensions which 
had excited so many wars, shed so much blood, and dethroned so 
many kings. The death of Boniface marks an important era in 
the history of Popery ; from this time we shall see it concentrating 
its strength, and husbanding its resources ; fighting only on the de- 
fensive, it no longer provokes the hostility of kings, or seeks cause 
of quarrel with the emperors. The bulls that terrified Christen- 
dom must repose as literary curiosities in the archives of St. Ange- 
lo, and though the claims to universal supremacy will not be re- 
nounced, there will be no effort made to enforce them. A few 
pontiffs will be found now and then reviving the claims of Gregory, 
of Innocent, and of Boniface ; but their attempts will be found de- 
sultory and of brief duration, like the last flashes, fierce but few, 
that break out from the ashes of a conflagration."* 

§ 3. — In addition to the moral influence of the triumph of Philip 
over Boniface, of royal over papal power, the power of the popedom 
was very much weakened throughout the fourteenth century by the 

* See Manual of Ancient and Modern History, by W. C. Taylor, LL.D.» of 
Trinity College, Dublin, p. 447. 



chap, i.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 369 

The residence of the popes in France, called the Seventy years' captivity. The Avignon Popes. 

removal of the papal court from Italy to France, from Rome to 
Avignon, and still more by the violent contest called the Great 
Western Schism, at the close of the seventy years' captivity in 
Babylon (as the residence of the popes at Avignon has been called, 
by way of derision), between rival popes, elected by the French and 
Italian factions respectively, at Avignon and Rome. After the brief 
reign of pope Benedict, the successor of Boniface VIII., king Philip 
of France succeeded by his skill and address in securing the elec- 
tion of one of his own subjects to the vacant See, who took the 
name of Clement V., fixed his residence in France, and passed the 
whole nine years of his reign in his native land, without once visit- 
ing Rome, the ancient seat of papal grandeur and power. Pope 
Clement, throughout the whole of his pontificate, whether from gra- 
titude to his royal patron, or from fear of sharing the fate of Boni- 
face, was the obedient tool of king Philip. At the request or com- 
mand of the King he revoked the bull Unam Sanctam and other 
decrees of Pope Boniface against France, created several French 
cardinals, and condemned and suppressed, upon the most absurd 
and improbable charges, the order of the Knights Templar, in a 
council held at Vienne in 1309.* 

§ 4. — The Avignon popes who succeeded Clement were, John 
XXIL, elected in 1316, whose reign is distinguished by his fierce, 
though unsuccessful contest with the emperor Louis of Bavaria, on ac- 
count of that monarch taking upon him the administration of the em- 
pire, without asking permission of the Pope ; Benedict XII., elected 
in 1334, who put an end to the quarrel with Louis, and made some 
commendable efforts to redress the grievances of the church, and 
to correct the horrible abuses of the monastic orders ; Clement VI., 
elected in 1342, a man of excessive vanity and ambition, who 
renewed the quarrel with Louis of Bavaria, and, like Boniface VIII., 
attempted to wield the weapons of Hildebrand by issuing his male- 
dictions against the Emperor, which, however, were treated by that 
prince with derision and contempt; Innocent VI. elected in 1352, 
who reigned ten years with comparative moderation ; Urban V. 
elected in 1362, who returned to the ancient palace of the Vatican 
at Rome in 1367, but probably at the persuasions of the French 
cardinals, came back to Avignon in 1370, where he soon after died; 
and Gregory XL, who, partly in consequence of a solemn deputa- 
tion from the Roman people, and partly in consequence of the pre- 
tended revelations of a wretched fanatic, who has since been can- 
onised as Saint Catharine of Sienna,f removed his court to Rome 
in 1374, where he died in 1378. 

* For the nature of these charges and the proofs of the unjust condemnation of 
the Templars, see Sismondi's Italian Republics, chap. xix. Bower in vita Clem. 
V., &c. 

f This popish Saint Catharine either supposed or pretended that on one occa- 
sion she had been blessed by a vision, in which the Saviour appeared to her, 
accompanied by the Holy Mother and a numerous host of saints, and in their pre- 
sence he solemnly espoused her, placing on her finger a golden ring, adorned with 



370 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Fopular tumult at Rome, demanding of the cardinals a Roman pope. 

§ 5. — The place of the death of a pope was at that time of more 
lasting importance to the church than his living residence, because 
the election of a successor could scarcely fail to be affected by the 
local circumstances under which he might be chosen. There could 
be no security for the continuance of the papal residence at Rome, 
until the crown should be again placed upon the head of an Italian. 
At Avignon, the French cardinals, who were more numerous, were 
certain to elect a French pope ; but the accident which should 
oblige the conclave to assemble in an Italian city, might probably 
lead, through the operation of external influences, to the choice of 
an Italian. 

The number of cardinals at the death of Gregory XL, was 
twenty-three, of whom six were absent at Avignon, and one was 
legate in Tuscany. The remaining sixteen, after celebrating the 
funeral ceremonies of the deceased, and appointing certain officers 
to secure their deliberations from violence, prepared to enter into 
conclave. But the rights of sepulture were scarcely performed, 
when the leading magistrates of Rome presented to them a remon- 
strance to this effect : " On behalf of the Roman senate and people, 
they ventured to represent that the Roman church had suffered for 
seventy years a deplorable captivity by the translation of the holy 
See to Avignon. That the faithful were no longer attracted to 
Rome, either by devotion, which the profanation of the churches 
precluded, or by interest ; since the Pope, the source of patronage, 
had scandalously deserted his church — so that there was danger, 
lest that unfortunate city should be reduced to a vast and frightful 
solitude, and become an outcast from the world, of which it was 
still the spiritual empress, as it once had been the temporal. Lastly, 
that, as the only remedy for these evils, it was absolutely necessary 
to elect a Roman, or at least an Italian pope — especially as there 
was every appearance that the people, if disappointed in their just 
expectation, would have recourse to compulsion. 

§ 6. — The cardinals replied, that as soon as they should be in a con- 
clave they would give to those subjects their solemn deliberation, 
and direct their choice according to the inspiration of the holy 
Spirit. They repelled the notion that they could be influenced by 
any popular menace ; and pronounced (according to one account), 
an express warning, that if they should be compelled to elect under 
such circumstances, the elected would not be a pope, but an intru- 
der. They then immediately entered into conclave. In the mean- 
time the populace, who had already exhibited proofs of impatience, 
and whom the answer of the cardinals was not well calculated to 

four pearls and a diamond. Alter the vision had vanished, the ring- still remained, 
sensible and palpable to herself, though invisible to every other eye. Nor was 
this the only favor which she boasted to have received from the Lord Jesus: she 
had sucked the blood from the wound in His side ; she had received His heart in 
exchange for her own ; she bore on her body the marks of His wounds — though 
these two were imperceptible by any sight except her own. (Fleury, book xcvii*, 
sec. 40. Spondanus, Ann. 1 376.) 



chap, i.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 371 

Urban VI. elected. He severely reprimands the luxury of the bishops 

satisfy, assembled in great crowds about the place of meeting, and 
continued in tumultuous assemblage during the whole deliberation 
of the conclave, so that the debates of the sacred college were 
incessantly interrupted by the loud and unanimous shout — ' Romano 
lo volemo lo Papa — Romano lo volemo — o almanco Italiano !' — 
" We will have a Roman for a Pope — a Roman, or at least, at the 
very least, an Italian 1" These were not circumstances for delay 
or deliberation. If any inclination toward the choice of an Italian 
had previously existed in the college, it was now confirmed into 
necessity ; and on the very day following their retirement, the car- 
dinals were agreed in their election. Howbeit, they studiously 
passed over the four Italian members of their own body, and casting 
their eyes beyond the conclave, selected a Neapolitan, named Bar- 
tolomeo Prignano, the archbishop of Bari. 

The announcement was not immediately published, probably 
through the fear of popular dissatisfaction, because a Roman had not 
been created ; and presently, when the impatience of the people 
still further increased, the bishop of Marseilles went to the window 
and said, " Go to St. Peter's, and you shall learn the decision." 
Whereupon some who heard him, understanding that the cardinal 
of St. Peter's had been chosen, rushed into the palace of that pre- 
late, and plundered it, for such was the custom then invariably 
observed on the election of a pope. In the meantime the other car- 
dinals escaped from the conclave in great disorder and trepidation, 
without dignity or attendants, or even their ordinary habiliments of 
office, and sought safety, some in their respective palaces, and 
others in the castle of St. Angelo, or even beyond the walls of the 
city. On the following day, the people were undeceived ; and as 
they showed no strong disinclination for the master who had been 
really chosen for them, the archbishop of Bari, who took the name 
of Urban VI., was solemnly enthroned, and the scattered cardinals 
reappeared, and rallied round him in confidence and security. 

§ 7. — The ceremony of coronation was duly performed, and several 
bishops were assembled on the very following day, at vespers in 
the pontifical chapel, when the Pope unexpectedly addressed them 
in the bitterest language of reprobation. He accused them of hav- 
ing deserted and betrayed the flocks which God had confided to 
them, in order to revel in luxury at the court of Rome ; and he 
applied to their offence the harsh reproach of perjury. One of them 
(the bishop of Pampeluna) repelled the charge, as far as himself 
was concerned, by reference to the duties which he performed at 
Rome ; the others suppressed in silence their anger and confusion. 
A few days afterward, at a public consistory, Urban repeated his 
complaints and denunciations, and urged them still more generally 
in the presence of his whole court. The cardinals continued, not- 
withstanding, their attendance at the Vatican for a few weeks longer, 
and then, as was usual on the approach of the summer heats, they 
withdrew from the city, with the Pope's permission, and retired to 
Anagni. Of the sixteen cardinals who had elected pope Urban, 



372 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 

Offended with pope Urban, the cardinals elect another pope, Clement VII. 

eleven were French, one a Spaniard, and four Italians. These four 
alone remained at Rome. The others were no sooner removed 
from the immediate inspection of Urban, than they commenced, or 
at least more boldly pursued their measures to overthrow him. On 
the one hand, they opened a direct correspondence with the court 
of France and university of Paris ; on the other, they took into their 
service a body of mercenaries, commanded by one Bernard de la 
Sale, a Gascon, and then they no longer hesitated to treat the elec- 
tion of Urban as null, through the violence which had attended it. 
To give consequence to th.s decision, they assembled with great 
solemnity in the principal church, and promulgated, on the 9th of 
August, a public declaration, in the presence of many prelates and 
other ecclesiastics, by which the archbishop of Ban was denounced 
as an intruder into the pontificate, and his election formally can- 
celled. 

They then retired, for greater security, to Fondi, in the kingdom 
of Naples. Still they did not venture to proceed to a new election 
in the absence, and it might be against the consent, of their Italian 
brethren. A negotiation was accordingly opened, and these last 
immediately fell into the snare, which treachery had prepared for 
ambition. To each of them separately a secret promise was made 
in writing, by the whole of their colleagues, that himself should be 
the object of their choice. Each of them believing what he wished, 
they* pressed to Fondi with joy and confidence. The college im- 
mediately entered into conclave, and as the French had, in the mean- 
time, reconciled their provincial jealousies, Robert, the cardinal of 
Geneva, was chosen by their unanimous vote. This event took 
place on the 20th of September, 1378, the new Pope assumed the 
name of Clement VII., and "was installed with the customary cere- 
monies.! 

§ 8. — Such was the origin of the great Western schism which 
divided the Roman church for about forty years, and accelerated, 
more than any other event, the decline of papal authority. Whether 
Urban or Clement is to be regarded as the lawful Pope, and true 
successor of St. Peter, is even to this day, as Mosheim justly 
observes, a matter of doubt, nor will the records and writings, 
alleged by the contending parties, enable us to adjust that point 
with any certainty. J 

Urban remained at Rome ; Clement went to Avignon in France. 
His cause was espoused by France and Spain, Scotland, Sicily, 
and Cyprus, while all the rest of Europe acknowledged Urban to be 

* They were now reduced to three, by the death of the cardinal of St. Peter's. 

f See Waddington's Church History, chap, xxxiii. Sismondi's Italian Repub- 
lics, chap. 1. 

| Platina, the Romish historian of the Popes, says, " In the time of Urban IV. 
arose the 22d (or 26th) schism, of all schisms the worst, and most puzzling. For 
it was so intricate that not even the most learned and conscientious were able to 
decide to which of the pretenders they were to adhere, and it continued to the 
lime of Martin V." (more than forty years). 



chap, i.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 373 

Violence of this great Western schism. Council of Pisa. 

the true vicar of Christ, and the genuine link in the chain of apos- 
tolic succession. 

§ 9. — The dissension between pope Urban and his successors at 
Rome, and pope Clement and his successors in France, was foment- 
ed with such dreadful success, and arose to such a shameful height, 
that for the space of forty years the church had two or three differ- 
ent heads at the same time, each of the contending popes forming 
plots, and thundering out anathemas against their competitors. The 
distress and calamity of these times is beyond all power of descrip- 
tion ; for, not to insist upon the perpetual contentions and wars be- 
tween the factions of the several popes, by which multitudes lost 
their fortunes and lives, all sense of religion was extinguished in 
most places, and profligacy rose to a most scandalous excess. The 
clergy, while they vehemently contended which of the reigning 
popes was the true successor of Christ, were so excessively corrupt, 
as to be no longer studious to keep up even an appearance of religion 
or decency ; and in consequence of all this, many plain, well-mean- 
ing people, who concluded that no one could possibly partake of 
eternal life, unless united with the vicar of Christ, were overwhelm- 
ed with doubt, and plunged into the deepest distress of mind. 
Nevertheless these abuses were, by their consequences, greatly 
conducive both to the civil and religious interests of mankind ; for 
by these dissensions the papal power received an incurable wound, 
and kings and princes, who had formerly been the slaves of the 
lordly pontifFs, now became their judges and masters. And many 
of the least stupid among the people had the courage to disregard 
and despise the popes, on account of their odious disputes about 
dominion, to commit their salvation to God alone, and to admit it as 
a maxim, that the prosperity of the church might be maintained, 
and the interests of religion secured and promoted without a visible 
head, crowned with a spiritual supremacy.* 

§ 10. — At length, however, it was resolved to call a general coun- 
cil for the purpose of terminating this disgraceful schism, which was 
accordingly assembled at Pisa on the 25th of March, 1409. At 
this time the Roman pope was Gregory XII., and the French pope 
Benedict XII. The latter had, while a cardinal, taken a solemn 
oath, if elected pope, to resign the papacy, should it be necessary 
for the peace of the church. When required to fulfil this promise, 
he positively refused, and being besieged in Avignon by the king 
of France, he made his escape to Perpignan. In consequence of 
being thus deserted by their pope, eight or nine of his cardinals 
united with the cardinals of the Roman pope Gregory, in calling 
the council of Pisa, in order to heal the divisions and factions that 
had so long rent the papal empire. 

This council, however, which was designed to close the wounds 
of the church, had an effect quite contrary to that which was uni- 
versally expected, and only served to open a new breach, and to 

* Moshcim, iii., page 319. 



374 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookvx. 

The council choose another pope, Alexander V., making three popes at the same time. 

excite new divisions. Its proceedings indeed were vigorous, and 
its measures were accompanied with a just severity. A heavy 
sentence of condemnation was pronounced the 5th day of June 
against the contending pontiffs, who were both declared guilty of 
heresy, perjury, and contumacy, unworthy of the smallest tokens of 
honor and respect, and separated ipso facto from the communion of 
the church. This step was followed by the election of one pontiff 
in their place. The election was made on the 25th of June, and 
fell upon Peter of Candia, known on the papal list by the name of 
Alexander V., but all the decrees and proceedings of this famous 
council were treated with contempt by the condemned pontiffs, 
who continued to enjoy the privileges, and to perform the functions 
of the papacy, as if no attempts had been made to remove them 
from that dignity. " The deposed popes, Gregory and Benedict, 
protested against these proceedings, and each convoked another 
council, the one at Civitat de Frioul, the other at Perpignan. With 
much difficulty they succeeded in assembling each a few prelates 
devoted to their cause, yet they, nevertheless, bestowed upon these 
assemblies the name of oecumenical councils, which they had refused 
to give that of Pisa. It is certain, said they, that the church is the 
Pope, and it suffices that the Pope be present in any place, for the 
church to be there also, and where the Pope is not in the body or 
in mind, no church is."* 

§ 11. — Thus was the holy Catholic church, which boasts so much of 
its unity, split up into three contending and hostile factions, under three 
pretended successors of St. Peter, who loaded each other with re- 
ciprocal calumnies and excommunications, and even to the present 
day, the problem remains undecided, which of the three is to be re- 
garded as the genuine link in the chain of apostolical succession. 
Doubtless they had all an equal claim, and that was no claim at all. 
If succession should be tested by possession of the same spirit and 
character, it would be found that these three ambitious and factious 
ecclesiastics, and heads of an infallible church, were better entitled 
to the character of the successors of Judas the traitor, or Simon the 
sorcerer, rather than of Paul or Peter the apostle. 

In the year 1410, Alexander V., who had been elected pope at 
the council of Pisa, died, and the sixteen cardinals who attended 
him at Bologna, immediately chose as his successor, the notorious 
and abandoned man who assumed the title of John XXIII. and who 
afterward made such a figure in the celebrated council of Constance. 

The year after his election, pope John XXIIL, preached a cru- 
sade against Ladislaus of Hungary, who was contending with 
Louis II. of Anjou, for the crown of Naples, on account of the 
former adhering to the cause of the rival pope Gregory XII. In 
the terrible bull of crusade which he fulminated against Ladislaus, 

* See the recent valuable work of Emile de Bonnechose, Librarian to the king 
of France, entitled the " Reformation of John Huss, and the Council of Constance," 
translated from the French by Campbell Mackenzie, of Trinity College, Dublin.— 
Introd., chap. iv. 



chap. I.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 375 



Fierce and bloody edict of pope John, against king Ladislaus, for favoring his rival. 

on the 9th of September, 1411, he enjoined, under pain of excom- 
munication, ipso facto, all patriarchs, archbishops, and prelates, to 
declare, on Sundays and fast-days, with bells ringing, and tapers 
burning, and then suddenly extinguished and flung on the ground, 
that Ladislaus was excommunicated, perjured, a schismatic, a blas- 
phemer, a relapsed heretic, and a supporter of heretics, guilty of 
lese-majesty, and the enemy of the Pope and the church. John 
XXIII., in the same manner, excommunicated Ladislaus's children 
to the third generation, as well as his adherents and well-wishers : 
he commanded, that if they happened to die, even with absolution, 
they should be deprived of ecclesiastical sepulture : he declared that, 
whoever should afford burial to Ladislaus and his partisans should 
be excommunicated, and should not be absolved until he had disinter- 
red their bodies with his own hands. The Pope prayed all emperors, 
kings, princes, cardinals, and believers of both sexes, by the sprink- 
ling of the blood of Jesus Christ (horrible !) to save the church by 
persecuting without mercy, and exterminating Ladislaus and his 
defenders. They who should enter on this crusade, were to have 
the same indulgences as persons proceeding to the conquest of the 
Holy land, and in case they happened to die before the accomplish- 
ment of their aim, should enjoy all the same privileges as if they 
had died in accomplishing it.* 

A second bull, published at the same time, and in which Angelo 
Corrario (Gregory XII.) is termed " the son of malediction, a heretic 
and a schismatic," was addressed to the pontifical commissioners : 
it promises complete remission of sins to all persons preaching up 
the crusade, and to those collecting funds for the cause ; it suspends 
or annuls the effect of all other indulgences accorded even by the 
apostolic See. These two bulls, issued against a Christian prince, 
and for reasons purely temporal, show the extent of the rage which 
animated the See of Rome, and of the excesses into which it allow- 
ed itself to be drawn : they set Bohemia in flames. 

§ 12. — This fierce and bloody manifesto kindled the zeal of the 
celebrated John Huss of Bohemia, who was shocked at the abomi- 
nable impiety of the Pope and his bull, and published a calm and 
dignified reply to it. " I shall affirm nothing," said he, " but what 
is in conformity with the holy Scriptures ; and I have no intention 
of resisting the power which God has given to the Roman pontiff: 
I shall resist nothing but the abuse of th's authority. Now, war is 
permitted neither to the Popes, nor to the bishops, nor to the priests, 
particularly for temporal reasons. If, in fact, the disciples of Jesus 
Christ were not allowed to have recourse to the sword to defend 
him who was the chief of the church, against those who wanted to 
seize on him ; and if St. Peter himself was severely reproved for 
doing so, much more will it not be permissible to a bishop to engage 
in a war for temporal domination and earthly riches. 

" If," continues Huss, " the Pope and his cardinals had said to 

* Hist, et Monum. Hus., Tom. i., p. 212. 



375 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Opposition of John Huss to the Pope's bull of crusade. An arsenal a bishop's library 

Christ, * Lord, if you wish, we will exhort the whole universe to 
compass the destruction of Ladislaus, Gregory, and their accom- 
plices,' the Saviour would undoubtedly have answered to them as 
he d.d to his apostles, when they consulted him if they should take 
vengeance on the Samaritans : ' I am not come to destroy men's 
lives, but to save them.' (Luke ix.) Jesus did not smite his enemy, 
the high-priest's servant, when marching against him, but healed 
his wound. 

" Let him, therefore, who pleases, declare that he is bound to 
obey the bull, even unto the extermination of Ladislaus and his 
famJy ; for my part I would not, without a revelation — a positive 
order from God — raise my hand against Ladislaus and his parti- 
zans ; but I would address an humble prayer to God, to bring into 
the way of truth those who are going astray : for he who is the 
chief of the whole church, prayed lor his persecutors, saying: 
1 Father, pardon them ; they know not what they do !' (Luke xxiii., 
34); and I am of opinion that Christ, his mother, and his disciples, were 
greater than the Pope and his cardinals."* In a subsequent chap- 
ter, we shall see the consequences which resulted to the Bohemian 
reformer, for his temerity in thus venturing to attack the abomina- 
tions of Rome. 

In the meanwhile, in consequence of these disgraceful squabbles 
of the pretended successors of St. Peter, the different states of the 
continent were so many theatres of war and rapine, and the clergy, 
instead of employing all their efforts to put an end to the evil, fre- 
quently excited it by their example. The schism afforded the 
ecclesiastics perpetual opportunities for insurrection : the bishops 
were men of war rather than churchmen, and one of them, when 
newly elected to his bishopric, having requested to be shown the 
library of his predecessors, was led into an arsenal, in which all 
kinds of arms were piled up. " Those" was the observation made 
to him, " are the books which they made use of to defend the church: 
imitate their example." " And how," asks Bonnechose, " could it 
possibly not have been so, when three popes showed much more 
anxiety to destroy one another, than ardor to gain over believers 
to God and Jesus Christ? Among them, the most warlike, as well 
as the most interested in exciting the martial tendency of his parti- 
zans, was John XXIII., whose temporal power over Rome and her 
dependencies was as insecure as his spiritual authority was feeble 
over men's minds."f 

§ 13. — The general council was summoned to meet at Constance, 
in the year 1414, by pope John, who was engaged in this measure, 
by the entreaties of the emperor Sigismund, and also from an ex- 
pectation that the decrees of this grand assembly would be favor- 
able to his interests. He appeared in person, attended with a great 
number of cardinals and bishops, at the council, which was also 
honored with the presence of the Emperor himself, and of a great 

* Hist, et Monum. Hus., Tom. i., p. 215, &c. 
+ Bonnechose, book i., chap. 3. 



chap, n.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 377 

Council of Constance. Papal schism healed by the election of pope Martin V. Birth of Wickliff. 

number of German princes, and with that of the ambassadors of 
all the European states, whose monarchs or regents could not be 
personally present at the decision of this important controvei sy. 
The object of the council, viz. : the healing of the papal schism, was 
accomplished by the deposition of John XXIII., and also of Bene- 
dict XIIL, the Avignon pope, and the voluntary resignation which 
the Italian pontiff, Gregory XII. (probably making a virtue of ne- 
cessity), sent to the council, and by the unanimous election of Car- 
dinal Otta de Calonna, who was soon after crowned with much 
pomp, and took the name of Martin V. There are other matters 
connected with the proceedings of the council of Constance, of far 
deeper interest to the Christian student of history, than the healing 
of this disgraceful schism ; but these particulars must be reserved 
to the chapters devoted particularly to those courageous and noble- 
minded opposers of papal abominations, Wickliff,* of England, Huss 
of Bohemia, and Jerome of Prague. 



CHAPTER II. 

WICKLIFF, THE ENGLISH REFORMER. THE CONDEMNATION OF HIS WORKS, 
AND THE BURNING OF HIS BONES, BY ORDER OF THE COUNCIL OF 
CONSTANCE. 

§ 14. — At the time of the commencement of the great papal 
Schism of the West, in 1378, the celebrated Wickliff, the morning 
star of the Reformation, as he has been justly called, was employ- 
ing all the influence of his great reputation, and the splendor of his 
commanding talents, against many of the corruptions of Popery. 
Of the two rival occupants of the chair of St. Peter, England had 
embraced the side of Urban, and the mendicant Franciscans and 
Dominicans were employing themselves with diligence in advo- 
cating his cause, and in exciting the popular hatred and fury against 
his rival, Clement. 

Wickliff, who was born in the year 1324, and was consequently 
about fifty-four years old at this time, had nearly twenty years be- 
fore distinguished himself by his bold attacks upon these corrupt 
mendicant orders, and his feelings of abhorrence toward them were 
renewed by their activity on behalf of pope Urban at this time. 
Each of the popes endeavored to stimulate his adherents to take up 

* The name of this early reformer lias been spelled in no less than sixteen dif- 
ferent ways. Wiclif is adopted by his biographer Lewis, and is used in the oldest 
document containing his name. Vaufiharj, the ablest of his bipgraphers, uses 
Wyclijfe. In the present work Wicldijf is adopted as the most popular form. 



378 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Wickliff's bold protestations against the crimes and the claims of the Pope and his pricsihood. 

arms against his rival, by the same promises of spiritual blessings, 
and the same denunciations of divine wrath, as had been used to 
obtain supporters to the crusades, or military expeditions for the 
recovery of the Holy land from the infidels. These military expe- 
ditions were represented as equally meritorious, and were desig- 
nated by the same title, while all the nefarious practices employed 
in support of the crusades were employed on the present occasion. 
The popish bishop of Norwich raised a considerable army by the 
bulls of pope Urban, promising full remission of sins, and a place 
in paradise to all who assisted his cause by money or in person ! 

This military prelate headed his troops, and invaded France, by 
which kingdom pope Clement was supported. But his campaign 
was unsuccessful : he returned to England in a few months with 
the scanty remains of his army, and was the subject of general de- 
rision. Against such proceedings WicklifF spoke boldly. He says, 
" Christ is a good shepherd, for he puts his own life for the saving 
of the sheep. But anti-Christ is a ravening wolf, for he ever does 
the reverse, putting many thousand lives for his own wretched life. 
By forsaking things which Christ has bid his priests forsake, he 
might end all this strife. Why is he not a fiend stained foul with 
homicide, who, though a priest, fights in such a cause ? If man- 
slaying in others be odious to God, much more in priests who should 
be the vicars of Christ. And I am certain that neither the Pope, 
nor all the men of his council, can produce a spark of reason to 
prove that he should do this." WicklifF speaks of the two popes, 
as fighting, one against the other, with the most blasphemous leas- 
ings (or falsehoods) that ever sprang out of hell. But they were 
occupied," he adds, " many years before in blasphemy, and in sin- 
ning against God and his church. And this made them to sin more, 
as an ambling blind horse, when he beginneth to stumble, continues 
to stumble until he casts himself down." 

§ 15. — Another circumstance had assisted not only to call WicklifF 
into public notice, but also to excite against him the hatred of the 
Pope and the priesthood. This was the decision of the English 
parliament in 1365, to resist the claim of pope Urban who at- 
tempted the revival of an annual payment of a thousand marks,* 
as a tribute, or feudal acknowledgment, that the kingdoms of Eng- 
land and Ireland were held at the pleasure of the pope. His claim 
was founded upon the surrender of the crown by king John to pope 
Innocent III. The payment had been discontinued for thirty-three 
years, and the recent victories of Cressy and Poictiers, with their 
results, had so far strengthened the power of England, that the de- 
mand by the pontifF, of the arrears, with the continuance of the 
tribute, upon pain of papal censure, was unanimously rejected by 
the King and parliament. The reader must recollect that this was 
not a question bearing only upon the immediate point in dispute ; 
the grand subject of papal supremacy was involved therein, and 

* A mark is 13s. Ad. sterling — about three dollars. 



chap, n.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 379 

Insolence of a monk. Wickliff calls the Pope " the most cursed of clippers and purse-kervcrs." 

the refusal to listen to the mandate of the Pope necessarily tended 
to abridge the general influence of the clergy. A measure of this 
description was almost unknown in the history of Europe at that 
day. Such claims were not lightly relinquished by the papacy, and 
shortly after this decision of the parliament, a monk wrote in de- 
fence of the papal usurpations, asserting that the sovereignty of 
England was forfeited by withholding the tribute, and that the 
clergy, whether as individuals or as a general body, were exempted 
from all jurisdiction of the civil power, a claim which had already 
excited considerable discussions in the preceding reigns. Wickliff 
was personally called upon by this writer to prove, if he were able, 
the fallacy of these opinions, which he did in an able and masterly 
manner, concluding his treatise with a prediction long ago fulfilled. 
" If I mistake not," said the bold reformer, " the day will come in 
which all exactions shall cease, before the Pope will prove such a 
condition to be reasonable and honest." 

§ 16. — Wickliff had long been the subject of papal and prelatical 
vengeance for his opposition to transubstantiation, and other popish 
errors, and had only been shielded from the rage of his enemies by 
the powerful protection of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. 
This danger, after denouncing the Pope as " anti-Christ, the proud, 
worldly priest of Rome, the most cursed of clippers and purse- 
kervers," was greater than ever ; yet he shrunk not from duty 
through fear of the consequences, and in the words of the ablest of 
his biographers, " The language of his conduct was — ' To live, and 
to be silent is with me impossible — the guilt of such treason against 
the Lord of heaven is more to be dreaded than many deaths. Let 
the blow therefore fall. Enough I know of the men whom I op- 
pose, of the times on which I am thrown, and of the mysterious 
providence which relates to our sinful race, to expect that the stroke 
will ere long descend. But my purpose is unalterable ; I wait its 
coming/ " # 

Amidst these labors and persecutions Wickliff was assailed by 
sickness. While at Oxford he was confined to his chamber, and 
reports of his approaching dissolution were circulated. The men- 
dicants considered this to be a favorable opportunity for obtaining 
a recantation of his declarations against them. Perhaps they con- 
cluded that the sick-bed of Wickliff would resemble many others 
they had witnessed, and their power would be there felt and ac- 
knowledged. A doctor from each of the privileged orders of beg- 
gars, attended by some of the civil authorities of the city, entered 
the chamber of Wickliff. They at first expressed sympathy for 
his sufferings, with hopes for his recovery. They then suggested 
that he must be aware of the wrongs the mendicants had expe- 
rienced from him, especially by his sermons, and other writings ; 
as death now appeared at hand, they concluded that he must have 

* Life and Opinions of John de Wycliffe, D.D., by Robert Vaughan, in 2 vols. 
London, 182*— -vol. ii., p. 257. 



380 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 

Wickliff's reproof of the mendicant friars. Specimen of his translation of the Scriptures 

feelings of compunction on this account ; therefore they expressed 
their hope that he would not conceal his penitence, but distinctly 
recall whatever he had hitherto said against them. The suffering 
reformer listened to this address unmoved. When it was concluded, 
he made signs for his attendants to raise him in his bed ; then fixing 
his eyes on the mendicants, he summoned all his remaining strength, 
and loudly exclaimed, " I shall not die, but live, and shall 

AGAIN DECLARE THE EVIL DEEDS OF THE FEIARS." The appalled 

doctors, with their attendants, hurried from the room, and they 
speedily found the prediction fulfilled. " This scene," it has well 
been remarked, " would afford a striking subject for an able artist,"* 
and we have endeavored, by the help of our skilful artist, to repre- 
sent it in the accompanying engraving. (See Engraving.) 

§ 17. — But however much the intrepid rector of Lutterworth ex- 
posed himself to papal hatred, by his work " on the Schism of the 
Popes," he completed in the year 1383 an infinitely more impor- 
tant work, which excited to a still higher pitch the enmity and rage 
of his popish opponents. This was the translation of the Holy 
Scriptures into the English language from the Latin, a work which 
cost him the labor of several years. f The feelings of Romanists 

* Life of Wickliff in British Reformers, vol. i., p. 23. 

f The following specimen of Wickliff's translation may be interesting to the 
curious in such matters, and may serve to show the changes in the English lan- 
guage since his day. 

1 Jon, cap. i. — Wickliff's version. 1 John, chap. i. — Common version. 

That thing that was fro the bigyn- ' That which was from the beginning, 

nyng, which we herden, which we sigen which we have heard, which we have 

with oure igen, which we biheelden seen with our eyes, which we have 

and oure hondis touchiden of the word looked upon, and our hands have han- 

of liif. and the liif is schewid, and we died, of the word of life (for the life 

saigen, and we witnessen and tellen to was manifested, and we have seen it, 

you euerlesting liif that was anentis the and bear witness, and show unto you 

fadir and apperide to us. therefore we that eternal life which was with the 

tellen to you that thing that we sigen Father, and was manifested unto us) ; 

and herden, that also ye haue felowschip that which we have seen and heard 

with us and oure felowschip be with the declare we unto you, that ye also may 

fadir and with his sone iesu crist. and have fellowship with us ; and truly our 

we writen this thing to you, that ye fellowship is with the father, and with 

haue ioie, and that youre ioie be ful. his Son Jesus Christ. And these things 

and this is the tellyng that we herden write we unto you, that your joy may 

of him and tellen to you, that god is be full. This then is the message 

ligt and ther ben no derknessis in hym. which we have heard of him, and de- 

if we seien that we hau felowschip with clare unto you, that God is light, and in 

him, and we wandren in derknessis, we him is no darkness at all. If we say 

lien and doen not treuthe. but if we that we have fellowship with him, and 

walken in ligt as also he is in ligt we walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the 

hau felowschip togidre, and the blood truth : bat if we walk in the light, as 

of iesu crist his sone clenseth us fro al he is in the light, we have fellowship 

synne, if we seien that we haue no one with another, and the blood of Jesus 

synne we disseyuen ussilff, and treuthe is Christ his Son cleanseth us from all 

not in us. if we knowlechen oure sin. If we say that we have no sin, we 

synnes, he is feithful and iust that he deceive ourselves, and the truth is not 





jbuking the Mendicant Fi 




/LUiiSINC.:. '.-■ 

Tlie dead U)d 

2o 



chap, n.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 383 

A popish priest's lament that the Bible should be made common to the laity and to women. 

relative to this first translation of the Scriptures into the English 
language, are well illustrated by a passage from the historical work 
of a popish contemporary of WicklifF, Knighton, a canon of Lei- 
cester. '* Christ delivered his gospel," says he, " to the clergy and 
doctors of the church, that they might administer to the laity and to 
weaker persons, according to the state of the times, and the wants 
of man. But this master John WicklifF translated it out of Latin 
into English, and thus laid it more open to the laity, and to women 
who can read, than it formerly had been to the most learned of the 
clergy, even to those of them who had the best understanding. 
And in this way the gospel pearl is cast abroad, and trodden under 
foot of swine, and that which was before precious both to clergy 
and laity, is rendered as it were the common jest of both ! The 
jewel of the church is turned into the sport of the people, and what 
was hitherto the principal gift of the clergy and divines, is made for 
ever common to the laity" What would this popish hater of the 
bible have said could he have foreseen how " common to the laity," 
and even to " women," the Holy Scriptures would have become in 
the nineteenth century, when the whole of God's woi d can be pur- 
chased for an English shilling ? Then a copy of the Scriptures 
could not be procured by the artisan short of the entire earnings 
of years ; now it can be procured by the poorest laborer for 
less than the earnings of a day. True, the copies of WicklifF's 
Bible were multiplied with astonishing rapidity, considering that 
printing was not invented, and each one had to be transcribed with 
the patient labor of the pen ; still it is evident that the possession 
even of a New Testament could only be hoped for by those who 
were comparatively rich.* 

§ 18. — Notwithstanding the malice of the Pope and the priests to- 
ward WicklifF, for thus opening to the common people the Scrip- 
tures, in which they might learn for themselves the errors of Rome, 
through the kindness of a protecting providence, he was permitted 
to die peacefully on his bed, December 31, 1384. 

The popish clergy in England were so incensed at the in- 
creasing circulation of the English Bible, that in 1390, a few years 
after the reformer's death, the prelates brought forward a bill in the 
house of lords for suppressing WicklifF's translations. The duke 
of Lancaster is said to have interfered on this occasion, boldly de- 
claring, " We will not be the dregs of all, seeing that other nations 

forgyve to us oure synncs, and dense us in us. If we confess our sins, he is 
fro al wickidnesse. and if we seien faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
that we hau not synned, we maken him and to cleanse us from all unrighteous- 
a Her, and his word in not in us. ness. If we say that we have not sin- 

ned, we make him a liar, and his word 
is not in us. 
* From the register of Alnwick, bishop of Norwich, in 1429, it appears that 
the cost of a testament of WicklifV's version, was 21. 16s. 8d. (equal to more than 
20Z., or one hundred dollars of our present money). At that time five pounds were 
considered a sufficient allowance for the annual maintenance of a tradesman or a 
curate. {Life of Wicklijf in British Reformers, vol. i. p. 25.) 



384 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 

Popish efforts to stop the circulation of the English Scriptures. Wickliff 's bold expostulations. 

have the law of God, which is the law of our faith, written in their 
own language." He added that he would maintain our having the 
divine law in our own tongue, against those, whoever they should 
be, who first brought in the bill. The Duke being seconded by- 
others, the bill was thrown out. Three years previously, in 1387, 
a severe statute had been revived at Oxford, which is thus de- 
scribed in a prologue for the English Bible, written by one of 
Wickliff 's followers : — " Alas ! the greatest abomination that ever 
was heard among Christian clerks is now purposed in England by 
worldly clerks and feigned religious, and in the chief university 
of our realm, as many true men tell with great wailing. This hor- 
rible and devilish cursedness is purposed of Christ's enemies, and 
traitors of all Christian people, that no man shall learn divinity, or 
holy writ, but he that hath done his form in art, that is, who hath 
commenced in arts, and hath been regent two years after. Thus 
it would be nine or ten years before he might learn holy writ." In 
the course of half a century, however, when these priests of 
Rome, after having burned the bones of Wickliff, because they 
could not burn him alive, had at their command the fire and the 
faggot, we shall see that they were more successful in their efforts 
to prevent the circulation of the Scriptures in the English language. 
§ 19. — It would be interesting to present to the reader copious 
specimens of the bold and earnest manner in which Wickliff argued 
against the priests of Rome in favor of the circulation of the Scrip- 
tures in the vulgar tongue, but the limits and design of this work 
forbid, and I must refer those who wish to study further the life and 
writings of Wickliff to the authorities mentioned in the note.* A 
single specimen I must quote of his vigorous mode of reproving 
those popish priests who withheld from the people the possession of 
the Scriptures, and attached a greater importance to the decisions 
of popes and councils than to the dictates of the unerring word. 
" All those," says Wickliff, " who falsify the pope's bulls, or a bish- 
op's letter, are cursed grievously in all churches, four times in the 
year. Lord, why was not the gospel of Christ admitted by our 
worldly clerks into this sentence 1 Hence it appeareth, that they 
magnify the bull of a pope more than the gospel ; and in proof of 
this, they punish men who trespass against the bulls of the pope 
more than those who trespass against the gospel of Christ. Accord- 
ingly, the men of this world fear the pope and his commandments 
more than the gospel of Christ, or the commands of God. It is 
thus that the wretched beings of this world are estranged from 

* See Vaughan's life and writings of Wickliff, chap. viii. ; Lewis's life of 
Wickliff, passim ; Baber's, ditto, prefixed to his edition of Wickliff s New Testa- 
ment, and especially Wickliff's tract, entitled " Anti-Christ's labor to destroy holy 
writ," published from the MS. in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cam- 
bridge, in the British Reformers, vol. i., page 172 — 178. I am happy to inform 
the reader that this valuable set of works, the Lives and Writings of the British 
Reformers, in 12 volumes, has recently been made accessible to the American 
reader, by its republication from the London edition by the P/esbyterian Board of 
Publication. 



CffAP.n.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE -A. D. 1303-1545. 385 

Articles from Wickliff's works condemned by the council of Constance. 

faith, and hope, and charity, and become corrupt in heresy and blas- 
phemy, even worse than heathens. True teaching is the debt most 
due to holy church, and is most charged of God, and most profitable 
to Christian souls. As much, therefore, as God's word, and the 
bliss of heaven in the souls of men, are better than earthly goods ; 
so much are these worldly prelates, who withdraw the great debt 
of holy teaching, worse than thieves, more accursedly sacrilegious 
than ordinary plunderers, who break into churches and steal thence 
chalices and vestments, or ever so much gold. The greatest of all 
sins is to deprive men of faith, and of the mirror of Christ's life, 
which -is the ground of his well-being hereafter." 

§ 20'. — About thirty years after the death of WicklifF, the coun- 
cil of Constance assembled for the purpose of healing the western 
schism, and purging the church of heresy. One principal business 
of the council was to examine the opinions of John Huss, of Bohe- 
mia, which had lately given much trouble to the bigoted and blinded 
adherents of Popery in that kingdom. Before, however, smiting, in 
the person of John Huss, such doctrines as were subversive of the 
power of the priests, it was thought advisable to brand with repro- 
bation the source from which they had been taken. The council 
remembered that, toward the close of the preceding century, the 
world had seen a celebrated heresiarch go unpunished ; it recol- 
lected that Wickliff had peaceably expired in the very country 
where his doctrines had been condemned ; that his mortal remains 
reposed in consecrated ground ; and that his writings were in cir- 
culation throughout Europe. In citing him before it, the council 
proceeded against his genius and his dead body. Forty-five propo- 
sitions, attributed to Wickliff, and already condemned in England, 
had been similarly dealt with at Rome, in 1412, in a council con- 
voked by John XXIII. These same articles were again brought 
forward at Constance, and formed the principal ground of the accu- 
sation laid against him. This great cause was brought before the 
council and judged, but without any discussion, in the eighth 
session. 

The assembly was as solemn as any of the preceding ones. The 
Emperor was present; Cardinal de Viviers occupied the president's 
chair, and the Patriarch of Antioch celebrated mass. The pnssage 
of the gospel chosen to be read for the occasion was that beginning 
with the words, " Beware of false prophets." 

§ 21. — Among the articles attributed to Wickliff, and solemnly 
condemned by the council, were five, which were so many violent 
attacks directed against the convents and monks of all the orders, 
who under the appearance of poverty, drew together as much 
wealth as possible, and who were the most indefatigable champions 
of the privileges and the abuses of the Church of Rome. WicklifF 
designated them by the appellation of Satan's synagogue. One of 
the articles condemned under this head, was the following : — " Monks 
ought to earn their livelihood by the labor of their hands, and not by 
begging." This proposition was declared to be false, rash, and 



386 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Wickliff's bones condemned by the council to be dug up and burnt. 

founded on error, because it was written that the birds of the air 
reaped not, neither did they spin. By the birds thus mentioned, said 
the council, were to be understood the saints who flew toward 
heaven (! !) 

Three other articles combated the Roman doctrine relative to the 
mass, and denied the bodily presence of Jesus Christ in the sacra- 
ment of the Eucharist, one directly asserting the folly of be- 
lieving in indulgences, and another speaking of the Pope as Anti- 
Christ. But the most remarkable condemnation of this infallible 
general council, was that of Wickliff's proposition, which de- 
clares the famous decretals of early popes to be false and apo- 
cryphal. The spurious character of these forged decretals has 
since been proved beyond the shadow of a doubt, and is admitted 
(since it is impossible to deny it) even by Romanists ; so that, after 
all, the infallible council was wrong — the papists themselves being 
judges — and the poor dead heretic was right, whose opinions were 
so unceremoniously condemned, and whose mouldering bones were 
so savagely ordered to be dug up from his grave and burnt ! 

The published works of Wickliff were condemned en masse, but his 
Dialogus and Trialogus* were thought worthy of special mention. 

" As to Wickliff himself," says L'Enfant, " the council declared, 
that since they had, after the strictest inquiry, decided that the said 
Wickliff died an obstinate heretic, therefore they condemn his 
memory, and order his bones to be dug up, if they can be distin- 
guished from the bones of the faithful, and thrown upon a dung- 
hill."! 

§ 22. — This savage sentence was not enforced till the year 1428, 
at the command of pope Martin V., but then the popish execution- 
ers of the dead reformer's bones, in their willing zeal, transcended 
the sentence of the council. They dug his remains from the grave 
in the chancel of the church at Lutterworth, where they had peace- 
fully reposed for over forty years, burnt them to ashes, and then 
cast them into a neighboring brook, called the Swift. " And so," 
says Fox, "was he resolved into three elements, earth, fire and 
water ; they thinking thereby to abolish both the name and doc- 
trine of Wickliff for ever. Not much unlike to the example of the 
old pharisees and sepulchre knights, who when they had brought 
the Lord to the grave, thought to make him sure never to rise 
again. But these and all others must know, that as there is no 
council against the Lord, so there is no keeping down of verity, but 
it will spring and come out of dust and ashes, as appeared right 
well in this man. For though they digged up his body, burned his 
bones, and drowned his ashes, yet the word of God and truth of 
his doctrine, with the fruit and success thereof, they could not burn, 

* See an extract of this famous production of the reformer in the volume of the 
British Reformers before referred to, occupying five pages, 179 — 183. See also a 
summary of the Trial ogus, including several extracts in L'Enfant's history of the 
council of Constance, in 2 vols, quarto ; London, 1739 : vol. i., pp. 231 — 241. 

f L'Enfant's Council of Constance, vol. i., 231. 



CHAP.m.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 387 

The scattering of his ashes an emblem of the dispersion of his doctrine. John Huss, of Bohemia 

which yet to this day, for the most part of his articles, do remain, 
notwithstanding the transitory body and bones of the man were thus 
consumed and dispersed." 

I will close this account of the " morning star of the Reforma- 
tion," by citing the words of Fuller the historian, in reference to the 
bones of Wickliff — words which are worthy to be written in letters 
of gold. " The brook Swift did convey his ashes into Avon, the 
Avon into Severn, the Severn into the narrow seas, they into the 
main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wickliff are the emblem 
of his doctrine, which is now dispersed all the world over."* 



CHAPTER III. 

JOHN HUSS OF BOHEMIA. HIS CONDEMNATION AND MARTYRDOM BY 
THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE. 

§ 23. — During the latter years of the venerable Wickliff, a youth 
was growing up in an obscure village in Bohemia, who was des- 
tined to bear the torch of gospel truth which the English reformer 
had kindled, into the very recesses of popish darkness, to seal, with 
the blood of martyrdom, his testimony against the corruptions of 
anti-Christ, and to transmit, with a martyr's hand, that torch of truth 
through a long succession of spiritual descendants. This youth 
was John Huss, or John of Huss, or Hussenitz, the small village of 
Bohemia which was rendered illustrious by his birth, on the 6th of 
July, 1373. At the death of Wickliff in 1384, Huss was a boy of 
eleven, pursuing his studies at a school in the town of Prachatitz, 
and aiming by his diligence and assiduity to reward the care and 
the tenderness of a kind and widowed mother, f 

It is related of the youthful John Huss, that when he was one 
evening reading by the fire the life of St. Laurence, his imagination 

* Fuller's Church History of Britain, from the birth of Christ till 1646 — book 
iv.,page 171. If Fuller could thus speak two centuries ago, what would he have 
said, had he been living now, and beheld the doctrines of Wickliff and the New 
Testament spreading in India, Burmah, Persia, China, Africa and the Islands of 
the South Seas ? 

f See UEnfanCs Council of Constance, book i., chap. 20 — to which valuable 
and authentic work, together with the work of Bonnechose, I am indebted for most 
of the facts in the present chapter. The work of L'Enfant is the great store- 
house of facts and authorities, to which subsequent writers, including Bonnechose, 
have had recourse, in reference to the lives of Huss and Jerome, and the proceed- 
ings of the council of Constance, which condemned them X> the flames. It is 
a work, the accuracy of which rests not merely upon the authority of the learned 
L'Enfant — though that is highly respectable — but upon the testimony of Romish 
writers themselves, who are constantly referred to by L'Enfant. 



388 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book yi. 

Huss's first feelings at the perusal of the writings of Wickliff. His subsequent favorable opinion. 

kindled at the narration of the martyr's sufferings, and he thrust 
his own hand into the flames. Being suddenly prevented by one of 
his fellow-pupils from holding it there, and then questioned as to his 
design, he replied : " I was only trying what part of the tortures of 
this holy man I might be capable of enduring." To the exemplary 
moral character and excellent mental ability of Huss, even Romish 
writers have borne testimony. " Thus/' says the Jesuit Balbinus, 
" John Huss was even more remarkable for his acuteness than his 
eloquence ; but the modesty and severity of his conduct, his austere 
and irreproachable life, his pale and melancholy features, his gentle- 
ness and affability to all, even the most humble, persuaded more than 
the greatest eloquence."* 

§ 24. — In the boyhood of Huss, the writings of Wickliff were al- 
ready known in Bohemia. They had probably been brought there from 
England, in consequence of the intercourse between the two coun- 
tries, resulting from the fact that the queen of Richard IL, at that 
time king of England, was a Bohemian princess, the sister of king 
Wenceslaus. At the first perusal of Wickliff's writings, it is said 
that he read them with a pious horror ; but in after years, when his 
judgment became more matured, and his knowledge of the corrup- 
tions and disorders of the popes and the priests more extensive, he 
formed a far more favorable opinion of the doctrines of the English 
reformer, though he clung, even to the close of his life, to some 
Romish opinions which were rejected by Wickliff. It is even 
related of him, by iEneas Sylvius, afterwards pope Pius IL, that 
after entering upon the priesthood he was accustomed, in his dis- 
courses from the pulpit of Bethlehem, to address his earnest vow to 
Heaven, that, " whenever he should be removed from this life, he 
might be admitted to the same regions where the soul of Wickliff 
resided ; since he doubted not, that he was a good and holy man, 
and worthy of a habitation in heaven."f 

As the disgraceful schism continued, Huss, who had now entered 
upon the priesthood, studied more seriously the writings of Wick- 
liff, and spoke of them with greater praise. He put himself for- 
ward, neither as the leader of a sect, nor an innovator : he laid 
claim to no admiration, or submission, or eulogium, from others : 
he simply drew his force from the authority of the Divine word, 
which he preached in his chapel of Bethlehem with an indefatigable 
zeal, and which, it was asserted, the priests had disfigured or veiled 
to such a degree, that it seemed as if the Holy Word was then for 

* Subtilior tamen quam eloquentior semper est habitus Hussus ; sed mores ad 
omnem servitutem conformati, vita horrida et sine deliciis, omnibus abrupta, quam 
nullus accusare posset, tristis et exhausta facies, languens corpus, et parata omni- 
bus obvia, etiam vilissimo cuique, benevolentia, omni lingua facundius perorabant. 
—(Balbinus, Epit. Rer. Bohem., p. 431.) 

f " Qui, cum se libenter audiri animadverteret, multa de libris Viclefi in medium 
attulit, asserens in iis omnem veritatem contineri ; adjiciensque crebro inter pracdi- 
candum, se, postquam ex luce migraret, ea loca proficisci cupere, ad quae Viclefi 
anima pervenisset; quern virum fuisse bonum, sanctum, cceloque dignum non 
dubitaret." (^En. Syl. Hist. Boh., 1. xxxv.) 



chap, in.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 389 

Huss gives himself to his destined work. Wickliff's writings burnt in Bohemia. 

the first time brought forward in Bohemia. Less daring than Wick- 
liff, John Huss admitted in principle the greater part of the dis- 
tinctive dogmas of the Roman Church, which the former rejected. 
In certain ones, such as the efficacy of prayers for the dead, the 
worship of saints, auricular confession, and the power of the priests 
to give absolution and to excommunicate, he blamed the principle 
much less than the abuse. Upon the grand fundamental principle 
of the appeal to the Scriptures as the only infallible authority, Huss 
agreed perfectly with the English reformer, and this contained in 
itself the seeds of a complete revolution in the anti-scriptural church 
of Rome. He also agreed with him in the necessity of bringing 
back the clergy to discipline and morality, and this, in that corrupt 
age, arrayed against him the whole priesthood as a body. 

§ 25. — Huss had to encounter a severe conflict with himself, 
before he could venture to declare himself openly as the reformer 
of the abuses of the church and the clergy. Referring to a passage 
in Ezekiel viii. 8, 9, " And when I had digged in the wall, behold 
a door. And the Lord said unto me, Go in and behold the wicked 
abominations that they do here," he exclaims, " I also, I, have been 
raised up by God to dig in the wall, in order that the multiplied abo- 
minations of the holy place may be laid open. It has pleased the 
Lord to draw me forth from the place where I was, like a brand 
from the burning. Unhappy slave of my passions as I was, it was 
necessary that God himself should rescue me, like Lot from the 
burning of Sodom ; and I have obeyed the voice which said to me, 
Dig in the wall. .... I next beheld a door, and that door was the 
Holy Scriptures, through which I contemplated the abominations of 
the monks and the priests, laid open before me and represented 
under divers emblems. Never did the Jews and Pagans commit 
such horrible sins in presence of Jesus Christ, as those bad Chris- 
tians and hypocritical priests commit every day in the midst of the 
Church."* From that time (about 1407), Huss gave himself to 
what he conceived his destined work, grappling with the whole 
body of the clergy, and boldly reproving their scandalous and 
immoral lives, from the obscure curate or monk, to the luxurious 
cardinals and rival pontiffs of a corrupt and apostate church. 

§ 26. — On the 20th December, 1409, pope Alexander V. issued 
his bull against the doctrines and writings of Wickliff, forbidding 
all to preach or teach his doctrines in private chapels or any places 
whatever. In obedience to this bull, the archbishop of Prague 
and primate of Bohemia caused upwards of two hundred volumes, 
beautifully written and richly ornamented, to be burned without any 
further proceedings,! which act gave birth to very formidable 
resentments. The price of books, which at that period were all 
manuscripts, was, before the invention of printing, elevated in pro- 
portion to their rarity, and their destruction almost always caused 

* Hist, et Monument. J. Hus., p. 503. 

f Supra ducenta volumina fuisse traduntur. (JEneas Sylvius, Hist. Boh., p. 69.) 



390 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 

The Pope lays an interdict on the city of Prague, on account of Huss. Husa's pious letters. 

a serious loss to the possessors. A great number of the books 
burned by the Archbishop belonged to members of the University 
of Prague. That dignitary had therefore violated their privileges, 
and John Huss undertook their defence, being doubly offended by 
this act of episcopal despotism, both in his authority as rector, and 
in his esteem for WicklifF. Upon the accession of pope John 
XXIII. in 1410, that violent and vicious pontiff immediately sum- 
moned the Bohemian reformer to appear before his court at Bo- 
logne, and upon Huss refusing to comply with the summons, he was 
excommunicated, the city of Prague laid under an interdict, and the 
priests forbidden to perform the rites of baptism or burial, so long 
as John Huss continued in the city. Against this sentence, Huss 
appealed from the pretended vicar of God to the tribunal of God 
himself. " Our Lord Jesus Christ," said he, " real God and real 
man, when encompassed by pontiffs, scribes, pharisees, and priests, 
at once his judges and accusers, gave his disciples the admirable 
example of submitting their cause to the omniscient and omnipotent 
God. In pursuance of this holy example, I now appeal to God, 
seeing that I am oppressed by an unjust sentence, and by the pre- 
tended excommunication of the pontiff's scribes, pharisees, and 
judges seated in the chair of Moses, — I, John Huss, present this my 
appeal to Jesus Christ, my Master and my Judge, who knows and 
protects the just cause of the humblest of men." 

§ 27. — The persecuted reformer, though enjoying the protection of 
the royal family, chose to retire for the present to his native village, 
from whence he wrote to his spiritual children to explain to them 
the cause of his retirement, in the following pious and affecting 
strain. " Learn, beloved," says he, " that if I have withdrawn from 
the midst of you, it is to follow the precept and example of Jesus 
Christ, in order not to give room to the ill-minded to draw on them- 
selves eternal condemnation, and in order not to be to the pious a 
cause of affliction and persecution. I have retired also through an 
apprehension that impious priests might continue for a longer time 
to prohibit the preaching of the Word of God amongst you ; but I 
have not quitted you to deny the divine truth, for which, with God's 
assistance, / am willing to die."* In another of these admirable 
letters, he exhorts them not to be cast down by terror, if the Lord 
should try some among them. Then alluding to the example of 
Jesus, he says : " He came to the aid of us miserable sinners, sup- 
porting hunger, thirst, cold, heat, watching and fatigue ; when giv- 
ing us his Divine instructions, he suffered weighty sorrows and 
grave insults from the priests and scribes, to such a point that they 
called him a blasphemer, and declared that he had a devil ; assert- 
ing that he, whom they had excommunicated as a heretic, and 
whom they had driven from their city and crucified as an accursed 
one, could not be God. If, then, Christ had to support such things — 
he, who cured all kinds of diseases by his mere word, without any 

* Hist, et Monum. Hus., t. i., p. 117. 



chap, m.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 391 

His presentiment of martyrdom. His noble and illustrious friend, Jerome of Prague 

recompense on earth — who drove out devils, raised the dead, and 
taught God's holy word — who did no harm to any one, who com- 
mitted no sin, and who suffered every indignity from the priests, 
simply because he laid open their wickedness — why should we be 
astonished, in the present day, that the ministers of aMi-Christ, who 
are far more covetous, more debauched, more cruel, and more cun- 
ning, than the Pharisees, should persecute the servants of God — 
overwhelm them with indignitv, curse, excommunicate, imprison, 
and kill them?" 

In some of his letters, written about the same time, Huss mani- 
fests a vague presentiment of martyrdom. It is thus, that, writing 
to the new rector of the University of Prague, he says : " I know 
well that, if I persevere in what is just, no evil, whatever it may 
be, will be able to turn me from the paths of truth. If I desire to 
live piously in Christ, it is necessary for me to suffer for his name. 
. . . What are to me the riches of the age ! What the indigni- 
ties, which, endured with humility, prove, purify, and illuminate; 
the children of God ! What, in fact, is death, should I be torn from 
this wretched existence ! He who loses it here below, triumphs 
over death itself, and finds the real life. As for me, I have no desire 
to live in this corrupt age : — I shall, I trust, affront death itself, if 
the mercy of the Lord comes to my aid." Huss goes on to draw 
an energetic picture of the licentiousness of the clergy, in which 
body he sees anti-Christ ; and then, giving free vent to his grief, he 
exclaims : " Wo, then, to me, if I do not preach against an abomi- 
nation of the kind ! Wo to me if I do not lament, if I do not 
write ! . . . Already the great eagle takes its flight, and cries, 
* Wo ! wo ! to the inhabiters of the earth !' "* 

§ 28. — Amidst all the dangers and trials, however, to which the 
godly Huss was exposed, there were many of his friends who, in 
the face of danger, remained faithful to the doctrine he had taught 
them and to their beloved teacher. But amongst them all, the most 
illustrious was he whose name has been handed down to posterity, 
inseparable from his own — Jerome of Prague, doctor of theology. 
This learned and eloquent doctor was one of the most eminent men 
of his time. He had studied at Oxford, and had defended most 
brilliant theses at Paris against Gerson, as well as the most cele- 
brated universities of Europe. Even before his return to Bohemia, 
he had signalized himself by a strong opposition to the church of 
Rome. He was thrown into prison at Vienna, as a favorer of 
Wickliff; and, being set at liberty at the request of the University 
of Prague, he came to join John Huss in this city. In a short time, 
he guarded no measures with respect to the Pope and the cardinals : 
and, amongst other problems, he openly proposed the following : — 
Whether the Pope possessed more power than another priest — and 
whether the bread in the Eucharist, or the body of Christ, possessed 
more virtue in the mass of the Roman pontiff, than in that of any 

* Hist, et Mon. Hus., Epist. iv., t. i., p. 118. 



392 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 

Jerome's contrast. Huss's faithful rebukes of papal indulgences. 

other officiating ecclesiastic ? One day, Jerome and some of his 
friends drew a sketch of Christ's disciples, on one side, following 
with naked feet their Master mounted on an ass ; whilst on the other 
they represented the pope and the cardinals, in great state, on superb 
horses, and preceded, as usual, with drums and trumpets. Those 
pictures were exposed in public ; and it is easy to conceive the 
effect that they ought to produce on an excitable and enthusiastic 
multitude. (See Engraving.) 

Such was Jerome of Prague, whom his contemporaries have 
recognized as superior in intellectual powers to John Huss ; but the 
latter, by his manner of living, his character, and his piety, possessed 
so great an authority, that Jerome always felt its ascendency. John 
Huss was the master, Jerome the disciple ; and nothing does more 
honor to those two men than this deference — this voluntary humili- 
ation of genius at the feet of virtue. 

§ 29. — The opposition of both Jerome and Huss to the Pope's bull 
of crusade against Ladislaus issued, as we have already seen (page 
375), by John XXIII. in 1411, tended to increase the hatred of that 
pontiff to the Bohemian reformers. Huss did not content himself 
with attacking the bull, but animadverted with considerable sever- 
ity, against the Pope's pretended power of indulgences, of granting 
the full remission of their sins to such as should engage in the pious 
work of butchering all who opposed his Holiness in his views of 
ambition. After referring to the sentiments of Augustine and Gre- 
gory, Huss says : " When, then, those two great saints have not 
dared to promise remission of sins even to those who have done 
penance, with what countenance can pope John, in his bull, promise 
the most entire remission of sins, and the recompense of eternal 
salvation, to his accomplices ! If, notwithstanding the example of 
Christ, the Pope strives for temporal domination, it is evident thai 
he sins in that, as do those who aid him in that object. How, then, 
could the indulgence granted for a criminal act be of any value ?" 

The Pope cannot know, without an especial revelation, if he is 
predestined to salvation ; he cannot, therefore, give such indulgence 
to himself; it is not, besides, contrary to the faith, that many popes 
who have granted ample indulgences are damned. Of what value, 
therefore, are their indulgences in the sight of God ? No saint in 
Scripture has granted indulgences for the absolution of the penalty 
of the trespass during a certain number of years and days : our 
doctors have never dared to name any of the Fathers as having 
instituted and published indulgences ; because, in fact, they are 
ignorant of their origin : and if these indulgences, which are repre- 
sented as so salutary to mankind, have slumbered, as it were, for 
the space of a thousand years and more, the reason most probably 
is, that covetousness had not at that period, as at present, reached its 
highest point. In order to show the absurdity of the pretended 
power to pardon the sins of those who should contribute money 
toward the Pope's crusade, Huss uses the following illustration : 
" Of two men," says he, " one has been an offender all his life ; but 



X f r ^ ? T. 




Primitive Christianity— Christ, the Master. 




Papal Christianity— The Pope, the Servai 
" The servant is not above his master. ' 



chap, in.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 395 

Huss loses the favor of the King. Invites a discussion at Prague on the Pope's bull of Crusade. 

provided he pays a sum of money, he can obtain, by means of a 
very slight contrition, remission of his sins, and of their consequent 
penalty : the other is a man of worth who has never committed but 
venial sins ; yet, if he gives nothing, he shall have no pardon. Now, 
according to the bull, if those two men should happen to die, the 
former — the criminal — will go straight to heaven, escaping the pains 
of purgatory ; and the second — the just man — will have to undergo 
them. Were such indulgences really available in heaven, we ought 
to pray to God that war might be waged against the Pope, in order 
that he might throw open all the treasures of the Church !"* 

In reading these extracts from the writings of Huss, it is impos- 
sible not to think of the still more severe and pointed rebukes of 
Luther, a hundred years later, of this blasphemous pretence of par- 
doning sin for money, excited by the conduct of the infamous Tet- 
zel, the indulgence-peddler of pope Leo X. 

§ 30. — -This noble reply of Huss to the bulls of John XXIIL, while 
it increased his favor and influence with the people, drew on him the 
hostility of the court. The King was then at war with Ladislaus ; his 
favor, like that of the greater part of princes, was subordinate to 
his political interests : he, therefore, accepted the bulls, and with- 
drew for a time his support from John Huss. Prague was then 
divided between two powerful parties. All who had favors to ex- 
pect from the King or the people declared themselves in support of the 
bulls ; and to this period must be assigned the rupture between Huss 
and Stephen Paletz, an influential member of the clergy. Paletz had 
been his friend and disciple ; but being as anxious for the advancement 
of his fortune as Huss was for the progress of the truth, he preached 
in favor of the bulls and the indulgences. These reverses, however, 
did not shake the resolution of Huss. He caused a placard to be put 
upon the doors of the churches and monasteries of Prague, inviting 
the public, and particularly all doctors, priests, monks and scholars, 
to come forward and discuss the following theses : " Whether, ac- 
cording to the law of Jesus Christ, Christians could, with a safe con- 
science, approve of the crusade ordered by the Pope against Ladis- 
laus and his followers, — and whether such a crusade could turn to 
the glory of God, to the safety of the Christian populations, and to 
the welfare of the kingdom of Bohemia?" 

On the appointed day, the concourse was prodigious ; and the 
rector, in alarm, endeavored, though in vain, to dissolve the assem- 
bly. A doctor of canon law stood up and delivered a defence of 
the Pope and the bulls ; then, falling upon John Huss, he said — 
" You are a priest ; you are subordinate to the Pope, who is your 
spiritual father. It is only filthy birds that defile their own nest ; 
and Ham was cursed for having uncovered his father's shame." At 
these words, the people murmured, and were in great commotion. 
Already were stones beginning to fly, when John Huss interfered 
and calmed the storm. Alter him, the impetuous Jerome of Prague 

* Hist, ct Monum. Tins., Tom. i., p. 215, &c. 



396 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 



Popular tumult at Prague. Valuable testimony of cardinal Peter D'Ailly. 

addressed the multitude, and terminated a vehement harangue with 
these words : " Let those who are our friends unite with us ; Huss 
and I are going to the palace, and we will let the vanity of those 
indulgences be seen." 

Jerome was, however, persuaded not to go to the palace, but the 
feelings of the excited multitude could not be calmed. On the fol- 
lowing Sunday an event occurred which raised this excitement to 
an almost ungovernable pitch. A report was in circulation that 
three men had been thrown into prison by the magistrates, for hav- 
ing harangued against the Pope and indulgences. The students 
rose ; arms were taken up, and Huss, followed by the people and 
the scholars, proceeded to the town-house, and demanded that the 
prisoners' lives should be spared. Two thousand men were in arms 
in the square. " Return peaceably to your homes," cried John 
Huss to them ; " the prisoners are pardoned." The crowd shouted 
their applause and withdrew ; but, a short time after, blood was 
seen to flow in abundance from the prison. The senators had de- 
termined on the most dangerous course, — that of endeavoring to 
inspire terror, after having exhibited it themselves. An executioner 
had been introduced, and had beheaded the prisoners, and it was 
their blood which had escaped. At this sight a furious tumult 
arose. The doors of the prison were burst open, the bodies taken 
off, and transported in linen shrouds under the vault of the chapel 
of Bethlehem. There they were interred with great honors, the 
scholars singing in chorus over their tomb, — " They are saints who 
have given up their body for the gospel of God." Indignation gra- 
dually pervaded the whole of Bohemia, and John Huss, in his vio- 
lent invectives against the Pope, used but little moderation. He 
attacked, in the most unmeasured language, the despotism and 
simony of the pontiff, as well as the debauchery and display of the 
priests ; he rejected also the traditions of the Church respecting 
fasts and abstinence, and he opposed to every other authority that 
of the Scriptures. The popish doctors of Prague formed a league 
against him, and accused him of belonging to the sect of the Armi- 
nians, who relied on the authority of Scripture only, and not on that 
of the church and the holy fathers. To this Huss replied, that on 
the point in question he was of the same opinion as St. Augustine, 
who acknowledged the Scriptures alone as the foundation of his 
faith. 

§ 31. — The testimony of Peter D'Ailly, cardinal of Cambray, as 
to the real cause of the dissatisfaction in Bohemia, considering the 
source from whence that testimony is derived, is valuable. " It is," 
said he, " on account of the simoniacal heresy and the other iniqui- 
ties which are practised at the Court of Rome, that there have 
arisen, in Bohemia and Moravia, sects which have spread from the 
head to the other members in this kingdom, where a thousand things 

highly insulting to the Pope are publicly uttered Thus it is 

that the notorious vices of the Court of Rome trouble the Catholic 
faith, and corrupt it by errors. It is to be desired, certainly, that 



chap, in.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 397 

Huss writes the Six Errors, members of Anti-Christ, &c. Summoned to the council of Constance. 

those heresies, and their authors, were rooted out of all those pro- 
vinces ; but I do not see that this result can be accomplished, unless 
the court of Rome can be brought back to its ancient morals and 
its praiseworthy customs." In the meanwhile, the disgraceful 
schism of the rival popes continued, and furnished the partizans of 
Huss with arguments for combating the jurisdiction of the Pope. 
" If we must obey," said they, " to whom is our obedience to be 
paid ? Balthazar Cossa, called John XXIIL, is at Rome, — Angelo 
Corario, named Gregory XII., is at Rimini, — Peter de Lune, who 
calls himself Benedict XIIL, is in Arragon. If one of them, in his 
quality of the Most Holy Father, ought to be obeyed, how does it 
come to pass that he cannot be distinguished from the others, and 
why does he not begin by subduing them ?" 

§ 32. — During a second retirement of John Huss to his native 
village of Hussenitz, he published a short but energetic treatise, 
under the title of The Six Errors. The first was the error of the 
priests, who boasted of making the body of Jesus Christ in the 
mass, and of being the creator of their Creator. The second con- 
sisted in declaring — / believe in the popes and the saints. The third 
was the pretension of the priests to be able to remit the trespass 
and the penalty of sin to whom they pleased. The fourth error 
was implicit obedience to superiors, no matter what they ordered. 
The fifth consisted in not making a distinction, in their effect, be- 
tween a just excommunication and one that was not so. And, 
lastly, the sixth error was simony, which John Huss designated a 
hereby, and of which he accused the greater part of the clergy. 
This little work, which attacked the clergy in particular, was pla- 
carded on the door of the chapel of Bethlehem ; it ran with won- 
derful rapidity through the whole of Bohemia, and its success was 
immense. He wrote also at this period his treatise on the Abomi- 
nation of the Monks, the purport of which is sufficiently explained 
by its title ; and another, entitled, Members of Anti- Christ, a vigor- 
ous and fearless exposure of the vices and disorders of the Pope 
and his court. 

§ 33. — Upon the assembling of the Council of Constance in 1414, 
John Huss was immediately summoned to attend it. Had he re- 
fused to obey the summons, doubtless, as he himself asserted at 
Constance, the powerful barons of Bohemia, who favored his cause, 
would have protected him, in their fortified castles, from the rage 
of his enemies — and even King Wenceslaus would not have ven- 
tured to deliver him up. In this event, the eyes of the Bohemian 
reformer might gradually have been opened yet more fully to the 
abominations of Popery, and the scenes of the glorious Reforma- 
tion of Germany might have been witnessed a hundred years ear- 
lier than the age of Luther. But, to prepare the way for the 
Reformation, the providence of God required yet another bloody 
sacrifice to be offered in view of the world — a sacrifice, in defiance 
of the most solemn promise of protection and safety — in order to 
exhibit yet more fully the cruel and perfidious character of the papal 
2G 



398 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vx 

Copy of the Emperoj,'? safe-conduct. Huss's misgivings whether he should ever return alive 

anti-Christ ; and John Huss was destined to be that sacrifice, 
Upon the reception of the summons, Huss prepared to depart for 
Constance. He obtained a safe-conduct (a document promising him 
protection upon the faith of the grantor) from king Wenceslaus, 
and demanded a similar one from the emperor Sigismund, which 
he received while on his journey. This document, the violation of 
which, at the advice of the popish cardinals and prelates at Con- 
stance, stamps such indelible disgrace upon all who thus openly 
declared the doctrine, that no faith is to be kept with heretics, is 
of so much importance that I shall transcribe it. It was couched 
in the following terms :* " Sigismund, by the grace of God, King 
of the Romans, &c, to all ecclesiastical and secular princes, &c, 
and to all our other subjects, greeting. We recommend to you with 
a full affection, — to all in general, and to each in particular, the 
honorable master, John Huss, bachelor in divinity, and master of 
arts, the bearer of these presents, journeying from Bohemia to the 
council of Constance, whom we have taken under our protection and 
safe-guard, and under that of the empire, enjoining you to receive 
him and treat him kindly, furnishing him with all that shall be 
necessary to speed and assure his journey, as well by water as by 
land, without taking anything from him or his, for arrivals or 
departures, under any pretext whatever ; and calling on you to allow 

him TO PASS, SOJOURN, STOP, AND RETURN FREELY AND SURELY,f 

'providing him even, if necessary, with good passports, for the honor 
and respect of his Imperial Majesty. — Given at Spires, this 18th day 
of October of the year 1414, the third of our reign in Hungary, 
and the fifth of that of the Romans." 

§ 34. — 'Notwithstanding these precautions, it appears that the 
intrepid and faithful reformer had some doubts whether he should 
ever be permitted to return alive. He probably knew enough, from 
the past history of Rome, to produce misgivings whether his popish 
enemies would hesitate to violate a promise, however solemn, if 
made to a heretic ; and therefore he " set his house in order," and 
arranged all his worldly affairs, before leaving that home, to which 
he might never return. He made some bequests, in the event of 
his death, and wrote several farewell letters, which are intensely 
interesting, as exhibiting his evident growth in piety and spiritual- 
ity, as he drew nearer and nearer to the martyr's sufferings and the 
martyr's crown. 

In one of these letters, addressed to his beloved friends in Prague, 
he writes — " I am departing, my brethren, with a safe-conduct from 
the king to meet my numerous and mortal enemies I con- 
fide altogether in the all-powerful God, in my Saviour ; I trust that 
he will listen to your ardent prayers, that he will infuse his pru- 

* L'Enfant's Council of Constance, vol. i., p. 61 ; Bonnechose, book ii., ch. i. 

f " Omnique prorsus impedimento remoto transire, stare, morari, et RE- 
DIRE libere permittat s." " Venir librement et d'en revenir," Dupin. For the 
original of the document, see Ada publico, apud Bzovium, Ann. 1414, Sec. 17 J 
quoted in Latin by Gieseler, III., 351, and Waddington, p. 465. 



chap, m.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D 1303-1545. 399 



Buss'a farewell letters on setting out for the council. His evident growth in spirituality and grace. 

dence and his wisdom into my mouth, in order that I may resist 
them ; and that he will accord- me his Holy Spirit to fortify me in 
his truth, so that I may face, with courage, temptations, prison, and 
if necessary, a cruel death. Jesus Christ suffered for his well- 
beloved ; and, therefore, ought we to be astonished that he has left 
us his example, in order that we may ourselves endure with patience 
all things for our own salvation ? He is God, and we are his crea- 
tures ; He is the Lord, and we are his servants ; He is master of 
the world, and we are contemptible mortals: — yet he suffered! 
Why, then, should we not suffer also, particularly when suffering is 
for us a purification ! Therefore, beloved, if my death ought to 
contribute to his glory, pray that it may come quickly, and that he 
may enable me to support all my calamities with constancy. But 
if it be better that I return amongst you, let us pray to God that I 
may return without stain, — that is, that I may not suppress one tittle 
of the truth of the gospel, in order to leave my brethren an excel- 
lent example to follow. Probably, therefore, you will never more 
behold my face at Prague ; but should the will of the all-powerful 
God deign to restore me to you, let us then advance with a firmer 
heart in the knowledge and the love of his law."* 

In another letter, which Huss addressed, when setting out, to the 
priest Martin, his disciple, he speaks of himself with the greatest 
humility. He accuses himselfj as if they were so many grave 
offences, of having felt pleasure in wearing rich apparel, and of 
having wasted hours in frivolous occupations. He adds these affect- 
ing instructions : " May the glory of God, and the salvation oi 
souls, occupy thy mind, and not the possession of benefices and 
estates. Beware of adorning thy house more than thy soul ; and, 
above all, give thy care to the spiritual edifice. Be pious and 
humble with the poor ; and consume not thy substance in feasting. 
Shouldst thou not amend thy life and refrain from superfluities, I 
fear that thou wilt be severely chastened, as I am myself — I, who 
also made use of such things, led away by custom, and troubled 
by a spirit of pride. Thou knowest my doctrine, for thou hast 
received my instructions from thy childhood ; it is therefore useless 
for me to write to thee any further. But I conjure thee, by the 
mercy of our Lord, not to imitate me in any of the vanities into 
which thou hast seen me fall."f He concludes by making some 
bequests, and disposing, as if by will, of several articles which be- 
longed to him ; and then, on the cover of the letter, he adds this pro- 
phetic phrase, " I conjure thee, my friend, not to break this seal until 
lliou shalt have acquired the certitude that I am dead." Thus evi- 
dent is it, that God was preparing his servant for the sufferings of 

f martyrdom and the joys of Heaven 

In the month of October, 1414, Huss bade adieu to his chapel of 

, Bethlehem, which he was no more to behold, and to his friends and 

* Hist, et Monum., J. Huss, t. i., p. 72, Epist. i. 
+ Ibid., Epist. ii. 



400 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Huss arrested in violation of the safe-conduct. Popish efforts to reconcile Sigismund to this treachery. 

disciples. He left behind his faithful Jerome, and their parting was 
not without emotion. " Dear master," said Jerome to him, " be 
firm: maintain intrepidly what thou hast written and preached 
against the pride, avarice, and other vices of the churchmen, with 
arguments drawn from the Holy Scriptures. Should this task be- 
come too severe for thee — should I learn that thou hast fallen into 
any peril, I shall fly forthwith to thy assistance." 

§ 35. — In shameful violation of the safe-conduct of the Emperor 
almost immediately upon the arrival of Huss at Constance, he was 
placed under arrest by order of the Pope and cardinals, and com- 
mitted to a loathsome prison. When this was known at Prague, the 
city was thrown into commotion. A number of protests were at 
once signed. Several barons and powerful noblemen wrote press- 
ing letters to the Emperor, reminding him of the safe-conduct which 
he had received from Sigismund himself. " John Huss," observed 
they, " departed with full confidence in the guarantee given him in 
your Imperial Majesty's letter. Nevertheless, we now understand 
that he has been seized on, though having that in his possession ; 
and not only seized on, but cast into prison, without being either 
convicted or heard. Every one here, princes or barons, rich or 

poor, has been astonished to hear of this event Each man 

asks his neighbor how the holy Father could so shamefully have 
violated the sanctity of the law, the plain rules of justice, and finally, 
your Majesty's safe-conduct, — how, in fact, he could thus have 
thrown into prison, without cause, a just and innocent man. 

The enemies of Huss were not less active in their efforts to de- 
stroy, than his defenders to save him. They circumvented Sigis- 
mund, and dexterously took advantage of his prejudices, his blind 
devotion, and his zeal — more remarkable for energy than sound 
judgment — for the extinction of the schism. They adduced argu- 
ments of great length to prove that he was perfectly at liberty not to 
keep faith with a man accused of heresy : they persuaded him that 
he possessed no right to accord a safe-conduct to John Huss with- 
out the consent of the council ; and that, the council being above 
the Emperor, could free him from his word. Yet, notwithstanding 
the attempts of these popish priests to silence the clamors of Sigis- 
mund's conscience, at so base an act of treachery, the Emperor 
did not abandon the victim to their power without considerable 
resistance. It was like yielding up the helpless lamb to a conclave 
of wolves thirsting for his blood, and it required all the efforts of 
popish sophistry to convince Sigismund, even for the passing mo- 
ment, that such a violation of his solemnly pledged faith was law- 
ful ; and the remembrance of this perfidious abandonment of the 
man he had engaged to protect, haunted and disquieted him in the 
subsequent years of his life. Two years after the council, when no 
longer blinded by the sophistries and seduced by the persuasion of 
the bitter enemies of Huss, the Emperor w T rote to the barons of 
Bohemia in the following terms : "lam unable to express it — how 
much I was afflicted by his ill fortune. The active measures that I 



CHAP.ni.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A, D. 1303-1545. 401 

Huss before the council. His condemnation and degradation. 

took in his favor are matters of public notoriety, — for I went so far 
as several times to leave the assembly in anger, and had even once 
quitted the city ; upon which the Fathers of the council sent to 
inform me, that if I stopped the course of their justice, they had 
nothing to do at Constance. I therefore determined to abstain from 
any further interference : for if I interested myself further in John 
Huss's favor, the council would have been dissolved."* 

§ 36. — It would be a tedious task to relate the particulars of the 
various audiences of Huss before the council ; the charges which 
were brought against him, the doctrines that he was alleged to 
have taught (some of which he denied, and others he defended), 
the cruel insult, abuse, and mockery that he received from his 
oppressors, and the meekness, yet firmness and holy boldness with 
which he conducted himself, through the whole of the proceedings. 
All his letters, and all the testimony of contemporary writers, serve 
to prove that at this last period of his life, his angelic meekness and 
resignation were as constant as his misfortunes. If indignation had 
formerly characterized some of his acts and writings with an im- 
press of extra violence or bitterness, these defects had given place to 
their opposite virtues, and, through the sanctifying power of the Holy 
Spirit, he had never been more meet for the crown of immortality 
in heaven than at the moment when his enemies were preparing to 
inflict martyrdom on him on earth. Never did any one manifest a 
faith more full of hope and gratitude, in the midst of trials in which 
carnal men would have beheld only motives for lamentation and 
despair. " This declaration of our Saviour," said he, " is to me a 
great source of consolation : * Blessed are ye when men shall hate 
you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the 
Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day ; for, behold, your re- 
ward is great in heaven." 

§ 37. — His condemnation and degradation. — But we hasten to the 
description of his condemnation and martyrdom. On the 6th of 
July he appeared the last time before the council in the fifteenth 
general session, to hear his sentence pronounced. The Emperor 
and all the princes of the empire were present, and an immense 
crowd had assembled from all quarters to view this sad spectacle. 
Mass was being celebrated when Huss arrived, and he was kept 
outside until it was over, lest the holy mysteries should be profaned 
by the presence of so great a heretic. A high table had been erected 
in the midst of the church, and on it were placed the sacerdotal 
habits with which John Huss was to be invested, in order to be 
stripped of them afterward. He was directed to seat himself in 
front of this table on a footstool, elevated enough to allow him to 
be seen by every one. 

A fierce and blood-thirsty harangue was delivered by the popish 
bishop of Lodi, from Rom. vi., 6, " That the body of sin might be 
destroyed" which he concluded with the following words, addressed 

* Cochlceus, lib. iv. 



402 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. {book xl 

At. : 7= ::E-_L55 :':: : :.::i Tie majrvr prays like he blessed master, for ha enemies. 

to Sigismund : •■ Destroy heresies and errors, arid, above all." point- 
ing to John Huss. "this >bstinate heretic. It is a holy 

glorious prince, thai wl Ls reserved to you to accomplish — yon 

torn rath rity :: justice is given. Smite, then, such 
enemies :: the faith, in >rdei that your praises may 
the mouth of children, and that youi glory may be eternal. May 
Jesus Christ, tor ever blessed, ieign tc accord you this favor." 

| 38. — The articles from the writings :: Huss were then read, to 
which the holy martyr made several attempts to reply, but was 
prevented by the uproar and clamor thai was raised to prevent 
him from sir^u:. EEc was accused, among Dthei absurd charges; 
of having given himseli ; ill for a fourth person in :i;e Trinity. To 
this he replied y repeating aloud the Athanasian or Trinitarian 
creed. His appeal to Jesus Christ, mentioned in page 390. was 
alsc Laid :: his charge as a heavy crime. He. however, repeated 
it, and maintained that it was just and pre proceeding, an4 
founded upon the example of Jesus Christ himself u Behold T 
::. . ..:, with .us hands joined together and raised to heaven, "be- 
hold, most land Jesus, how thy xnmcU condemns what thou hast 
both ordered and practised ; when, being borne iown by thy ene- 
mies, thou ieiiveredst up thy cause intc the hand :i. thy 
Father, Leaving us thy example, that we might ourselves hav 
course to the judgment of G : :i. the most righteous Judge, gainst 
oppressiu ! Yes," continued he, turning toward the assembly, "I 
hue maintained, and I sull uphold, that it is impossible to appeal 
more safely than :: Jesus i ... ist, because HZ : uunot be either cor- 
rupted by presents, :: ieceived by false witnesses, :r werreached 
by any artifice." When they accused him of having treateu 
rontempt the ex ;:uuu ::::_ ::-.::. ;: the Pope, he observed: "I did 
Lespise i: ; but as I aid not consider him legitimate. I continued 
the luties of my priesthood. I sent my uuuuuuus :: Ron: 
where they were thrown into pris:u. hi :rea:ed. and i::veu out 
It is on that account that I determined, ol my own free will, to 
appear before this council, .'-. the public protection and faith of 
the Emperor . resent? At the moment :: uronouncing these 
words, Huss i: aked steadfastly at the emperor Sigismund, and we 
are ..:: surprised to be informed by the historian, that a deep blush 
s face. It was in allusion to this circumstance, in the 
:.:::: :e.u.uy. :..:: the emperor Ciueries V., when solicited :y s.uue 
woi my sue lessors of the popish foxes rf Constance, tc :?us Luther 
to be arrested at the die: of Worms, : : ^withstanding the safe-con- 
duct he had given him, eeriird. " No. I shoxjij] xer like re : 
::::: >:uu:v:u." 1 

j 39. — After hearing the sentence. Huss feD :u his knees, and 
• Lord Jesus pardon my enemies Thou uu:~es: that they 
falsely accused me, and that they have had recourse to false 
testimony and vile calumnies agaius: me; pardon them fro m 

* SeeL'Enfa] -re 422. 



chap, ni.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 403 

His degradation. Stripped of his priestly vestments. Led out to martyrdom, 

infinite mercy !" Then commenced the afflicting ceremony of de- 
gradation. The bishops clothed John Huss in sacerdotal habits, 
and placed his chalice in his hand, as if he was about to celebrate 
mass. He said, in taking the alb, " Our Lord Jesus Christ was 
covered with a white robe, by way of insult, when Herod had him 
conducted before Pilate." Being thus clad, the prelate again ex- 
horted him to retract, for his salvation and his honor ; but he de- 
clared aloud, turning toward the people, that he should take good 
care not to scandalize and lead astray believers by a hypocritical 
abjuration. " How could I," said he, " after having done so, raise 
my face to heaven ! With what eye could I support the looks of 
men whom I have instructed, should it come to pass, through my 
fault, that those same things which are now regarded by them as 
certainties, should become matters of doubt — if, by my example, I 
caused confusion and trouble in so many souls, so many consciences, 
which I have filled with the pure doctrine of Christ's gospel, and 
which I have strengthened against the snares of the devil ? No ! 
no ! It shall never be said that I preferred the safety of this misera- 
ble body, now destined to death, to their eternal salvation !" The 
bishops then made him descend from his seat, and took the chalice 
out of his hand, saying : " O accursed Judas ! who, having aban- 
doned the counsels of peace, have taken part in that of the Jews, 
we take from you this cup, filled with the blood of Jesus Christ !" 
His habits were then taken off, one after the other, and on each of 
them the bishops pronounced some maledictions. When, last of all, 
it was necessary to efface the marks of the tonsure, a dispute arose 
among them whether a razor or scissors ought to be employed. 
" See, 5 ' said John Huss, turning toward the Emperor, " though they 
are all equally cruel, yet can they not agree on the manner of exer- 
cising that cruelty." They placed on his head a crown or sort of 
pyramidal mitre, on which were painted frightful figures of demons, 
with this inscription, " The Arch-Heretic," and when he was thus 
arrayed, the prelates devoted his soul to the devils. ' Animam 
tuam diabolis commendamus.' John Huss, however, recommended 
his spirit to God, and said aloud . " I wear with joy this crown of 
opprobrium, for the love of Him who bore a crown of thorns." 

§ 40. — His martyrdom. — The church then gave up all claim to 
him — declared him a layman — and as such, delivered him over to 
the secular power, to conduct him to a place of punishment. John 
Huss, by the order of Sigismund, was given up by the Elector 
Palatine, vicar of the empire, to the chief magistrate of Constance, 
who, in his turn, abandoned him to the officers of justice. He 
walked between four town Serjeants, to the place of execution. On 
arriving at the place of burning, Huss kneeled down and recited 
some of the penitential psalms. Several of the people, hearing him 
pray with fervor, said aloud : " We are ignorant of this man's crime, 
but he offers up most excellent prayers." When he wished 1o ad- 
dress the crowd in German, the Elector Palatine opposed it, and 
ordered him forthwith to be burned. " Lord Jesus !" cried John 



404 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Huss's meek, courageous, and godly demeanor at the stake of burning. His ashes cast into the Rhine. 



Huss, " I shall endeavor to endure with humility, this frightful 
death, which I am awarded for thy gospel, — pardon all my enemies." 
While he was praying thus, with nis eyes raised up to heaven, the 
paper crown fell off: he smiled, but the soldiers replaced it on his 
head, in order, as they declared, that he might be burned with the 
devils he had obeyed. 

Having obtained permission to speak to his keepers, he thanked 
them for the good treatment he had received at their hands. " My 
brethren," said he, " learn that I firmly believe in my Saviour : it is 
in his name that I suffer, and this very day I shall go and reign with 
him !" His body was then bound with thongs, with which he was 
firmly tied to a stake, driven deep into the ground. When he was 
so affixed, some persons objected to his face being turned to the 
East, saying that this ought not to be, since he was a heretic. He 
was then untied and bound again with his face to the West. His 
head was held close to the wood by a chain smeared with soot, 
and the views of which inspired him with pious reflections on the 
ignominy of our Saviour's sufferings. Faggots were then arranged 
about and under his feet, and around him was piled up a quantity 
of straw. When all these preparations were completed, the Elector 
Palatine, accompanied by Count d'Oppenheim, marshal of the em- 
pire, came up to him, and for the last time recommended him to 
retract. But he, looking up to heaven, said with a loud voice : " I 
call God to witness, that I have never either taught or written what 
these false witnesses have laid to my charge, — my sermons, my 
books, my writings, have all been done with the sole view of rescu- 
ing souls from the tyranny of sin, and, therefore, most joyfully will 
I confirm with my blood the truth which I have taught, written and 
preached ; and which is confirmed by the divine law and the holy 
fathers." The Elector and the marshal then withdrew, and fire was 
set to the pile ! "Jesus, Son of the living God," cried John Huss, 
" have pity on me !" He prayed and sung a hymn in the midst of 
his torments, but soon after, the wind having risen, his voice was 
drowned by the roaring of the flames. He was perceived for some 
time longer moving his head and lips, and as if still praying, — and 
then he gave up the spirit. His habits were burned with him, 
and the executioners tore in pieces the remains of his body and 
threw them back into the funeral pile, until the fire had absolutely 
consumed everything ; the ashes were then collected together and 
thrown into the Rhine ; and as it was said of Wickliff, so may it 
be said of the holy martyr of Bohemia, that the dispersion of his 
ashes in the river and in the ocean, is an emblem of the subsequent 
dissemination of those truths, for the sake of which he braved a 
martyr's sufferings, and won a martyr's crown. (See Engraving.) 




Burning of John Hum, at Constance 



407 



CHAPTER IV. 

JEROME OF PRAGUE, AT THE COUNCIL OP CONSTANCE. HIS CONDEM- 
NATION AND MARTYRDOM. 

§ 41. — Upon hearing of the imprisonment and danger of Huss, 
his faithful friend Jerome remembered the promise he had made 
him at his departure from Prague, and prepared to fulfil it. He set 
out for Constance without a safe-conduct, accompanied by a single 
disciple. He determined to appear before the council and plead his 
friend's cause. He arrived in that city on April 4th, and mingling, 
without being known, with the crowd of people, he overheard dis- 
astrous intelligence. It was said that John Huss would not be ad- 
mitted into the presence of the council — that he would be judged 
and condemned in secret — that he would leave his prison only to 
die. Jerome was struck with alarm, and thought all was lost. A 
violent terror seized on him, and he took to flight as suddenly as 
he had come. On his mournful return to Bohemia, he stopped at 
Uberlingen, and wrote, but in vain, to the Emperor for a safe-con- 
duct. The council granted one, but in such terms as to render it 
useless. It contained the following rather curious assurance of pro- 
tection: "As we have nothing more at heart than to catch the foxes 
which ravage in the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, we summon you, 
by these presents, to appear before us as a suspected person, and 
violently accused of having rashly advanced several errors ; and 
we order you to appear here within a fortnight from the date of this 
summons, to answer, as you have offered to do, in the first session 
that shall be held after your arrival. It is for this purpose, that, in 
order to prevent any violence being offered to you, we, by these 
presents, give you a full safe-conduct as much as in us lies, except- 
ing always the claims of the law, and that the orthodox faith does not, 
in any respect, prevent it; certifying to you, beside, that whether you 
appear within the specified period or not, the council, by itself or its 
commissioners, will proceed against you as soon as the term shall 
have elapsed." 

Jerome proceeded with a sad heart on his way homeward, when 
he was arrested in the Black Forest, and brought back to Constance, 
which he entered on a cart, loaded with chains and surrounded by a 
guard of soldiers.* 

§ 42. — He was taken in that miserable condition to the Elector's 
house, where he was kept until he appeared in public, before a gen- 
eral meeting of the members of the council. At his first appearance 
before the council, he was bitterly assailed by several of the mem- 
bers, and his attempts to reply to their accusations were met with 

* Vonit igitur currui impositus, catenis longis ac sonantibus constrictus. (Msc. 
Lips. Von tier Hardt, t. iv., p. 216.) 



408 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book yt. 

Jerome, in a moment of fear, recants. Resolves to renounce his recantation. 

Vociferous shouts : u To the flames with him ! — to the flames !" He 
was conducted back to his loathsome dungeon, chained in the most 
painful postures, and fed on bread and water. 

For six months he was suffered to pine away in chains, no 
severity had been spared him in his noisome dungeon, and his 
legs were already afflicted with incurable sores. It was hoped 
that sufferings of such duration and rigor would have depressed his 
soul, and subdued his courage. His cruel persecutors hoped that 
his spirit had been subdued by the terrible vengeance of the council 
on Huss. He was taken out of prison, and summoned, under pain 
of being burned, to abjure his errors, and subscribe to the justice of 
John Huss's death. Human weakness prevailed — Jerome was 
afraid, and signed a paper in which he submitted himself to the coun- 
cil, and approved of all its acts. This retraction of Jerome proves, 
by the very restrictions which it contains, how much it must have 
cost the unfortunate man to consent to it. He subscribed, it is true, 
to the condemnation of the articles of Wickliffand John Huss; but 
he declared that he had no intention of bearing any prejudice to the 
holy truths which these two men had taught ; and as to Huss in 
particular, he avowed that he had loved him from his tenderest 
years, and that he had always been ready to defend him ogainst 
every one, on account of the mildness of his language, and the good 
instructions he gave the people. While we cannot but mourn that 
the weakness of nature, and fear of the most terrible and painful of 
deaths, induced Jerome thus to recant his opinions, and profess to 
condemn what in his heart he approved ; before we venture harshly 
to censure him, we should place ourselves in his position, and ask, 
would we have displayed a greater degree of courage and con- 
stancy. 

§ 43. — Jerome was then led back to prison, but treated with 
greater lenity. His qualified recantation, however, was unsatisfac- 
tory to some of the members of the council, who. like the tiger 
with his appetite whetted by the taste of human flesh, ardently 
thirsted for the blood of Jerome. The persecuted martyr then 
comprehended, that, in order to save his life, he should be obliged 
to plunge deeper into perjury. Indignation restored him strength 
— the love of the truth prevailed over the love of life — and he at 
once made up his mind to adopt a heroic resolution. He resolved 
boldly to defend his opinions, and follow the martyred Huss to the 
flames. On the 23d of May, 1516, upon being again confronted 
with his cruel judges, he renounced his former recantation, advo- 
cated his own opinions and those of John Huss, with a degree of 
learning, argument, and eloquence truly astonishing even to his ene- 
mies.* In reference to his martyred associate and brother, he ex- 

* In a long and interesting letter of the learned Roman Catholic Poggio, the 
Florentine historian, and once secretary to pope John XXIII.. he writes as fol- 
lows :— ''- It is worthy of remark, that after having been so long shut up in a 
place where it was utterly impossible for him either to read or even to see, and 
where the perpetual anxiety of his mind would have been quite sufficient to de- 



chap, iv.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 409 

His courageous and eloquent protestations before the council. 

claimed aloud before all the council, " I knew John Huss from his 
childhood, and there was never anything wrong in him. He 
was a most excellent man, just and holy ; — he was condemned, 
notwithstanding his innocence ; — he has ascended to heaven, like 
Elias, in the midst of flames ; and from thence he will summon his 
judges to the formidable tribunal of Christ. I, also — I am ready 
to die : I will not recoil before the torments that are prepared for 
me by my enemies and false witnesses, who will one day have to 
render an account of their impostures before the great God, whom 
nothing can deceive. Of all the sins," added he, " that I have com- 
mitted since my youth, none weigh so heavily on my mind, and 
cause me such poignant remorse, as that which I committed in this 
fatal place, when I approved of the iniquitous sentence rendered 
against Wickliff, and against the holy martyr, John Huss, my mas- 
ter and my friend. Yes ! I confess it from my heart ; and declare, 
with horror, that I disgracefully quailed, when, through a dread of 
death, I condemned their doctrines. I therefore supplicate and con- 
jure Almighty God to deign to pardon me my sins — and this one, 
in particular, the most heinous of all — according to the promise 
which he has made us, * I will not have the death of a sinner, but 
rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live !'" Then, 
raising his hand, and pointing to his judges, he exclaimed, in tones 
which must have made them tremble on their seats, *' You con- 
demned Wickliff and John Huss, not for having shaken the doc- 
trine of the church, but simply because they branded with repro- 
bation the scandals proceeding from the clergy — their pomp, their 
pride, and all the vices of the prelates and priests. The things 
which they have affirmed, and which are irrefutable, I also think 
and declare, like them." 

§ 44. — Upon the heroic martyr being interrupted by the exclama- 
tions of his judges, trembling with rage, and asking, " What need of 
further proof?" — " Away with the most obstinate of heretics ! " Je- 
rome exclaimed with a noble dignity of manner and eloquence of 
speech, " What do you suppose that I fear to die ? You have held 
me for a whole year in a frightful dungeon, more horrible than 
death itself. You have treated me more cruelly than a Turk, Jew, 
or pagan, and my flesh has literally rotted off my bones alive ; and 
yet I make no complaint, for lamentation ill becomes a man of 
heart and spirit ; but I cannot but express my astonishment at such 
great barbarity towards a Christian." " His voice," remarks the 
learned Romanist Poggio, in the remarkable letter referred to in 
the last note, " his voice was touching, clear, and sonorous ; his ges- 
ture full of dignity and persuasiveness, whether he expressed in- 
dignation or moved his hearers to pity, which, however, he ap- 

prive any other of memory altogether, he could, notwithstanding, have been able 
to quote, in support of his opinions, so great a number of authorities, and learned 
testimonies of the greatest doctors, so that one would have said that he had 
passed all that time in perfect repose, and at full liberty to devote himself to 
study." 



410 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [booxvt. 

Jerome contends for the supreme authority of the Scriptures. He is brought up for sentence. 

peared neither to ask for nor to desire. He stood there,, in the 
midst of all, the features pale, but the heart intrepid, despising 
death, and advancing to meet it. Interrupted frequently, attacked 
and tormented by many, he replied fully to all, and took vengeance 
on them, forcing some to blush, and others to be silent, and tower- 
ing above all their clamors. Sometimes, too, he earnestly besought, 
and at others forcibly claimed to be permitted to speak freely — 
calling on the assembly to listen to him whose voice would soon be 
hushed for ever."* 

§ 45. — Before being brought up for sentence, Jerome was again 
remanded to prison, and while there, was visited by several car- 
dinals and bishops, who had been astonished by his wonderful elo- 
quence and ability. The cardinal of Florence exhorted him again 
to recant, and to save his life. " The only favor that I demand," 
replied Jerome, " and which I have always demanded, is to be con- 
vinced by the Holy Scriptures. This body, which has suffered 
such frightful torments in my chains, will also know how to support 
death by fire, for Jesus Christ." " And in what manner," asked 
the Cardinal, " do you desire to be instructed ?" " By the holy 
writings, which are our illuminating torch," was the emphatic re- 
ply of Jerome. 

" What ! " said the Cardinal, " is everything to be judged of by 
the Holy Writings ? Who can perfectly comprehend them ? And 
must not the fathers be at last appealed to, to interpret them ?" 

" What do I hear !" cried Jerome. " Shall the word of God be 
declared fallacious ? And shall it not be listened to ? Are the 
traditions of men more worthy of faith, than the holy gospel of our 
Saviour 1 Paul did not exhort the priests to listen to old men and 
traditions, but said, ' The Holy Scriptures will instruct you.' 
Sacred Writings, inspired by the Holy Ghost, already men esteem 
you less than what they themselves forge every day ! I have lived 
long enough. Great God ! receive my life ; Thou who canst re- 
store it to me !" 

" Heretic !" said the Cardinal, regarding him with anger. " I 
repent having so long pleaded with you. I see you are urged on 
by the devil."f 

§ 46. — On the 30th of May, Jerome was brought before the 
council for sentence. The bishop of Lodi ascended the pulpit and 
delivered, as he had at the sentence of Huss, another most savage 
harangue, from which it will be sufficient to quote a brief extract 
from the part addressed to the martyr. " But with you — who are 
more guilty than Arius, Sabellius, and Nestorius ; — with you, who 
have infected all Europe with the poison of heresy, grand indul- 
gence has been practised. You have been detained in prison only 

* The whole of this letter, occupying six quarto pages, which is a noble testi- 
mony to the learning, eloquence, and courage of the martyr, especially as coming 
from an eye-witness and a Romanist, may be found in L'Enfant, vol. i., pp. 594, 
599. 

f " Te a diabolo agitari video." (Theob. Bell. Hussit., chap, xxiv., p. 60.) 



chap, iv.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 411 

Ferocious harangue of the bishop of Lodi. Copy of Jerome's sentence- 

from necessity ; honorable witnesses alone have been listened to 
against you, and the torture has not been employed, which was a 
great fault. Would to God that you had been tortured ! You 
would have denied your errors in your torments ; and suffering 
would have opened your eyes, which your crime held closed."* 

At the close of this popish sermon, Jerome mounted a bench, 
and again, in a loud voice, expressed his abhorrence of his for- 
mer cowardice, of approving, in order to save his life, of the in- 
human sentence of Huss — " I only gave my assent to it," said he, 
" from a dread of being burned — from the fear of that dreadful 
punishment. I revoke that culpable avowal ^ and I declare it anew, 
that I lied like a wretch, in abjuring the doctrines of Wickliff and 
of John Huss, and in approving of the death of so holy and just a 
man.' 

The sentence of Jerome was then read, which is recorded by 
L'Enfant, as follows: — "Our Lord Jesus Christ being the true 
vine, whose Father is the husbandman, told his disciples, that he 
would cut off all the branches that did not bear fruit in him. There- 
fore the sacred synod of Constance, in obedience to the order of 
the sovereign teacher, being informed, not only by public fame, but 
by an exact inquiry into the fact, that Jerome of Prague, master 
of arts, a layman, has affirmed certain erroneous and heretical arti- 
cles maintained by John Wickliff and John Huss, and condemned 
not only by the Holy fathers, but by this sacred synod; and that 
after having publicly recanted the said heresies, condemned the 
memories of both Wickliff and Huss, and sworn to persevere in 
the Catholic doctrine, he returned in a few days like a dog to his 
vomit ; and that in order to propagate the pernicious venom 
which he concealed in his heart, he demanded a public hearing ; 
and that when he had obtained it, he declared in full council that 
he was guilty of great iniquity and a very wicked lie, in consent- 
ing to the condemnation of Wickliff and John Huss, and that he 
for ever revoked the said recantation, though he had declared that 
he held the faith of the Catholic church as to the sacrament of the 
altar and transubstantiation. For these causes the sacred synod 
has resolved and commanded, that the said Jerome be cast out, as 
a rotten withered branch, and declares him a heretic, relapsed, ex- 
communicated, accursed, and as such condemns him." 

§ 47. — Jerome was then handed over to the secular power to be 
burnt. A high crown of paper, on which were painted demons in 
flames, was brought in. Jerome, on seeing it, threw his hat on the 
ground in the midst of the prelates, and taking it in his hand, placed 
it on his head himself, repeating the words which John Huss had 
pronounced — " Jesus Christ, who died for me a sinner, wore a 
crown of thorns. I will willingly wear this for him." The soldiers 
then seized on his person, and led him away to death. Upon arriv- 

* See an abstract of this Sermon, which strikingly exhibits the unchangeably 
persecuting spirit of Popery, in L'Enfant, i., 588, 589. 



412 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Jerome's martyrdom. Sings on his way to the stake, and prays in the midst of the flamee. 

ing at the same stake as that to which Huss had been bound, the 
martyr fell on his knees to pray, but the executioners raised him up 
whilst still praying, and having bound him to the stake with cords 
and chains, they heaped up around him pieces of wood and a quan- 
tity of straw. Jerome sang the hymn, Salve, festa dies, toto vene- 
rabilis cevo, etc. He then repeated the creed, and addressing the 
people, he exclaimed, " This creed which I have just sung, is my 
real profession of faith ; I die, therefore, only for not having con- 
sented to acknowledge that John Huss was justly condemned. I 
declare that I have always beheld in him a true preacher of the 
gospel." When the wood was raised on a level with his head, his 
vestments were thrown on the pile, and, as the executioner was 
setting fire to the mass behind, in order not to be seen, " Come for- 
ward boldly," said Jerome ; " apply the fire before my face. Had 
I been afraid, I should not be here." When the pile had taken fire, 
he said with a loud voice, " Lord, into thy hands do I commit my 
spirit !" Feeling already the burning heat of the flames, he was 
heard to cry out in the Bohemian language, " Lord, Almighty 
Father, have pity on me, and pardon me my sins ; for Thou know- 
est that I have always loved thy truth !" His voice was speedily 
lost ; but by the rapid movement of his lips, it was easy to see that 
he continued to pray. At last, when he had ceased to exist, all that 
had belonged to him, his bed, cap, shoes, &c, were brought from 
the prison and thrown into the flames, where they were reduced 
to ashes with himself. These ashes were then collected and thrown 
into the Rhine, as had been done in the case of John Huss. It was 
hoped, by this means, to remove from the followers of these two 
holy martyrs every article that might by possibility, become in 
their hands an object of veneration : even to the last particle of 
their bodies and clothes, everything was made away with ; but the 
very ground where their stake was placed was hollowed out, and 
the earth on which they had suffered, was carried to Bohemia, and 
guarded with religious care, as the most precious and invaluable 
memorials of these holy men. 

§ 48. — Comment upon the above horrible illustrations of the cru- 
elty and perfidy of Popery, is unnecessary. The simple facts speak 
most eloquently, and should never be forgotten till in reference to 
this popish Babylon, in which " is found the blood of the prophets 
and the saints," the mighty angel of prophecy shall declare, Baby- 
lon the great is fallex, is fallex. (Rev. xviii., 2, 24.) There 
is no historical fact which modern Romanists have so much endeav- 
ored to conceal, obscure, or deny, as this well known act of perfidy 
on the part of the council of Constance, in imprisoning and condemn- 
ing Huss, in defiance of the Emperor's safe-conduct, and their own 
efforts to reconcile the conscience of Sigismund to this base and 
perfidious act. This is not to be wondered at. There is scarcely 
a fact in the history of this apostate church, which reflects upon her 
such indelible disgrace, and happily for the cause of truth, not one 
fact which rests upon more conclusive evidence. 



chap, iv.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 413 

Copies cf the decrees of the council, establishing the doctrine of no faith with heretics. 

Yet as the principle upon which papists act, is that frauds are 
pious, and lies are holy, when perpetrated for the good of the 
church, we expect, of course, where the evidence is not supposed to 
be at hand, that the fact will be denied. To furnish this evidence, 
the following decrees of the council, passed after the burning of 
Huss, to silence the public clamors against the perfidy of the coun- 
cil, are recorded in the original, and a translation. It is not known 
to the author that the original of these memorable decrees, estab- 
lishing the doctrine as an article of the Romish church, that no faith 
is to be kept with heretics, is to be found except in the scarce, volu- 
minous, and expensive work of L'Enfant. They ought to be known 
to all, and are therefore transcribed here. 

§ 49. — The first of these decrees relates to the validity of safe-con- 
ducts in general, granted to heretics, by the temporal princes. It is 
as follows : 



" Praesens sancta synodus ex quovis 
salvo-conductu per imperatorem, Reges, 
et alios seculi principes haereticis, vel 
de haeresi diffamatis, putantes eosdem 
sic a suis erroribus revocare, quocunque 
vinculo se adstrinxerint, concesso, nul- 
lum fidei Catholicae vel jurisdiction! ec- 
clesiasticaB praejudicium generari, vel 
impedimentum praestari posse seu debere, 
declarat, quo minus salvo dicto conduc- 
tu non obstante, liceat Judici competenti 
ecclesiastico de ejusmodi personarum 
erroribus inquirere, et alias contra eas 
debite procedere, easdemque punire, 
quantum justitia suadebit, si suos perti- 
naciter recusaverint revocare errores, 
etiamsi de salvo-conductu confisi ad lo- 
cum venerint judicii, alias non venturi 
nee sic promittentem, cum alias fecerit, 
quod in ipso est, ex hoc in aliquo reman- 
sisse obligatum." 



" The present synod declares that 
every safe-conduct granted by the Em- 
peror, kings, and other temporal princes, 
to heretics, or persons accused of heresy, 
in hopes of reclaiming them, ought not 
to be of any prejudice to the Catholic 
faith, or to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, 
nor to hinder, but such persons may, and 
ought to be examined, judged, and pun- 
ished, according as justice shall require, 
if those heretics refuse to revoke their 
errors, even though they should be arriv- 
ed at the place where they are to be 
judged only upon the faith of the safe- 
conduct, without which they would not 
have come thither. And the person who 
shall have promised them security, shall 

NOT, IN THIS CASE, BE OBLIGED TO KEEP 

his promise, by whatsoever tie he may 
be engaged, because he has done all 
that is in his power to do." 



The second of these decrees is, perhaps, still more valuable, 
relates to the safe-conduct of John Huss in particular : 



It 



" Sacro sancta, etc. Quia nonnulli 
nimis intelligentes, aut sinistrae intend- 
onis, vel forsan solentes sapere plus 
quam oportet nedum Regiac Majestati, 
sed etiam sacro, ut fertur, Concilio, Un- 
guis maledictis detrahunt publice et oc- 
culte dicentes, vel innuentes, quod sal- 
vus-conductus per invictissimum princi- 
pem Dominum Sigismundum Romano- 
rum et Ungariae, etc. Regcm, quondam 
Johanni Hus, haeresiarcnae damnatae 
memoriae datus, fuit contra justitiam aut 
honestatem indebite violatus: Cum ta- 
men dictus Johannes IIus fidem ortho- 
27 



" Whereas there are certain persons, 
either ill-disposed or over-wise beyond 
what they ought to be, who in secret 
and in public, traduce not only the Em- 
peror, but the sacred council, saying, or 
insinuating, that the safe-conduct grant- 
ed to John Huss, an arch-heretic, of 
damnable memory, was basely violated, 
contrary to all the rules of honor and 
justice ; though the said John Huss, by 
obstinately attacking the Catholic faith 
in the manner he did, rendered himself 
unworthy of any manner of safe-conduct 
and privilege ; and though according 



414 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

The same doctrine of no faith with heretics, avowed by pope Martin V, 

doxam pertinaciter impugnans, se ab om- to the natural, divine, and human 

ni conductu et privilegio reddiderit alie- laws, no promise or faith ought to 

num, nee aliqua sibi fides aut promissio, have been kept with him, to the pre- 

de jure naturali, divino, vel humano, judice of the Catholic faith. The 

fuerit in praejudicium Catholicae fidei sacred synod declares, by these presents, 

observanda : Idcirco dicta sancta syno- that the said Emperor did, with regard 

dus praesentium tenore declarat : dictum to John Huss, what he might and ought 

invictissimum principem circa praedic- to have done, notwithstanding his safe- 

tum quondam Johannem Hus, non ob- conduct ; and forbids all the faithful in 

stante memorato salvo-conductu, ex juris general, and every one of them in par- 

debito fecisse quod licuit, et quod decuit ticular, of what dignity, degree, pre-emi- 

Regiam Majestatem ; statuens et ordi- nence, condition, state, or sex they may 

nans omnibus et singulis Christi fide- be, to speak evil in any manner, either 

libus, cujuscunque dignitatis, gradus, of the council, or of the King, as to 

praeeminentiae, conditionis, status, aut what passed with regard to John Huss, 

sexus, existant, quod nullus deinceps on pain of being punished, without re- 

sacroconcilio aut Regis Majestati de ges- mission, as favorers of heresy, and per- 

tis circa prasdictum quondam Johannem sons guilty of high treason." {For the 

Hus detrahat, sive quomodolibet oblo- original of these decrees, see IS Enfant ii., 

quatur. Qui vero contrarium fecerit, p. 491 ; for his translation, which has 

tanquam fautor hereticae pravitatis et been adopted, see i., p. 514). 
reus criminis laesae majestatis irremissi- 
biliter puniatur." 

§ 50. — The abominable doctrine thus shamelessly avowed that faith 
is not to be kept with heretics, was still more emphatically expressed 
and enjoined by the Pope, who owed his elevation to the council of 
Constance, Martin V. In a bull addressed in 1421, to Alexander, 
Duke of Lithuania, who, it appears, thought himself bound by some 
promise, not to persecute heretics, the Pope tells him as plain as 
words can express it, if he had made any promise to undertake 
their defence, " that he would be guilty of a mortal sin, should 

HE KEEP FAITH WITH HERETICS, WHO ARE THEMSELVES VIOLATORS OF 

TnE holy faith, because there can be no fellowship between a 
believer and an unbeliever." I shall insert the original of this une- 
quivocal avowal of pope Martin in the text, lest, by being thrown 
into a note, it should escape the attention of the reader. " Quod 
si tu aliquo modo inductus defensionem eorum suscipere promisisti ; 

SCitO TE DARE FIDEM H^ERETICIS, VIOLATORIBUS FIDEI SANCTIS, NON PO- 
TUIS8E, ET IDCIRCO PECCARE MORTALITER, SI SERVABI8 ; quia fideli ad 

infidelem non potest ulla communio." It is published by Cochlceus, 
a prejudiced Catholic. (Lib. v., p. 212.) 

We cannot better close this subject than by citing the just re- 
marks of Dean Waddington, relative to the act of horrid murder 
and perfidy, perpetrated by the council, and described above. 
After enumerating various acts of the council, he proceeds as fol- 
'ows : " But we have still to describe the most arbitrary and iniqui- 
tous act of the same assembly. The holy fathers, be it recollected, 
had met for the reformation of the church. The word was per- 
petually on their lips, and they denounced, with unsparing vehe- 
mence, some of the corruptions of their own system. In the midst of 
them were two men of learning, genius, integrity, and piety, who had 
entrusted their personal safety to the faith of the council, John Huss 



chap, iv.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 415 

Dean Waddington's just remarks on the perfidy and cruelty of the council of Constance. 

and Jerome of Prague, and these two were reformers. But it hap- 
pened that they had taken a different view of the condition and exi- 
gencies of the church, and while the boldest projects of the wisest 
among the orthodox were confined to matters of patronage, disci- 
pline, ceremony, the hands of the two Bohemians had probed a deeper 
wound ; they disputed, if not the doctrinal purity, at least the spirit- 
ual omnipotence of the church. Those daring innovators had 
crossed the line which separated reformation from heresy — and 
they had their recompense. In the clamor which was raised 
against them, all parties joined as with one voice : divided on all 
other questions, contending about all other principles, the grand 
universal assembly was united, from Gerson himself down to the 
meanest Italian papal minion, in common detestation of the heresy, 
in implacable rage against its authors. Those venerable martyrs 
were imprisoned, arraigned, condemned, and then by the command, 
and in the presence of the majestic senate of the church, the deposer 
of popes, the uprooter of corruption, the reformer of Christ's holy 
communion — they were deliberately consigned to the flames. Is 

THERE ANY ACT RECORDED IN THE BLOOD-STAINED ANNALS OF THE 
POPES MORE FOUL AND MERCILESS THAN THAT ? . . . . More than this. 

The guilt of the murder was enhanced by perfidy ; and for the pur- 
pose of justifying this last offence (for the former, being founded on 
the established church principles, required no apology), they added 
to those principles another, not less flagitious than any of those 
already recognized — ' that neither faith nor promise, by natu- 
ral, DIVINE, OR HUMAN LAW, WAS TO BE OBSERVED TO THE PREJUDICE 

of the Catholic religion !' "* Mr. Waddington adds the impor- 
tant fact, that " this maxim did not proceed from the caprice of an 
arbitrary individual, and a pope, — for so it would scarcely have 
claimed our serious notice ; but from the considerate resolution of a 
very numerous assembly, which embodied almost all the learning, 
wisdom, and moderation of the Roman Catholic church."f 

§51. — After some attempts by John Gerson and others, at the 
partial reformation of the horrible corruptions of the church, " in its 
head and members," which were principally defeated through the 
crafty management of the new pope, Martin V., it assembled for 
the forty-fifth and closing session on the 22d of April, 1418, and the 
Bull which gave the members of the council permission to return to 
their homes, showered on them and their domestics a profusion of 
indulgences, as a fitting reward for their labors. The following is 
a copy of the Bull of indulgence, issued on this occasion. " We, 

* ' Cum tamen dictus Johannes Hus, fidem orthodoxam pertinaciter impugnans 
se ab omni conductu et privilegio reddiderit alienum, nee aliqua sibi fides aut pro- 
missio de jure naturali, divino vel humano, fuerit in praejudicium Catholicae fidei 
observanda : idcirco dicta sancta synodus declarat, &c.' These words are cited 
by Hallam (Middle Ages, chap, vii.), without suspicion, and also by Von der 
\ Hardt, in his valuable collection of authentic documents (Tom. iv., p. 521), 
without any expression of doubt, 
t Waddington's History of the Church, page 458. 



416 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

The fathers dismissed by the Pope with indulgences as a fitting reward. The cup denied to the laity. 

Martin, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with a perpetual 
remembrance of this great event, and at the request of the sacred 
council, do hereby dismiss it, giving to each member liberty to re- 
turn home. By the authority of the Almighty God, and the blessed 
apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, and by our own, we grant to all 
who have been present at this council, a full and entire remission 
of their sins, once during their lifetime, so that each of them may 
enjoy the benefits of this absolution for two months after it shall 
have become known to him. We grant them the same grace when 
in articulo mortis, both to them and their servants, on this condition, 
however, that they shall fast all the Fridays in a year for the abso- 
lution, at the point of death, unless they be legitimately prevented : 
in which case they will perform other acts of piety. After the 
second year, they shall fast the Friday for the rest of their life. . . . 
If any one shall rashly oppose this absolution and this concession, 
which we give, let him learn that he will thereby have incurred the 
indignation of Almighty God, and of the blessed apostles, Paul and 
Peter."* 

§ 52. — Thus this numerous council, consisting of cardinals, arch- 
bishops, and abbots, beside the Pope and the Emperor, occupied 
about three years and a half in the glorious achievements of remov- 
ing three spiritual tyrants to make room for another, passing a de- 
cree denying the use of the cup to the laity, in the sacrament, and 
burning the bodies of two living heretics, and the mouldering bones 
of one dead one. 

The canon which deprived all but the clergy of the use of the 
cup in the eucharist, was as follows : " The sacred council, wishing 
to provide for the eternal safety of the faithful, after a mature de- 
liberation by several doctors, declares and decides, although in the 
primitive church this sacrament was received by the faithful in the 
two kinds, it can be clearly proved, that afterward it was received 
in that manner only by the officiating priests, and was offered to 
the laity under the form of bread alone, because it must be believed 
firmly, and without any hesitation or doubt, that the whole body 
and the whole blood of Jesus Christ are truly contained in the bread 
as well as in the wine. Wherefore, this practice, introduced by the 
church and by the holy fathers, and observed for a very great 
length of time, ought to be regarded as a law, which it is not per- 
mitted to reject or change, without the authority of the church." 

The object of this unjust prohibition, so plainly contrary to the 
command of Christ, was evidently to exalt the dignity of the clergy, 
and draw the line of distinction between them and the laity (already 
wide enough) still wider, by giving them some exclusive preroga- 
tive, even at the Lord's table. Compared with other popish inno- 
vations and corruptions, this prohibition may seem to be of little 
importance, yet it was deemed so serious an innovation by the 
countrymen of the martyred Huss, that in addition to the horrid 

* From the MSS. at Venice, in Von der Hardt, vol. iv. 



chap, v.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 417 

This prohibition unscriptural. The Calixtines. Pope Martin V. 

murder of their two eminent countrymen, it produced a serious revolt 
against their sovereign, who sustained the papal decrees, which con- 
tinued for some years under the direction of that extraordinary man, 
the courageous, but too violent John Ziska. A portion of these 
Bohemian dissenters from Rome took the name of Calixtines, from 
the Latin calix, a cup. The fathers of the council found a greater 
difficulty in reconciling the minds of the people to this prohibition, 
than scarcely anything else, especially as the version of WicklifF's 
New Testament, and probably some others in other languages, were 
by this time in the hands of many of the people. The words of 
Christ were so explicit, "Drink ye all of it" (Matt, xxvi., 27), as 
though his omniscience had foreseen and provided against this per- 
version of his ordinance, by the great apostasy, that the popish 
doctors found it a most difficult task, even in appearance, to recon- 
cile their prohibition with the Scriptures. One of their most learned 
writers, the famous French Doctor John Gerson, wrote an elabo- 
rate treatise against " Double Communion," in which he inadver- 
tently disclosed the cause of his uneasiness, in the following 
words : " There are many laymen among the heretics who have a 
version of the Bible in the vulgar tongue, to the great prejudice and 
offence of the Catholic faith. It has been proposed," he adds, " to 
reprove that scandal in the committee of reform." No wonder, 
that since the Bible is directly opposed to this popish edict, the 
papists were anxious to shut that book up from the people. Such 
has ever been, and without doubt, such is still the cause of their 
bitter hatred of the universal circulation, in the vernacular languages 
of the people, of God's holy word. 



CHAPTER V. 

POPERY AND THE POPES FOR THE CENTURY PRECEDING THE 
REFORMATION. 

§ 53. — The progress of Popery from the dissolution of the coun- 
cil of Constance in 1418 to the time of Luther, about a century 
later, was from bad to worse. Pope Martin V., who was raised to 
that dignity by the council, yielded to but few of his predecessors 
in his haughty and extravagant claims of the dignity of the Holy 
See. He was a steady opponent of all measures of reform, during 
the whole of his pontificate. The people, starving lor spiritual food, 
demanded bread, but he gave them a stone ; — they clamored for 
reform, but he gave them — indulgences. 

We can sometimes scarcely repress a smile at the pompous edicts 



418 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bookvt. 

Pompous titles of the Popes. Council of Basil. Dispute between pope Eugenius and the council- 

of the emperor of China, who styles himself " Lord of the Sun " 
but this was far outdone by pope Martin, who in his dispatches sent 
by his nuncio to Constantinople, adopted the following array of titles : 
" Sanctissimus, et Beatissimus, qui habet coeleste arbitrium, qui est 
Dominus in terris, successor Petri, Christus Domini, Dominus Uni- 
versi, Regum Pater, orbis Lumen," that is, " The most Holy and 
most happy, who is the arbiter of heaven, and the Lord of the 
earth, the successor of St. Peter, the anointed of the Lord, the 
Master of the universe, the father of kings, the light of the 
world," &c* Who in reading these blasphemous assumptions of a 
miserable mortal, is not reminded of the inspired description of the 
papal anti-Christ : " as God, sitting in the temple of God, showing 
himself that he is God ?" (2 Thess. ii., 4.) 

§ 54. — In the year 1431 pope Martin died, and was succeeded by 
Eugenius IV., a man whose ignorance was only equalled by his 
presumption and obstinacy. His pontificate was chiefly distin- 
guished by the obstinate and protracted contentions between him 
and the council of Basil, which, after a feeble attempt of the Pope to 
prevent it, assembled on the 14th of December, 1431. In the course 
of the contest with the Pope, the council of Basil published and 
reiterated a decree that had been passed by the council of Con- 
stance, that the Pope was inferior, and subject to a General Council, 
and in the history of the council by ^Eneas Sylvius, afterwards 
pope Pius IL, this doctrine is strongly and forcibly urged, that a 
council is superior to a Pope, and that the latter is rather the Vicar 
of the church than the Vicar of Christ^ We shall soon see that a 
change of circumstances produced a great change in this writer's 
views, and that pope Pius II. pronounced ^Eneas Sylvius a heretic, 
though one and the same person. 

§ 55. — The following extracts from an eloquent letter of car- 
dinal Julian, the president of the council of Basil to pope Eugenius, 
are transcribed on account of the light they throw on the morals of 
the popish clergy of this age, to reform which was one of the pro- 
fessed objects of the council. " One great motive with me," says 
the Cardinal President, " in joining this council, was the deformity 
and dissoluteness of the German clergy, on account of which the 
laity are immoderately irritated against the ecclesiastical state : so 
much so, as to make it matter of serious apprehension whether, if 
they be not reformed, the people will not rush, after the example of 
the Hussites, upon the whole clergy, as they publicly menace to do. 
Moreover, this deformity gives great audacity to the Bohemians, 
and great coloring to the errors of those, who are loudest in their 
invectives against the baseness of the clergy : on which account, 
had a general council not been convoked at this place, it had been 
necessary to collect a provincial synod for the reform of the Ger- 
man clergy ; since in truth, if that clergy be not corrected, even 

* Papal Rome by Rev. Dr. Giustiniani, p. 181. 

\ iEneas Sylvius, Comment, de Gestis Basil, Concil., Lib. I., p. 16. 



chap, v.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 419 

Cardinal Julian's letter. The Pope suspended by the council, who in turn annuls its acts. 

though the heresy of Bohemia should be extinguished, others would 
rise up in its place." .... "If you should dissolve this council, 
what will the whole world say, when it shall learn the act ? Will 
it not decide, that the clergy is incorrigible, and desirous for ever to 
grovel in the filth of its own deformity ? Many councils have been 
celebrated in our days, from which no reform has proceeded ; the 
nations are expecting that some fruit should come from this. But 
if it is dissolved, all will exclaim that we laugh at God and man." 
.... " Most blessed Father, believe me, the scandals which I have 
mentioned will not be removed by delay. Let us ask the heretics, 
whether they will delay for a year and a half the dissemination of 
their virulence ? Let us ask those, who are scandalized at the de- 
formity of the clergy, if they will for so long delay their indignation ? 
Not a day passes in which some heresy does not sprout forth ; not 
a day in which they do not seduce or oppress some Catholics ; they 
do not lose the smallest moment of time. There is not a day, in 
which new scandals do not arise from the depravity of the clergy ; 
yet all measures for their remedy are procrastinated !" .... 
" Why then do you longer delay 1 You have striven with all your 
power, by messages, letters, and various other expedients, to keep 
the clergy away ; you have struggled with your whole force utterly 
to destroy this council. Nevertheless, as you see, it swells and in- 
creases day by day, and the more severe the prohibition, the more 
ardent is the opposite impulse. Tell me now — is not this to resist 
the will of God ? Why do you provoke the Church to indignation ? 
Why do you irritate the Christian people ? Condescend, I implore 
you, so to act, as to secure for yourself the love and good will, and 
not the hatred of mankind." 

§ 56. — The earnest pleadings of the Cardinal were, however, lost 
upon Eugenius. He was resolutely opposed to the council and to 
reform. The council cited him before them. The Pope retorted by 
a Bull of dissolution, and both were equally fruitless. At length, 
after eighteen months of remonstrance and forbearance, the council, 
on the 12th of July, 1433, suspended the Pope from his dignity ; and 
Eugenius, in reply, annulled their decree. At length this quarrel 
was carried to its final result. On the 31st of July, 1437, the coun- 
cil cited the Pope to Basil to answer for his vexatious opposition to 
the reform of the Church ; and the Pope, in that plenitude of 
power to which he had never formally abandoned his pretensions, 
declared the council transferred to Ferrara in Italy. In the 28th 
session (Oct. 1, 1437), Eugenius was convicted of contumacy ; and 
on the 10th of the January following, he celebrated, in defiance of 
the sentence, the first session of the council he had assembled in 
opposition at Ferrara. On that occasion he solemnly annulled every 
future act of the assembly at Basil, excepting only such as should 
have reference to the troubles of Bohemia. Finally, on the 25th of 
June, 1439, the council of Basil solemnly deposed Eugenius IV. 
from the papal throne, and on the 5th of November following, 
another pope was elected, Amadous Duke of Savoy, who assumed 



420 HISTORY OF "ROMANISM. [book vl 

Renewal of papal schism. Rival popes and rival councils. Seiious accident at the Jubilee of 1450. 

the name of Felix V. Thus was again revived that deplorable 
schism, which had formerly rent the church, and which had been 
terminated with so much difficulty, and after so many vain and fruit- 
less efforts, at the council of Constance. Nay, the new breach 
was still more lamentable than the former one, as the flame was 
kindled not only between two rival pontiffs, but also between the 
two contending councils of Basil and Florence, to which place 
Eugenius had removed the council of Ferrara. 

The greatest part of the church submitted to the jurisdiction, and 
adopted the cause of Eugenius ; while Felix was acknowledged 
as lawful pontiff, by a great number of academies, and among 
others, by the famous university of Paris, as also in several king- 
doms and provinces. The council of Basil continued its delibera- 
tions, and went on enacting laws, and publishing edicts, until the 
year 1443, notwithstanding the efforts of Eugenius and his adhe- 
rents to put a stop to their proceedings. And, though in that year 
the members of the council retired to their respective places of 
abode, yet they declared publicly that the council was not dissolved, 
but would resume its deliberations at Basil, Lyons, or Lausanne, as 
soon as a proper opportunity was offered. This schism was at 
length terminated, in the year 1449, by the resignation of Felix V., 
who returned as Duke of Savoy to his delicious retreat called 
Ripaille, upon the borders of Lake Leman. The obstinate pope 
Eugenius had died in February, 1447, and his successor, Nicholas V., 
by the retirement of Felix, obtained undisputed possession of the 
papal throne. 

§ 57. — During the reign of pope Nicholas, in the year 1450, the 
avarice of the Roman Clergy and people was again nourished by 
the celebration of the Jubilee ; and so vast were the multitudes 
which on this occasion sought the plenary indulgence at the tombs 
of the apostles, that many are said to have been crushed to death 
in churches, and to have perished by other accidents. One of 
these accidents, on account of the number of lives lost, deserves 
particular mention. In consequence of the pressure of the vast 
multitude on a certain day, no less than ninety-seven pilgrims were 
thrown at once from the bridge of St. Angelo and drowned. This 
bridge is one of the favorite spots for viewing the vast and splendid 
fabric of St. Peter's, especially on the night of the great festivals, 
when the dome is almost instantaneously illuminated, not by any in- 
genious mechanical contrivance, but by the vast number of hands 
employed, each of whom, at a given signal, lights the lamp at which 
he is stationed, and thus converts, in a moment, the noble and stately 
dome, into a vast hemisphere of liquid light. 

Our artist has represented, in the adjoining engraving, the acci- 
dent at the bridge of St. Angelo, during the Jubilee of 1450, partly 
as a memorial of that event, but chiefly on account of the fine 
distant view that is afforded of the church of St. Peter's, and of a 
large portion of the city from that spot. (See Engraving.) 

We have preferred to represent St. Peter's church as it is now 




m\ ^j] . 



chap, v.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 423 

St. Peter's. Taking of Constantinople. ^Eneas Sylvius chosen pope by the name of Pius II, 

seen from the bridge of St. Angelo, rather than the old church of 
Constantine, which then occupied the site of St. Peter's ; reminding 
the reader, at the same time, that the foundation stone of the present 
noble edifice, was not laid till a half a century later, viz. by pope 
Julius in the year 1506. Of course, it is impossible to represent 
in a distant view the magnificent square of St. Peter's, surrounded 
by its stately colonnade of near three hundred pillars, with the 
Egyptian obelisk in the centre, and the beautiful fountain on each 
side of the obelisk. This deficiency, however, has already been 
supplied in the accurate engraving of this architectural wonder of 
the world opposite page 178. 

While we cannot but lament over the unjustifiable means em- 
ployed to obtain funds for the erection of this magnificent structure 
by trafficking in the sins of men ; it is impossible to withhold our 
admiration at the grandeur of the architectural design and the 
ability, taste, and skill displayed in carrying forward to its comple- 
tion, this proudest of all modern temples. 

§ 58. — In the year 1453, an event occurred which spread a deep 
gloom over the whole Christian world. This was the taking of the 
city of Constantinople, for so many centuries the capital of the 
Eastern Roman empire, by the Mahometan, or as they were com- 
monly called, infidel Turks, and the consequent entire overthrow of 
that empire, of which it was the metropolis. Previous to the fall of 
Constantinople, pope Nicholas had used some exertions, but without 
success, to make the protection of the Christian capital of the 
East from the designs of the infidels, the common cause of the 
monarchs of Christendom, and he redoubled his efforts when the 
work before him was not one of protection, but of re-conquest. In 
the midst of his chivalrous designs to recover Constantinople, and 
expel the conqueror from Europe, and at a moment when there 
seemed some prospect of a partial co-operation for that purpose, 
Nicholas V. died, A. D. 1455. His complaint was gout ; and it is 
commonly asserted that its progress was hastened by the affliction 
with which he saw the triumphs of the infidel. 

§ 59. — After the brief reign of pope Calixtus III., the immediate 
successor of Nicholas, the celebrated iEneas Sylvius, whom we 
have before had occasion to mention, was elected to the popedom 
by the name of Pius II., in 1458. One of his first acts was to assem- 
ble a council at Mantua, for the purpose of invoking the co-operation 
of Christian princes, in a general crusade against the Turks, for the 
recovery of Constantinople. The council opened on the 1st of June, 
1459, just six years from the taking of Constantinople, and continued 
nearly eight months. The intestine divisions of Europe, however, 
prevented the carrying into effect the designs of Pius. At length 
the Pope proposed to go in person on this expedition " This then," 
said he, " shall be our next experiment : we will march in person 
against the Turks, and invite the Christian monarchs to follow us ; 
not by words only, but by example also. It may be when they 
shall behold their master and lather — the Roman pontiff, the vicar 



424 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 

Pius condemns the opinions of ,<Eneas Sylvius, his former self. Effect of a change of circumstances. 

of Christ Jesus — an infirm old man, advancing to the war, they will 
take up arms through shame, and valiantly defend our holy reli- 
gion.* In accordance with this resolution, the old pontiff departed 
to assume the command of the force which had already assembled 
at Ancona, but had no sooner joined them than he died, and the 
whole expedition immediately dispersed. 

§ 60. — In his early life, ./Eneas Sylvius was the able and zealous 
opponent of papal assumption over councils. His earliest laurels 
were won at the council of Basil, which deposed pope Eugenius, 
and reiterated the doctrine, that the Pope was inferior, and subject 
to a general council ; and iEneas at that time warmly advocated 
these views, and remained, through the whole of the schism, faith- 
ful to the council. Upon his becoming pope himself, he seized an 
early occasion to discourage those liberal principles of church gov- 
ernment, which were entertained by many ecclesiastics, and which 
had so lately been propagated by himself. During the council of 
Mantua, shortly before its dissolution, and at a moment when his 
influence over its members was probably the greatest, he published 
a celebrated bull against all appeals from the Holy See to general 
councils. " An execrable abuse, unheard of in ancient times, has 
gained footing in our days, authorized by some, who, acting under 
a spirit of rebellion rather than sound judgment, presume to appeal 
from the pontiff of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, to whom, in the 
person of St. Peter, it has been said, * Feed my sheep ;' and again, 
* Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ; ' 
to appeal, I say, from his judgments to a future council — a practice 
which every man instructed in law must regard as contrary to the 

holy canons, and prejudicial to the Christian republic " The 

Pope then proceeded to paint in vague and glowing expressions the 
frightful evils occasioned by such appeals ; and finally pronounced 
to be ipso facto excommunicated all individuals who might hereaf- 
ter resort to them, whether their dignity were imperial, royal, or 
pontifical, as well as all Universities and Colleges, and all others 
who should promote and counsel them. 

In the year 1463, pope Pius issued a bull containing a formal re- 
cantation of his former views, and declared that no confidence was 
due to those of his writings, which offended in any manner the 
authority of the apostolical See, and established opinions which it 
did not acknowledge. " Wherefore (he added) if you find anything 
contrary to its doctrine, either in my dialogues, or my letters, or 
any other of my writings, — despise those opinions, reject them, and 
follow that which I now proclaim to you. Believe me now that I 
am old, rather than then, when I spoke as a youth ; pay more re- 
gard to the Sovereign Pontiff than to the individual ; reject 
iEneas — receive Pius. The former name was imposed by my 

* Raynald, Annal. ad Ann. 463. 



chap. v.J POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 425 

Pope Innocent and his seven bastards. His bloody edict for extirpating of the Waldenses. 

parents — a Gentile name, — and in my infancy : the other I assumed 
as a Christian in my Apostolate."* 

§ 61. — The remaining popes of this century were Paul II., Sixtus 
IV., Innocent VIII., and Alexander VI., who were all men of vicious 
and abandoned lives, and who appear to have risen successively 
in the scale of avarice, cruelty, and sensuality, till Satan produced 
his master-piece in the infamous Alexander VI. Passing over the 
two first named, we must dwell for a moment upon the character of 
Innocent. Sixtus, and preceding popes, had wasted the revenues of 
the church upon profligate nephews, but pope Innocent introduced 
a still more revolting race of dependants, in the persons of his ille- 
gitimate offspring. Seven children, the fruits of various amours, were 
publicly recognized by the vicar of Christ, and became, for the most 
part, pensioners on the ecclesiastical treasury. Fewer crimes would, 
perhaps, have been perpetrated, had the Pontiff resolved to be the 
only criminal. But with all his weakness, Innocent was animated 
by a spirit of avarice, which attracted observation even in that age 
of the popedom. And he performed at least one memorable exploit, 
as it were, in the design to surpass his predecessor by a still bolder 
insult on the sacred College ; he placed among its members a boy, 
thirteen years old, the brother-in-law of his own bastard.f But the 
court of Rome did not resent the indignity — it was sunk even be- 
low the sense of its own infamy. 

§ 62. — This same pope Innocent issued a violent and furious bull 
against the Waldenses, an extract of which, though only a speci- 
men of a large class of similar effusions of papal bigotry and blood- 
thirstiness, is yet worthy of record as a specimen of the spirit of 
Popery only a few years before the glorious reformation, and while 
Luther, its destined author, was just emerging from infancy. 
Luther was born in 1483. The bull of pope Innocent was issued 
in 1487. This truly popish document institutes Albert de Capi- 
taneis archdeacon of the church of Cremona, nuncio and commis- 
sioner of the apostolic See in the states of the Duke of Savoy, and 
prescribes to him to labor in the extirpation of the very pernicious 
and abominable sect of men called the Poor of Lyons or the Wal- 
denses, in concert with the Inquisitor-General Blasius, of the order 
of the Preaching-Brotherhood. The Pope gives him, for that object, 
full power over all archbishops, bishops, their vicars and chief officers; 
" in order," says he, " that they may have authority, together with 
you and the said inquisitor, to take up arms against the said Walden- 
ses and other heretics, and to come to an understanding to crush 
them like venomous asps, and to contribute all their care to so holy 

* " iEneam rejicite, Pium recipite — illud Gentile no-men parentcs indidere nas- 
centi; hoc Christianum in Apostolatu suscepi." (Waddington, 506.) 

f This boy was John, the son of Lorenzo de' Medici, the same who became 
Leo X. It should be observed, that Innocent, on making the creation, stipulated 
that the boy should not take his seat in Consistory till he was Bixteen. Some state 
the age of creation at fifteen, that of admission at eighteen. (See Raynaldus, Ann. 
M89. Waddington, 611.) 



426 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 

Indulgences promised for exterminating the heretics. Election of the infamous Alexander VL 

and so necessary an extermination We give you power to 

have the crusade preached up by fit men : to grant that such per- 
sons as shall enter on the crusade and fight against these same 
heretics, and shall contribute to it, may gain plenary indulgence and 
remission of all their sins once in their life, and also at their death ; 
to command, in virtue of their holy obedience, and under penalty of 
excommunication, all preachers of God's word to animate and incite 
the same believers to exterminate the pestilence, without sparing, 
by force and by arms. We further give you power to absolve those 
who enter on the crusade, fight, or contribute to it, from all senten- 
ces, censures, and ecclesiastical penalties, general or particular, by 
which they may be bound, as also to give them dispensation for any 
irregularity contracted in divine matters, or for any apostasy, and 
to enter some terms of composition with them for the goods which 
they may have secretly amassed, badly acquired, or held doubtfully, 
applying them to the expenses attendant on this extirpation of 
heretics ; .... to concede to each, permission to lawfully seize on 
the property, real or personal, of heretics ; also to command all 
being in the service of these same heretics, in whatsoever place they 
may be, to withdraw from it, under whatever penalty you may 
deem fit ; and by the same authority to declare that they and all 
others, who may be held and obliged by contract, or other manner, to 
pay them anything, are not for the future in any way obliged to do 
so ; and to deprive all those refusing to obey your admonitions 
and commands, of whatever dignity, state, order, and pre-eminence 
they may possess, to wit, the ecclesiastics of their dignities, offices, 
and benefices ; and the laity of their honors, titles, fiefs, and privi- 
leges, if they persist in their disobedience and rebellion ; . . . . and 
to fulminate all kinds of censures, according as the case in your 
judgment may demand ; .... to absolve and re-establish such as 
may wish to return to the lap of the church, although they may 
have sworn to favor the heretics, provided, taking the contrary oath, 
they promise to abstain most carefully from doing so"* Who does 
not perceive that the closing extract I have quoted of this bull of 
pope Innocent VIII. , is another reiteration of the doctrine of Con- 
stance, and of pope Martin ; and however popish priests may seek 
to conceal the fact from the eyes of Protestants, ever the doctrine 
of Rome — no faith with heretics ? 

§ 63. — Upon the death of Innocent VIII., in 1492, the cardinals were 
notoriously bribed to give their suffrages for a Spaniard named Ro- 
deric Borgia, who upon his election assumed the name of Alexander 
VI. It would be a tedious and disgusting task to enumerate all the 
debaucheries, incests, assassinations and other outrages of which 
this papal Nero, and his equally infamous son Cardinal Ceesar Bor- 
gia, were the guilty perpetrators. In the downward progress of 
pontifical impurity, we have at length reached the lowest step, the 

* Leger. Hist, des eglises Vaudoises, Vol. ii., chap. 2 ; the original of the bull is 
in the library of Cambridge University. 



chap, v.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 427 

Pope Alexander, the Devil's master-piece. Gives an entertainment in the Vatican to 50 public prostitutes. 

utmost limits which have been assigned to papal and to human de- 
pravity. "The ecclesiastical records of fifteen centuries," says 
Waddington, " through which our long journey is now nearly ended, 
contain no name so loathsome, no crimes so foul as his ; and while 
the voice of every impartial writer is loud in his execration, he is, 
in one respect, singularly consigned to infamy, since not one among 
the zealous annalists of the Roman Church has breathed a whisper 
in his praise. Thus, those who have pursued him with the most 
unqualified vituperations, are thought to have described him most 
faithfully ; and the mention of his character has excited a sort of 
rivalry in the expression of indignation and hatred. In early life, 
during the pontificate of Pius II., Roderic Borgia, already a cardi- 
nal, had been stigmatized by a public censure for his unmuffled 
debaucheries. Afterwards he publicly cohabited with a Roman 
matron named Vanozia, by whom he had five acknowledged chil- 
dren. Neither in his manners nor in his language did he affect any 
regard for morality or for decency ; and one of the earliest acts of 
his pontificate was, to celebrate, with scandalous magnificence, in 
his own palace, the marriage of his daughter Lucretia. On one 
oc casion, this prodigy of vice gave a splendid entertainment, within 
the walls of the Vatican, to no less than fifty public prostitutes at 
once, and that in the presence of his daughter Lucretia, at which 
entertainment deeds of darkness were done, over which decency 
must throw a veil ;* and yet this monster of vice was, according to 
papists, the legitimate successor of the apostles, and the Vicar of 
God upon earth, and was addressed by the title of his Holiness ! ! 
Again I ask, is not that apostate church, of which for eleven years 
this pope Alexander VI. was the crowned and anointed head, and a 
necessary link in the chain of pretended apostolic succession — is 
she not fitly described by the pen of inspiration — " Mother of 

UARLOTS, AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH ?" (ReV. XVli., 5.) 

§ G4. — The following are the circumstances relating to the death of 
pope Alexander, which stand on the most extensive evidence. His 
infamous son, Caesar Borgia, being greatly in want of money to pay 
his troops, applied to his father for assistance ; but the apostolical 
treasury was exhausted, and neither resources nor credit were then 
at hand to replenish it. On which, the Cardinal suggested to the Pope 
an easy, and, as it would seem, not very unusual method of supply- 
ing their wants. The cardinal Corneto, as well as some others of the 
sacred college, had a great reputation for wealth ; and it was then the 
practice at Rome for the property of cardinals to devolve, on their 
decease, to the See. He proposed to get rid of this Corneto. The 
I 'ope consented; and, accordingly, invited the cardinals to an en- 
tertainment which he prepared for them in his vineyard of Corneto, 
which was near the Vatican. Among the wines sent for this occa- 
sion, one bottle was prepared with poison ; and instructions were 

* These infamous debaucheries are related with much more minuteness than is 
consistent with modern refinement and delicacy, by Burchardus, (Piar. 77.) 



4-2 S HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book yi. 

Pope AiZizU: :iiz'z: i his ci~z trip. An : r:; 1.5: ::■; : :._■ : . •: . ■■- ; • -.. T ; ;.■--..; 5- - - 

carer.;/;' given to the superintendent of the feast respecting thedis- 
posaj ::" that bottle If happened that, some little time before sup- 
per, the Pope and his son arrived, and. as it was" . they 
id for wine. And then, whether through the error or the 
: e 01 the confidential officer, the poisoned bottle was presented 
to them. Both drank of ::. and both immediately suffered 
lent effects. Caesar Borgia, who had mixed much water with his 
wine, and was, besides, young and vigorous, through the immediate 
use : : werful antidotes, was saved. But Alexander having taken 
his draught nearly pure, and : ring likewise enfeebled by age. died in 
the course of the same evening.* 

\ 65. — I: was during the pontificate of Alexander VI., that the 
discovery :: America was achieved by that wonderful man. C 
I : ber Columbus. For several centuries previous to that age, it 
had been regarded as an established doctrine, that the Pope, from 
his s athority, had the right of granting all heathen coun- 

tries I : su :ia Catholic princes as would engage ::• reduce them under 
the a o mini on of the church and the Holy See. In accordance with 
this dc 2trine. pope Martin V. early in the same century had granted 
to the crown of Portugal all the lands i: might discover from cape 
I :r in Africa, to the Indies. 

Immediately upon the intelligence being received by the Sp 
sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, of the success of Columbus, 
measures were taken to obtain the sanction of the Pope. Accord- 
ingly, in compliance with the request :: the Spanish ambassadors 
that were immediately .'.snatched to Rome, pope Alexander VI. 
issued his bull, dated May 2d, 1493. " ceding :: the Spanish 
reigies the same rights, privileges, and indulgences, in respect to the 
newly discovered regions, as had been accorded to the Portug 
. regard to their Africa:", discoveries, under the same condition 

planting aid propagating the Catholic faith. To prevent any 
conflicting claims, however, between the two powers, in the wide 
r : d g s : : I h : ii iiscovc i i -is. : o : ther bull was issued on the following 
day. containing the famous line of demarcation, by which their terri- 
:: ::es were thought to be clearly and permanently denned. This 
was an ideal line drawn from the north to the south j >le, a hundred 

ad the .ds. All 

land discovered by the Spanish navigators to the west of this line, 

i had not been taken possess] on of by any Christian f 
before the preceding Christmas, was Ic belong totae Spanish crc 
all land discovered in the contn ■:::■: r. was t: beieag ::■ For- 

tugal. It seems never to have o : : m re :. i : the 1 1 ntirT. that by a ash- 
ing their opposite careers ::" discovery, they might some day or 
other come again in collision, and renew the question if tenil 
right a: the aniiii i ii a s . * ' - 

* See WatkKngtoii's CJl His:., p. bib. F:r a particular account of the hvcs 
: es ::" this flagitious Pope, and his no less infamous son. Caesar Borgia, see 
Life of me Jflesandei VL, by Alexandra Gordon. 
| Life and Voyages of Columbus, by Washington living, book v.. ch. 8. 



chap v.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 429 

The power of the popes not what it once was. Pope Julian absolving himself from his oath. 

It may serve to correct the notions of some good people, who know 
but little about the history of Popery in past ages, and imagine that 
it never was more powerful than now, to remember that three centu- 
ries and a half ago, not only the territory now called the United States, 
but the whole of North and South America, were given away by a 
single dash of pope Alexander's pen. I presume there is but little 
fear of the great Republic of the West ever being handed over, like 
an apple or an orange, as a present from his Holiness to their Catho- 
lic majesties of Spain or of Portugal. And yet, according to the 
aforesaid decree of pope Alexander, the Catholic sovereigns of 
Spain have a right, so far as a papal grant can confer it, to the 
whole of the United States, from Maine to Texas, and to the entire 
continent of the West. Well may the old gentleman at Rome, 
when he thinks of the power of his predecessors, and casts his eye 
over the vast prairies and savannahs of the West, sit on his trem- 
bling throne in Italy, like Bunyans giant Pope, " biting his nails that 
he cannot come at them." 

§ 66. — Upon the death of Alexander VI., Pius III., a sick and 
feeble old man, was elevated to the papal throne, through the in- 
trigues of the Cardinal who hoped soon to succeed him, and died 
after a brief reign of only twenty-six days. The stratagem of 
Julian della Rovera was successful. He celebrated the mass at 
the obsequies of the deceased Pope and scarcely was that office 
performed when he re-opened his former intrigues with the design, 
on this occasion, of procuring his own election. He gained the 
leading cardinals by magnificent promises, and the confidence that 
they would be observed. On the very first scrutiny, Julian della 
Rovera was unanimously raised to the chair of Alexander VI. On 
this occasion, Julian, who assumed the name of Julius II., took the 
same oath which had been taken by the infamous Alexander and 
several of his unworthy predecessors of the fifteenth century, to 
convoke a general council within two years from his election, and 
effect other reforms in the administration of the church, under the 
penalty of " perjury and anathema," from which they swore neither 
to absolve themselves, nor suffer any others to absolve them. These 
oaths, however, were only made to be broken. The popes claimed 
the power not only of absolving others, but of absolving themselves 
from the obligation of an oath, and when, therefore, the object of 
taking the oath was accomplished, and the hat of the Cardinal ex- 
changed for the tiara of the Pope, this convenient power was in- 
variably exercised.* 

That this pretended power of the popes of absolving from 
the obligation of an oath, whether of allegiance to a ruler or of 

* Beausobre in his history of the Reformation (Livre i.) gives the words of 
the oath by which the candidate for the papal chair thus bound himself, which are 
worthy of being placed on record "Prffimissa omnia et singula promitto, voveo 
et jura ohservare et adimplere, in omnibus et per omnia, pure et simpliciter et 
bona fide, realiter, et cum effectu perjurii et anatnematis, a quibus nee me ipsum 
absolvam, nee alieni absolutioncm committam. Ita me Deus adjuvet," &c. 
28 



430 *?TORY OF ROMANISM. ": - 



zr.-j ::' L:~i~ 



wi. has e'er been believed and practised by (he - 
anti-Chris:, is ? feet which needs eh proof tc such as nave but a 
Hunted a : _ v : inf a ; e ~^~ith history. We have seen how frequently 
if was "IT idiaed in the fives :: Gregory VJDL,* Innocent III., and 
the other popes of that peri: J when Popery reignti Despot of the 
World ;f but perhaps it is no: e y well known, that the same 
doctrine is openly advocated by papists of the present day. and 
plainly taught in the text-books used in their colleges. Thro 
the class-book Used in Maynooth College, Ireland. Bailly as 

there exists in the church a power of dispensing from the 
obligation :: ~:~s and oaths.* J In this abominable prop :^ 
quoted from a standard R : mish author, the church means the Pope, 
: cording to the canon law, the Pope is the interpreter of an 
oath.§ Dens, in his theology, the modern standard of Catholicism 
in Ireland, authorizes this maxim. || The dispensation of a 
says this criterion of truth, "is its relaxation by a lawful superior 
in tite :^:: :■: G-:i. :::::- 2 ;::: ::-.t:se, T/.e ;::::::: :.r :':-: ::::.- 
I in the place of God. remits to a man the debt of a plighted 
promise."^ If a pope has the : >wei :f absolving other? from the 
obligation of an oath, he has, :: sourse, the power of absolving 
himself, and hen : :n be bound by no promise, however sacred ; 
by no oath, however solemn. Upon :^s monstrous principle did 
pope Julius, like many of his predecessors, ::ike a solemn oath pre- 
vious :: his election, which he doubtless intended when he took it 
L0l2.tr, s: sj:tiashis ^leT-atier. ::• tie e rreior.t szit-tLd ri~e hi.:: 
the power of absolving himself from his oath, and thus annulling 
the laws :: '-: 1 ~~ .: : impunity -.* * 

* Gregory, in 1080. asserted his authority to dissolve the oath of fealty. His 

Izzz'ilLz z zizzr szzzzzzzzi his issz-rzizzz ':;■ zzzzzs. :: z:zzz~zizzi ;::::"= : ::zi =;: 

zjzz zniizizzz, Tzzis ii:l:z:~. izzs H:i.:zzs ; liizrzz ■:: : zzzrzjz i :~ lie 
ci zzzz- zzzts. zznszsrizig in ::izz:zzz; zzzz i :szzzr izzz — -— --- - 
:::.ir:: ::' zzze zVJzzzrs. Tizz .rzzzzirj iriz zi:n izz rzzrzszizzzzi is nizzzz 
. i : . i : r* ' _ : _z : _ : - " z . : :- 1 . :_ z : z. z : ;n : : : . z _ z zz . z ;z : 

ts et Azzzstzlzz- =zz-zzi= n:?. iczzissf zzzz-zzzzzzizzz i siizizzzzzz:: ziziz-izzLZZ: e 
■ : : I ere,' (Z>i5Z». 12, 330. 439 ; 497.) 

- S~ i:-:Te.B:-:k-.j.--:5:-". 

I ■ Hizzszz: in e::-r=:2, z::zz:zs nszzzzszrz: : zz: ::.z 5-: ;"irimez:i5 
14:. : Xz~:::i Rzzztz. i*5S ' 

• "Deziiz-: : znzzz-zzzi. zzz izzzzrzrzzz i: : iz zz- :;:: zz':::z:zz\ zzz::lz: z; 

1 Szzzeriz: ~i:z: zizzz ~".:iz.zz: _ z:. "::z z: zzzzzzizze Dz-i. rfzzzizziz Jzizzlzzz zzzii-zzz 
promissionis fectae.' (l>eni ; 4, 1U. 135.) 

*~ Bzzis lis: izzs ziii: z. izzzssz: sizzziz z:sz:z izis irzi::i:z:z :. iz 
z.:iz izz izzz: — s zzzir :r siznzzzzzzzi : :zz:zzz::zz. zzzzzi 
-f-5sz : : :-.:■:.: Szzziz iz::siz :z :: ::zzzzii :iz: iriz :zze i_zz :: z i : z- zy ::" i zizz: 
:: zii-z" zVszrzz: izzz c: z'zze =:.i:e. zz-zzizzi :zz :izr_ iLs:i:szzre. Tize :z: - 
cize. is a= ezzri:: z::zir" is rize zzzzzizzf. _.zz z:zz:zss:r is zzzsrzzis 
:z="i:s is i zzzzzz 7.i:s mziz izz^r z '.:..: ■-.;: z; ■-•.-- ; :^s G:z : 

zizfreizre z::z vrii z: :z zz: zz zz is :z : rz.i~ ::" iziszizni :: z 
Dr'z-f-: rzszzzzzizre sz :z z z : ; : z- z-izzz z: =i zzs zs: :zz~ zznzz.z :. : : zzzzzzz 
Tzi.s ; :z.izsszz:zs :zz:zzz: ~i:zz zzz h:z;z:. z: rzszizzz: zz izizzzz. Jiizz iz:zn z:z =:.: 
'.: i.zzz.: ziizizz - zz::z:zz.z, \ii::.-.s s;.z: z: Iz-zs ' Iz :. :. ::.- ; E\-.:-. Uf. 
** Ancther izzsziz::z- :: ±e zzrz : z: li zz:z:;:sz ::' :zz:s iz-zzzizziziz dizrzzif ::• 




The Pope as a Warrior.— Pope Julius in Battle. 




The Pope as a God— adorei 



1 on the high Altnr of St. Petei 



chap, v.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 433 

Pope Julius a warrior. 200,000 men slain in battle through his means. His quarrel with Lewis XII. 

§ 67. — Pope Julius was a man of blood. His assumption of that 
name was itself an expression of his admiration of the ancient con- 
queror, Julius Csesar, and a mode of avowing his preference of the 
military to the sacerdotal character. Almost the whole ten years 
of his pontificate (1503-1513) were spent in the field of battle, 
amidst scenes of carnage and slaughter. The evident object of his 
ambition was to reduce the whole of the peninsula of Italy under 
the sovereignty of the self-styled successors of St. Peter. He suc- 
ceeded in compelling the Venetians to yield up several cities to the 
Holy See, and had he not been cut short by death in his victorious 
career, it is supposed by many that the object of his ambition might 
have been realized. It is related of him that he was so fierce and 
indefatigable a warrior, that though decrepit with age, he did not 
shrink from the toils of the meanest soldier ; that in prosecuting 
his schemes of ambition, he would never listen to a proposal of 
peace, while the slightest prospect of success remained, though to 
be purchased at the cost of thousands of lives ; and that two hun- 
dred thousand men perished in battle through his means ; that al- 
most the only use he made of his pontifical function was to dictate 
his bulls and anathemas, which he did with the same energy as he 
commanded his army ; and finally, in the words of a celebrated 
chronicler of France, that in his fierce and bloody conflicts on the 
field of battle, " he acted more like a sultan of the Turks than as 
the vicar of the Prince of Peace, and the common Father of 
all Christians."* (See Engraving.) 

§ 68. — Lewis XII., king of France, provoked at the insults he 
received from pope Julius, is said by many authors to have caused 
a medal to be struck, with the inscription, * Perdam Babylonis 
nomen ' — that is, " I will destroy the name of Babylon." It is pro- 
per here to add that the authenticity and occasion of this celebrated 
motto, has afforded matter of keen debate to respectable writers on 
both sides of the question. There is no question, however, that 
Lewis was violently incensed against the arrogant military Pope, 
and that in the year 1511, several cardinals under his protection 
assembled a council at Pisa, with the intention of setting bounds to 
the power, and curbing the tyranny of this furious and ambitious 
Pontiff. Julius, on the other hand, thundered his anathemas against 
the council of Pisa, excommunicated all the members, and degraded 
the cardinals from their dignity. The council returned the com- 
pliment (like that of Basil, seventy years before), by summoning 
the Pope into their presence, declaring him contumacious, and 
eventually suspending him from his office. The warlike pontiff, 

curred in the life of pope Paul IV., who, in 1555, absolved himself from an oath 
which he had taken in the Conclave. His Holiness had sworn to make only four 
cardinals ; but violated his obligation. His Supremacy declared, lluil the Pontiff 
could not be bound, or his authority limited, even by <ni oath. The contrary he 
characterized as " a manifest heresy." ' Le contrairc 6toit une heresie manifeste.' 
(Father Paul Sarpi, lib. ii., sec. 27.) 

* Mezcrai Abrege Chron., torn, v., p. 117; reign of Louis XII. 



434 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 

Accession of pope Leo X. Enactment of a general council against the freedom of the press, 

relying upon his carnal, at least as much as his spiritual defences, 
treated these proceedings with contempt and laughter, and sum- 
moned a council at Rome,* which was opened on the 3d of May, 
1512, and in which the proceedings of the council of Pisa were 
annulled, and condemned in the severest and most insulting lan- 
guage. This council of the Pope is called by Romanists the eigh- 
teenth general council, or fifth of Lateran, though almost all who 
were present were Italians, and the total number of cardinals was 
fifteen, and the archbishops and bishops, together, eighty. Proba- 
bly the fierce denunciations of the Pope and this petty general 
council against the council of Pisa, would have been followed by 
the most dire anathemas against king Louis, and other princes 
who favored that council, had not death snatched away this, fierce, 
turbulent, and bloody Pope on the 20th of February, 1513. 

§ 69. — The successor of Julius was Leo X., a name which is insepa- 
rable from the history of the glorious reformation, for the determined 
but unavailing opposition that he offered to the doctrines and measures 
of Luther. Under Leo the fifth council of Lateran continued its ses- 
sions, at various intervals, till the month of March, 1517. Among 
the decrees of this council was one forbidding the freedom of the 
press, which in consequence of the invention of the art of printing 
had for some years been a source of annoyance to Rome. Pope 
Leo and the council ordained " that no book should be hereafter 
printed at Rome, or in any other city or diocese, until it had been 
examined — at Rome by the vicar of his Holiness, and the mas- 
ter of the sacred palace — in other dioceses, by the bishop, or some 
doctor appointed by him, or by the inquisitor of the place, on pain 
of various temporal penalties and immediate excommunication.' r 
Popery has probably never received so severe a blow, as in the in- 
vention of printing ; and according to human probabilities, the refor- 
mation would have been nipped in the bud, and the world would still 
have been covered with popish darkness as it was amidst the gloom of 
the world's midnight, had it not been for the noble art which multi- 
plied, almost with the speed of thought, the fearless protestations of 
the reformers against the profligacy and corruption of Rome. 
The date of this noble art is generally placed in 1444, though 
some years doubtless elapsed before it was very extensively used. 
About 1472, not thirty years after the invention, pope Sixtus IV. 
commenced the crusade against the freedom of the press which 
Popery has carried on from that time to this. In 1501 the vile 
Alexander VI. ordained under the severest penalties, that ao books 
of any description should be printed, in any diocese, without the 
sanction of the Bishop,f and a few years after Leo X., in the manner 
we have seen, renewed this prohibition. 

§ 70. — There was another enactment of the fifth council of Late- 

* The bull of Julius convoking this council, in which he calls the council of 
Pisa a synagogue of Satan, and compares its authors to Dathan and Abiram, may 
be found in Raynald's Annals, ad Ann. 1511. 

f Raynald's Annals ad Ann. 1501, s. 36. 



chap, v.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 435 

A papist's groans at the ill success of the laws against heretics, in preventing the Reformation. 

ran, which deserves a passing mention. This was a decree enjoin- 
ing upon the Inquisitions established in various countries to proceed 
zealously in the punishment and extirpation of heretics and Jews, 
especially against those who had relapsed, from whom every hope 
of pardon was withheld. These decrees are recorded by the Ro- 
mish annalist Raynald, the continuator of the annals of Baro- 
nius, who exclaims in tones which we might almost imagine to pro- 
ceed from a hungry wolf, disappointed of his prey by the watchful- 
ness of the shepherd and his faithful dog. " How ill, alas ! these 
most holy laws were observed, appears from the hydra-birth of the 
Lutheran heresy which came so soon afterwards."* 

§ 71. — On the 16th of March, 1517, was held the twelfth and con- 
cluding session of the council. The bull of dissolution announced 
the accomplishment of every object of the assembly : peace had 
been re-established among the princes of Christendom ; the schis- 
matic synod of Pisa abolished ; and, above all, the reformation of 
the Church and court of Rome had been sufficiently provided for ! 
There were, indeed, some fathers who ventured to argue, that every 
abuse had not even yet been removed, and that the lasting interests 
of the Church would be better promoted by the further continuance 
of the council — but the majority supported the Pope ; and this 
universal assembly of the western Church, after having deliberately 
regulated all matters requiring any attention, and restored the estab- 
lishment to perfect health and security, separated with complacency 
and confidence ! Little did Leo and the fathers of the council 
dream of the storm that was impending over them ; of the lightning 
of heaven that was already gathering to purify the moral atmo- 
sphere of the popish miasma that corrupted it. It is a coincidence 
worth remarking, that in the very same year, almost before the pre- 
lates of Rome had exchanged their parting congratulations on the 
imagined peace and security of the church, Luther had commenced 
his bold and fearless preaching against that plague-spot upon the 
polluted and rotten carcase of anti-Christ — the infamous doctrine of 

INDULGENCES. 

* Raynald. ad Ann. 1514, sect. 31, &c. 



436 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE REFORMATION'. LUTHER AND TETZEL. 

AGALYST INDULGENCES. 

§ 72. — We have seen, in a previous part of this work, the profit- 
able use that was made by the popes whenever they wished to en- 
rich their coffers, at the expense oi a credulous and superstitious 
multitude, of the doctrine of indulgences, — the pretence that a 
miserable mortal, often polluted with the most awful crimes, had 
power to control the punishments of God's justice in the invisible 
world, and to grant a plenary indulgence for the most fls 
crimes, to such as would purchase it with money. The horrid im- 
■ oi this blasphemous pretension is such that we can hardly 
help feeling astonished at the forbearance of the insulted Deity n 
suffering his name thus to be blasphemed, his prerogatives thi 
vaded. and his creatures thus outraged and abused for so long :. 
series of ages. 

But the justice of God does not sleep for ever. It pleased him 
that the very means of the aggrandizement and wealth of ape 
Rome should also be the cause of its receiving a blow from which 
it never has. and never will recover. Indulgences, and the money 
they procured, were for ages the inexhaustit le s >ur : :- c fj :/: al Rome's 
grandeur and wealth. Indulgences, and the indignation they ex : 
were the occasion of her fall. The proud structure of St. Peters, il 
is true, was built upon a foundation of indulgences ; even" stone in 
thai gorgeous structure, if it had a tongue, might tell a tale of rob- 
bery, or murder, or adultery : or of the c utrage :us cheat annoui 
by the infamous Tetzel. " the very moment the money jingles in 
the chest, the soul for whom it is paid esc ares from the pains of 
purgatory, and flies to heaven." Yet, when the courtly and luxu- 
rious Leo proclaimed his bull of indulgences, for the building :: 
St. Peter's, little did he imagine how dearly that proudest of all 
the temples of anti-Christ would be bought. And there is not a 
true protestant in Christendom, however much he may despise the 
5] iritual knavery and imposture of the indulgences upon which St 
Peter's is erected, that would not regard the glorious refon 
as cheaply purchased at the price of the millions of gold and si 
it would require to build ten thousand such M>stly erections. 

A work like the present would not be complete without a sketch 
of the incidents connected with that memorable event in the annals 
oi Popery, the glorious reformation. Ye: it is ■;. source oi 
cere and unmingled satisfaction to the author, that the recent pub- 
lication and unparalleled circulation oi the most captivating, au- 
thentic, and thorough historv of the Reformation that has ever 



shap. vi.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 437 

Indulgences to build St. Peter's. Prices of sins in the Tax-books of the Roman Chancery. 

been written in any language,* precludes the necessity of devoting 
more than a few pages to that momentous moral revolution ; and 
even those few will be devoted mainly to facts connected with the 
reformation, which reflect light upon the character and the history 
of Popery. 

§ 73. — The first stone of the present church of St. Peter's at 
Rome, was laid in the year 1506 by the ambitious and warlike pope 
Julius II., and when Leo X. succeeded him on the papal throne, he 
found the treasury of the church almost exhausted by the ceaseless 
wars and ambitious projects of his predecessor. " Making use," 
says Sleidan, " of that power which his predecessors had usurped 
over all Christian churches, he sent abroad into all kingdoms his 
letters and bulls, with ample promises of the full pardon of sins, 
and of eternal salvation to such as would purchase the same with 
money !" 

It is obvious that the multiplication of crimes in a superstitious 
and dissolute age, would be proportionate to the facility of obtain- 
ing pardon. It had been a practice in the different governments 
of Europe to allow the payment of a fine to the magistrate, by way 
of compounding for the punishment due to an offence. The ava- 
ricious and unprincipled court of Rome adopted a similar plan in 
religious concerns, and intent only on the augmentation of revenue, 
it even rejoiced in the degradation of the human mind and charac- 
ter. The officers of the Roman chancery published a book con- 
taining the exact sum to be paid for any particular sin. A deacon 
guilty of murder was absolved for twenty crowns. A bishop or 
abbot might assassinate for three hundred livres. An ecclesiastic 
might violate his vows of chastity, even with the most aggravating 
circumstances, for the third part of that sum. To these and similar 
items, it is added, " Take notice particularly that such graces and 
dispensations are not granted to the poor, for not having wherewith 
to pay they cannot be comforted." 'f 

* It is almost unnecessary to say, that the author refers to D'Aubigne's popular 
and invaluable " History of the Reformation," to which he would take this oppor- 
tunity of expressing his obligation for most of the incidents connected with Lu- 
ther's struggles against the abominations of Rome. The work of D'Aubigne has 
lately been honored with a special notice of reprobation in the Pope's bull of 
1844. Thank God it is translated into Italian ! Let D'Aubigne's History of the 
Reformation only be read throughout the whole of outraged and injured Italy, and 
the world will see that the Pope had reason to tremble on his tottering throne. 

f Taxa Cancellar. Roman®, quoted in Cox's life of Melancthon, chap. iii. As 
it has become usual with Romanists to deny the authenticity of these Tax -books 
for sin, since it has been discovered that protestants have become acquainted with 
their contents, it is proper to remark that more than twenty-seven editions of the 
work had appeared, before any one thought of denying their authenticity. The evi- 
dence on this subject has been weighed and sifted a hundred times, and the result 
is, that in the opinion of the most eminent literary men, the authenticity of this 
genuine Romish work is established without the shadow of a doubt. The follow- 
ing observations upon "the Taxatio Papalis" by the learned Mendham, author 
of the " Literary policy of the church of Rome," arc sufficient to sot this blatter 
for ever at rest. The Tax Tables are a Considerable advance upon the simple In- 



438 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi 

Editions of the Romish Tax-book for sins. Testimony of a Catholic author to its genuineness 

" What," asks an ornament of the British establishment, " was 
the crying abomination which first roused the indignant spirit of 

diligence ; for there, absolution for the grossest crimes — and for all crimes — is ex- 
pressly set to sale at specified prices — absolution, or dispensation, or license, &c, 
for Grossi, or floreni, or ducats. 

To what times or persons the origin of those small and precious volumes is to 
be assigned, it is perhaps impossible to determine. The least objectionable part, 
indicating only unprincipled cupidity and rapacity, the Chancery Taxes, may with 
certainty be traced back to pope John XXII., who reigned at the beginning of the 
fourteenth century, and is celebrated by papal as well as other historians, for his 
immoderate extortion by the dexterous management of benefices, and by other 
means, and for the immense wealth which he accumulated and left behind him. 
(Ciaconii Vit. et Act. Pont., torn. 2; 395.) The frequent and exclusive refer- 
ence to the Liber Jo. XXII. in pope Leo's Xth's Taxas Cane. Apost., published 
in 1514, place the fact beyond a doubt ; and Polydore Virgil (lib. viii., cap. 2) ex- 
pressly ascribes the origin of those Taxes to him. 

To the Penitentiary Canons succeeded the regular Tax-books ; of which the 
first fifteen editions were issued at Rome, as is attested by the Romish author Au- 
diffredi, in a work avowedly enumerating those copies, and which volume is dedi- 
cated to " Pius VI., Pont. Opt. Max.," or, the "Most Blessed and Supreme." 
Twenty-five other reprints were published at Paris, Cologne, and Venice — that from 
the last place under the auspices of pope Gregory XIII. The printing was pro- 
bably rendered necessary or expedient from the number of agents, or collectors of 
these taxes, employed by the pontiffs ; for beyond Rome, in the countries subject 
to those impositions, it was desirable for individuals to know what their vices 
would cost them, and how far they could sustain the expense. Mornay, in his 
Mystere d'Iniquite, and Claude d'Espence, prove that those books were publicly 
and openly exposed to sale. 

But we are told, that these works have been formally and publicly condemned 
by papal authority in the Indices Prohibitorii. This matter is both a literary and 
a papal curiosity. Before the year 1564, when the Trent Index was compiled and 
published, twenty-seven of the editions of the Taxae had appeared, and probably 
many more, now unknown — and yet no notice whatever was taken of them, in 
one single instance, until the year 1570, just a century after the appearance of 
the first edition, in an Appendix to the Roman Index, published by the authority 
of the king of Spain. In what terms does it there appear ? " Praxis et Taxa 
officinae pcenitentiariae Papas," p. 76 — a work, which, if it ever existed under that 
title, was probably never known. With apparent misgiving, and possibly with 
some fear, that it might involve what the papacy knew to be its own offspring, the 
next Index published by authority in Rome, that of 1596, by pope Clement VIII., 
adds — "ab haBreticis depravata; corrupted by heretics." But that specification is 
a virtual admission that some copies existed, which were not depraved or cor- 
rupted. 

In his Commentary on the Epistle to Titus, chap. i..7, Digressio Secunda, on 
the word duncpoKepSri (greedy of filthy lucre), Claude d'Espence, a celebrated and 
candid French Catholic, rector of the University of Paris, having expressly re- 
ferred to the Centum Gravamina, avers, that all those charges might be considered 
as the fiction of the enemies of the Pope, were it not for a book printed, and for 
some time publicly exposed to sale at Paris, entitled Taxa Camera seu Cancel- 
laria Apostolicce, in which more wickedness may be learned than in all the sum- 
maries of all vices ; and in which are proposed license of sinning to most, and 
absolution to all who will buy it. He wondered, that that infamous and scandal- 
ous index of iniquity was not suppressed by the friends and rulers of the Roman 
court ; and that the licenses and impunities for such abominations were renewed 
in the faculties granted to the papal legates, of absolving and rendering capable 
of ecclesiastical promotion all sorts, and even the most atrocious, of criminals- 
He then calls upon Rome to blush, and cease any longer to prostitute herself by 
the publication of so infamous a catalogue." 



chap, vi.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 439 

Farming indulgences. Contract for the sins of the Germans. Tetzel, the famous indulgence-peddler 

the great and much-calumniated Luther? The Pope actually 
drove a gainful pecuniary traffic in ecclesiastical indulgences ! In- 
struments of this description, by which the labor of making a fan- 
cied meritorious satisfaction to God by penance or by good works 
was pared down to the dwarfish standard that best suited the purse 
of a wealthy offender, were sold in the lump, to a tribe of monastic 
vagabonds, by the prelate, who claimed to be upon earth the di- 
vinely-appointed vicar of Christ. These men purchased them of 
the Pope, by as good a bargain as they could make ; and then, 
after the mode of travelling pedlars, they disposed of them in re- 
tail to those who affected such articles of commerce ; each indul- 
gence, of course, bearing an adequate premium. The madness of 
superstition could be strained no higher: the reformation burst 
forth like a torrent ; and Luther, with the Bible in his hand, has 
merited and obtained the eternal hatred of an incorrigible church."* 

§ 74. — At the commencement of the Reformation, Albert, elector 
of Mentz, who was, soon afterwards, made a cardinal, had solicited 
from the Pope the contract for the farming of all the indulgences 
in Germany, or, as they expressed it at Rome, " the contract for 
the sins of the Germans." The Elector being, however, in imme- 
diate want of a large sum of money to advance to the Pope, ap- 
plied to the Fuggers, a celebrated banking-house, to advance him 
the needed sum, upon the credit of the expected proceeds of the 
indulgences, and they deeming the investment a safe one, supplied 
him with the money. The notorious Tetzel, upon the conclusion 
of this bargain, hastened to Mentz, and offered his services to 
Albert, and as he had already many years' experience in this work 
of peddling indulgences, he was at once accepted. 

The account which Dr. Merle gives of the mode of TetzePs 
proceedings is so graphic and so lively, that I shall endeavor to con- 
dense the substance of his remarks. One person, says he, in par- 
ticular, in these sales of indulgences, drew the attention of the spec- 
tators in these sales. It was he who bore the great red cross and 
had the most prominent part assigned to him. He was clothed in 
the habit of the Dominicans, and his port was lofty. His voice was 
sonorous, and he seemed yet in the prime of his strength, though he 
was past his sixty-third year. This man, who was the son of a gold- 
smith of Leipsic, named Diez, bore the name of John Diezel or 
Tetzel. He had studied in his native town, had taken his bachelor's 
degree in 1487, and entered two years later into the order of the 
Dominicans. Numerous honors had been accumulated on him. 
Bachelor of Theology, Prior of the Dominicans, Apostolical Com- 
missioner, Inquisitor (hereticce pravitatis inquisitor), he had, ever 
since the year 1502, filled the office of an agent for the sale of indul- 
gences. The experience he had acquired as a subordinate function- 
ary had very early raised him to the station of chief commissioner. 
He had an allowance of 80 florins per month, all his expenses de- 

* Difficulties of Romanism, by Rev. George Stanley Faber, p. 157. 



*40 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Tetzel's character. His manner of proceeding in disposing of his indulgences. 

frayed, and he was allowed a carriage and three horses ; but we 
may readily imagine that his indirect emoluments far exceeded his 
allowances. In 1507, he gained in two days at Freyberg 2000 
florins. If his occupation resembled that of a mountebank, he had 
also the morals of one. Convicted at Inspruck of adultery and 
abominable profligacy, he was near paying the forfeit of his life. The 
emperor Maximilian had ordered that he should be put into a sack 
and thrown into the river. The elector Frederic of Saxony had 
interceded for him, and obtained his pardon. But the lesson he had 
received had not taught him more decency. He carried about with 
him two of his children. Miltitz, the Pope's legate, cites the fact 
in one of his letters. It would have been hard to find in all the 
cloisters of Germany, a man more adapted to the traffic with which 
he was charged. To the theology of a monk, and the zeal and 
spirit of an inquisitor, he united the greatest effrontery. What 
most helped him in his office, was the facility he displayed in the 
invention of the strange stories with which the taste of the common 
people is generally pleased. No means came amiss to him to fill his 
coffers. Lifting up his voice and giving loose to a coarse volubility, 
he offered his indulgences to all comers, and excelled any salesman 
at a fair in recommending his merchandize. As soon as the cross 
was elevated with the Pope's arms suspended upon it, Tetzel ascend- 
ed the pulpit, and, with a bold tone, began, in the presence of the 
crowd whom the ceremony had drawn to the sacred spot, to exalt 
the efficacy of indulgences. (See Engraving.) 

§ 75. — The people listened, and wondered at the admirable virtues 
ascribed to them. The Jesuit historian Maimbourg says himself, in 
speaking of the Dominican friars whom Tetzel had associated with 
him : — " Some of these preachers did not fail, as usual, to distort 
their subject, and so to exaggerate the value of the indulgences as 
to lead the people to believe that, as soon as they gave their money 
they were certain of salvation and of the deliverance of souls frorr 
purgatory." 

If such were the pupils, we may imagine what lengths the mastei 
went. Let us hear one of these harangues, pronounced after the 
erection of the cross. 

" Indulgences," said he, " are the most precious and sublime o 
God's gifts. " This cross" (pointing to the red cross) " has as muck 
efficacy as the cross of Jesus Christ. Draw near, and I will gi v 
you letters, duly sealed, by which even the sins you shall hereatte 
desire to commit shall be all forgiven you. 

" I would not exchange my privileges for those of Saint Peter ir. 
heaven, for I have saved more souls with my indulgences tha^ he 
with his sermons. There is no sin so great that the indulgence 
cannot remit, and even if any one should (which is doubtless impo* 
sible) ravish the Holy Virgin Mother of God,* let him pay — let him 
only pay largely, and it shall be forgiven him. 

* There has been some controversy relative to the passage upon which thd 
imputation of this horrible language is based. The words are, " Is inter alia do 




Tetzel selling Indulgences. 



i 3 




Burning of Bibles, by Romisb Priests, at Champlain, N. Y. (See page, 613. 



chap, vi.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 443 

The money clinking in the chest, and the soul escaping from Purgatory. Bring money ! Bring money : 

" Even repentance," he would say, " is not indispensable. But 
more than all this : indulgences save not the living alone — they also 
save the dead. Ye priests, ye nobles, ye tradesmen, ye wives, ye 
maidens, and ye young men, hearken to your departed parents and 
friends, who cry to you from the bottomless abyss : ' We are endur- 
ing horrible torment ! a small alms would deliver us ; — you can 
give it, and you will not !' " 

" The very moment? continued Tetzel, " that the money clinks 
against the bottom of the chest, the soul escapes from purgatory, and 
flies free to heaven. O, senseless people, and almost like to beasts, 
who do not comprehend the grace so richly offered ! This day 
heaven is on all sides open. Do you now refuse to enter ? When 
then do you intend to come in 1 This day you may redeem many 
souls. Dull and heedless man, with ten groschen you can deliver 
your father from purgatory, and you are so ungrateful that you will 
not rescue him. In the day of judgment, my conscience will be 
clear ; but you will be punished the more severely for neglecting so 
great a salvation. I protest that though you should have only one 
coat, you ought to strip it off and sell it, to purchase this grace. 
Our Lord God no longer deals with us as God. He has given all 
power to the Pope !" 

Then, having recourse to other inducements, he added, " Do you 
know why our most Holy Lord distributes so rich a grace ? The 
dilapidated Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is to be restored, so as 
to be unparalleled in the whole earth. That church contains the 
bodies of the holy apostles, Peter and Paul, and a vast company of 
martyrs. Those sacred bodies, owing to the present condition of 
the edifice, are now, alas ! continually trodden, flooded, polluted, dis- 
honored, and rotting in rain and hail. Ah ! shall those holy ashes 
be suffered to remain degraded in the mire ?" This touch of de- 
scription never failed to produce an impression on many hearers. 
There was an eager desire to aid poor Leo X., who had not the 
means of sheltering from the rain the bodies of St. Peter and St. 
Paul! 

At the close of his address, Tetzel would point to the strong box 
in which the money was kept, and call upon the people with a sten- 
torian voice, " Bring your money ! bring money ! bring money !" — 
and running down the steps of the pulpit, he would throw in a piece 
of silver, with a loud sound, before all the people. 

§ 76. — The commissioner whose duty it was to sell this popish ware, 
had a counter close to the cross. He turned a scrutinizing glance 
on those who came. He examined their manner, step, and attire, 
and demanded a sum in proportion to the apparent circumstances of 
the party presenting himself. Kings, queens, princes, archbishops, 

cebat, se tantam habere potestatem a Pontifice, ut etiam si quis virgincm matron 
vitiasset ac gravidam fecisset, condonare crimen ipse posset intcrventu pecuniae : 
deinde non modo jam commissa, vcrum etiam futura peccata condonabat," and 
have led to much controversy whether it should not read virginem aut matrem— 
that is, a virgin or a mother. (Sleidcm, Lib. xiii., p. 208 ; dies, iii., 330.) 



444 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 

Prices ar.d form of absolution. Properly called a license to sin. 

bishops, &c, were to pay, according to the regulation, for an ordi- 
nary indulgence, twenty-five ducats ; abbots, counts, barons, &c, ten. 
The other nobles, superiors, and all who had an annual income of 
500 florins, were to pay six. Those who had an income of 200 flo- 
rins, one ; the rest, half a florin. And, further, if this scale could 
not in every instance be observed, full power was given to the apos- 
tolic commissary, and the whole might be arranged according to 
the dictates of sound reason, and the generosity of the giver. For 
particular sins Tetzel had a private scale. Polygamy cost six du- 
cats ; sacrilege and perjury, nine ducats ; murder, eight ; witchcraft, 
two. Samson, who carried on in Switzerland the same traffic as 
Tetzel in Germany, had rather a different scale. He charged for 
infanticide, four livres tournois ; for a parricide or fratricide, one 
ducat. 

The form of absolution by Tetzel has been given by most wri- 
ters on the Reformation, from Robertson to Merle, and is as fol- 
lows : " Our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on thee, N. N., and 
absolve thee by the merits of his most holy sufferings ! And I, in 
virtue of the apostolic power committed to me, absolve thee from 
all ecclesiastical censures, judgments, and penalties that thou mayst 
have merited ; and further, from all excesses, sins, and crimes that 
thou mayst have committed, however great and enormous they may 
be, and of whatever kind, — even though they should be reserved to 
our holy father the Pope, and to the Apostolic See. I efface all the 
stains of weakness, and all traces of the shame that thou mayst 
have drawn upon thyself by such actions. / remit the pains thou 
wouldst have had to endure in purgatory. I receive thee again to 
the sacraments of the Church. I hereby re-incorporate thee in the 
communion of the saints, and restore thee to the innocence and pur- 
ity of thy baptism ; so that, at the moment of death, the gate of the 
place of torment shall be shut against thee, and the gate of the para- 
dise of joy shall be opened unto thee. And if thou shouldst live long, 
this grace continueth unchangeable, till the time of thy end. In the 
name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 
The Brother, John Tetzel, commissary, hath signed this with his own 
hand" 

§ 77. — What could be a greater indulgence to the commission of 
future crimes than the promise contained in this abominable docu- 
ment, that at the moment of death the place of punishment should 
be closed, and the gate of Paradise opened to the purchaser of this 
popish license to sin. I call it a license to sin, because it promised 
salvation to its purchaser irrespective of his future life. Sometimes 
the good sense of the people administered a cutting rebuke to these 
popish traffickers in sin. The following two instances are worth 
recording. The wife of a shoemaker at Hagenau, profiting by the 
permission given in the instruction of the Commissary-general, had 
procured, against her husband's will, a letter of indulgence, and had 
paid for it a gold florin. Shortly after she died : and the widower 
omitting to have mass said for the repose of her soul, the curate 



chap, vi.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 445 

Common sense rebuking these impostures. Tetzel outwitted and beaten with his own weapons. 

charged him with contempt of religion, and the judge of Hagenau 
summoned him to appear before him. The shoemaker put in his 
pocket his wife's indulgence, and repaired to the place of summons. 
" Is your wife dead ?" asked the judge. — " Yes," answered the shoe- 
maker — " What have you done with her ?" — " I buried her and 
commended her soul to God." — " But have you had a mass said for 
the salvation of her soul ?" — " I have not : — it was not necessary : — 
she went to heaven in the moment of her death." — " How do you 
know that ?" — " Here is the evidence of it." The widower drew 
from his pocket the indulgence, and the judge, in presence of the 
curate, read, in so many words, that in the moment of death, the 
woman who had received it would go, not into purgatory, but 
straight into heaven. " If the curate pretends that a mass is neces- 
sary after that," said the shoemaker, " my wife has been cheated by 
our Holy Father the Pope ; but if she has not been cheated, then the 
curate is deceiving me." There was no replying to this defence, and 
the accused was acquitted. It was thus that the good sense of the 
people disposed of these impostures. 

On another occasion a gentleman of Saxony had heard Tetzel at 
Leipsic, and was much shocked by his impostures. He went to 
the monk, and inquired if he was authorized to pardon sins in inten- 
tion, or such as the applicant intended to commit ? " Assuredly," 
answered Tetzel ; " I have full power from the Pope to do so." — 
" Well," returned the gentleman, " I want to take some slight re- 
venge on one of my enemies, without attempting his life. I will 
pay you ten crowns, if you will give me a letter of indulgence that 
shall bear me harmless." Tetzel made some scruples ; they struck 
their bargain for thirty crowns. Shortly after, the monk . set out 
from Leipsic. The gentleman, attended by his servants, laid wait 
for him in a wood between Juterboch and Treblin, — fell upon him, 
gave him a beating, and carried off the rich chest of indulgence- 
money the inquisitor had with him. Tetzel clamored against this 
act of violence, and brought an action before the judges. But the 
gentlemen showed the letter signed by Tetzel himself, which ex- 
empted him beforehand from all responsibility. Duke George who 
had at first been much irritated at this action, upon seeing this wri- 
ting, ordered that the accused should be acquitted. 

A miner of Schneeberg meeting a seller of indulgences, in- 
quired : " Must we then believe what you have often said of the 
power of indulgences and of the authority of the Pope, and think 
that we can redeem a soul from purgatory by casting a penny into 
the chest?" The dealer in indulgences affirmed that it was so. 
" Ah!" replied the miner, "what a cruel man the Pope must be, 
thus to leave a poor soul to sufFer so long in the flames for a wretch- 
ed penny ! If he has no ready money, let him collect a few hun- 
dred thousand crowns, and deliver all these souls by one act. Even 
we poor folks would willingly pay him the principal and interest." 

§ 78.— At this time, Luther was performing his quiet duties as an 
Augustin monk. He was full of respect to the Pope, and as he 
29 



446 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Luther at the confessional. • His theses against indtilgencea 

himself says, " so steeped in the Romish doctrines, that I would wil- 
lingly have helped to kill any one who had the audacity to refuse 
the smallest act of obedience to the Pope. I was a true Saul, like 
many others still living." But at the same time his heart was ready 
to take fire for what he thought the truth, and against what, in his 
judgment, was error. 

One day Luther was at confessional in Wittemberg. Several 
residents of that town successively presented themselves : they con- 
fessed themselves guilty of great irregularities, adultery, licentious- 
ness, usury, unjust gains : such were the things men came to talk of 
with a minister of God's word, who must one day give an account 
of their souls. He reproved, rebuked, and instructed. But what 
was his astonishment, when these persons replied that they did not 
intend to abandon their sins ! The pious monk, shocked at this, 
declared, that since they would not promise to change their habits 
of life, he could not absolve them. Then it was that these poor 
creatures appealed to their letters of indulgence ; they showed them, 
and contended for their efficacy. But Luther replied, that he had 
nothing to do with their paper ; and he added, " If you do not turn 
from the evil of your way, you will all perish." They exclaimed 
against this, and renewed their application ; but the doctor was im- 
moveable. " They must cease," he said, " to do evil, and learn to 
do well, or otherwise no absolution. Have a care," added he, " how 
you give ear to the indulgences : you have something better to do 
than to buy licenses which they offer to you for paltry pence." 

Much alarmed, these inhabitants of Wittemberg quickly returned 
to Tetzel, and told hirn that an Augustin monk treated his letters 
with contempt. Tetzel, at this, bellowed with anger. He held forth 
in the pulpit, used insulting expressions and curses, and, to strike 
the people with more terror, he had a fire lighted several times in 
the grand square, and declared that he was ordered by the Pope 
to burn the heretics who should dare to oppose his most holy indul- 
gences. 

§ 79. — The first courageous step was taken by Luther, on the 
31st of October, 1517. On the evening of that day he went boldly 
to the church, toward which the superstitious crowds of pilgrims 
were flocking, and affixed to the door ninety-five theses or propo- 
sitions against the doctrine of indulgences, which he declared him- 
self ready to defend. A few of these noble protestations against 
the popish abomination of indulgences are given, as specimens of 
the whole. 

"21. The commissioners of indulgences are in error in saying 
that, through the indulgence of the Pope, man is delivered from all 
punishment, and saved. 

" 27. Those persons preach human inventions, who pretend that, 
at the very moment when the money sounds in the strong box, the 
soul escapes from purgatory. 

" 28. This is certain : that as soon as the money sounds, avarice 
and love of gain come in, grow, and multiply. But the assistance 



chap, vi.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 447 



Tetzel, in revenge, publicly burns Luther's theses, at Frankfort. 



and prayers of the church depend only on the will and good pleas- 
ure of God. 

" 32. Those who fancy themselves sure of their salvation by in- 
dulgences, will go to the devil with those who teach them this doctrine. 

" 36. Every Christian who feels true repentance for his sins, has 
perfect remission from the punishment and from the sin, without the 
need of indulgences. 

" 37. Every true Christian, dead or living, is a partaker of all the 
riches of Christ, or of the church, by the gift of God, and without 
any letter of indulgence. 

" 46. We must teach Christians, that if they have no superfluity, 
they are bound to keep for their families wherewith to procure ne- 
cessaries, and they ought not to waste their money on indulgences. 

" 50. We must teach Christians, that if the Pope knew the exac- 
tions of the preachers of indulgences, he would rather that the metro- 
politan church of St. Peter were burnt to ashes, than see it built up 
with the skin, the flesh and bones of his flock. 

" 51. We must teach Christians, that the Pope, as in duty bound, 
would willingly give his own money, though it should be necessary 
to sell the metropolitan church of St. Peter for the purpose, to the 
poor people, whom the preachers of indulgences now rob of their 
last penny. 

" 52. To hope to be saved by indulgences is to hope in lies and 
vanity ; even although the commissioner of indulgences, nay, though 
even the Pope himself should pledge his own soul in attestation of 
their efficacy. 

§ 80. — Tetzel, in reply to the theses of Luther, and out of revenge 
for his miserable defeat, when endeavoring to defend some theses of 
his own, in opposition to Luther's, then had recourse to the ultima 
ratio of Rome and its inquisitors, — the fire. He set up a pulpit and 
a scaffold in one of the suburbs of Frankfort. He went thither in 
solemn procession, arrayed in the insignia of an inquisitor of the 
faith. He inveighed, in his most furious manner, from the pulpit. 
He hurled his thunders with an unsparing hand, and loudly exclaim- 
ed, that "the heretic Luther ought to be burned alive." Then 
placing the Doctor's propositions and sermon on the scaffold, he 
set fire to them. He showed greater dexterity in this operation 
than he had displayed in defending his theses. Here there were none 
to oppose him, and his victory was complete. The arrogant Domini- 
can re-entered Frankfort in triumph. When parties accustomed to 
power have sustained defeat, they have recourse to certain shows 
and semblances, which must be allowed them as a consolation for 
their disgrace. 

Tetzel, after this auto-da-fe of the theses of Luther, hastened to 
send his own theses in defence of indulgences, to Saxony. They will 
serve, thought he, as an antidote to those of Luther. A man was 
dispatched by the inquisitor from Alio to distribute his proposi- 
tions at Wittembcrg. The students of that university, indignant 
that Tetzel should have burned the theses of their master, r sooner 



445 



-.NISM. 



■dob n, 



re 



L.::r 



: re./.;..:.;:;: : 
nted to eight 

^:r.t. r.e 

reese vr:r.i5 : 
r5 : : 
the market- 
er:: err : ;.:::. 



rr.s 

r.:e. 



L^e. 



ere w< 

' SI 



5 :-:■.;.-. 
rr :s re- 
v. He 
ease : : 

rr:. :::- 

,*■;■■_-: 

Preerre. 



Lui 

I Le 



H 



tesche.' • Martin is a man of talents, 

~es :•: r:::r:~rs." 

his allegiance to the Pope. He spoke 
re him credit for justice and a love of 
pare explanations of his theses on in- 

: "-'.- r::_ £er?.:::i. ?.li rre'.ierr 5:" :. • 
: ?s: rvs :.::: 'r.:-.i : : resirner: ::::: :.:.:•:,. 

sty. But, at _e same time, he mani- 

::.. rr:.: r ■: :::.rer •;.:".*■' iefemei every 
him to maintain. He repeated once 

w truly repented had remission of sins 
the Pope had no more power than 



Pi 



L 



r.r.re 

Chri 

si" s are r_: rr: :re : rr: 

:■ i - 



\Y 



-: : :.:y.y\- :* .""-: 
.: :" :. ": ". :'ici : 
"Jl "It is impos- 
i, without having 
me, all that is in 
fifth, our 
d hath laid them 
:e:-:5rr.ess :s : ~r=. 



chap, vi.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 449 

Sends his solutions to Leo X. His respectful letter to the Pope. 

to whom God hath given it. Christ lays his hand upon us, and we 
are healed. He casts his mantle upon us, and we are clothed ; for 
he is the glorious Saviour, blessed for ever." With such views of 
the riches of salvation by Christ, there could no longer be any need 
of indulgences. 

When these solutions were finished, Luther caused a copy of 
them to be forwarded to the Pope. — " I beg of you," said he to his 
Friend Staupitz, vicar general of the Augustin order, " to receive 
with favor the poor productions that I send you, and to forward 
them to the excellent pope Leo X. Not that I mean by this to 
draw you into the peril in which I stand ; I am resolved myself to 
incur the whole danger. Christ will look to it, and make it appear 
whether what I have said comes from him or myself, — Christ, with- 
out whom the Pope's tongue cannot move, nor the hearts of kings 
decree. As for those who threaten me, I have no answer for them 
but the saying of Reuchlin : * The poor man has nothing to fear, for 
he has nothing to lose.' I have neither money nor estate, and I 
desire none. If I have sometimes tasted of honor and good report, 
may He who has begun to strip me of them, finish his work. All 
that is left me is this wretched body, enfeebled by many trials ; let 
them kill it by violence or fraud, so it be to the glory of God ; by so 
doing they will but shorten the term of life by a few hours. It is 
sufficient for me that I have a precious Redeemer, a powerful High 
Priest, my Lord Jesus Christ. I will praise him as long as I have 
breath. If another will not join me in praising him, what is that to 
me?" 

§ 82. — On the 13th of May, 1518, Luther addressed a letter to 
pope Leo, of which the following are extracts : " To the most blessed 
Father, pope Leo X., Supreme Bishop, — brother Martin Luther, an 
Augustin, wishes eternal salvation ! . . . I hear, most holy father, 
that evil reports circulate concerning me, and that my name is in 
bad odor with your Holiness. I am called a heretic, an apostate, a 
traitor, and a thousand other reproachful names. What I see sur- 
prises me, and what I hear alarms me. But the sole foundation of 
my tranquillity remains unmoved, being a pure and quiet conscience. 
O, holy father ! deign to hearken to me, who am but a child, and 
need instruction." Luther then relates the affair from the beginning, 
and thus proceeds : " Nothing was heard in all the taverns, but 
complaints of the avarice of the priests, attacks on the power of 
the keys, and of the supreme bishop. I call all Germany to witness. 
When I heard these things, my zeal was aroused for the glory of 
Christ, — if I understand my own heart ; or if another construction 
is to be put on my conduct, — my young and warm blood was in- 
flamed. ... I represented the matter to certain princes of the church, 
but some laughed at me, and others turned a deaf car. The awe 
of your name seemed to have made all motionless. Thereupon 1 
published this dispute. . . . This, then, holy father, this is the action 
which has been said to have set the whole world in a flame ! . . . 
And now what am I to do ? I cannot retract what I have said, and ] 



450 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [boor vi„ 

Bold expressions of Luther, in his solutions, with respect to the degree of regard due to the Pope, 



see that this publication draws down on me, from all sides, an inex- 
pressible hatred. I have no wish to appear in the great world, for 
I am unlearned, of small wit, and far too inconsiderable for such 
great matters, more especially in this illustrious age, when Cicero 
himself, if he were living, would be constrained to hide himself in 
some dark corner. . . . But in order to appease my enemies and 
satisfy the desires of many friends, I here publish my thoughts. I 
publish them, holy father, that I may dwell the more safely under 
your protection. All those who desire it may here see with what 
simplicity of heart I have petitioned the supreme authority of the 
church to instruct me, and what respect I have manifested for the 
power of the keys. If I had not acted with propriety, it would 
have been impossible that the serene Lord Frederick, duke and 
elector of Saxony, who shines foremost among the friends of the 
apostolic and Ghristian truth, should have endured that one, so 
dangerous as I am asserted to be, should continue in his university 
of Wittemberg. . . . Therefore, most holy father, I throw myself 
at the feet of your holiness, and submit myself to you, with all that 
I have, and all that I am. Destroy my cause, or espouse it : pro- 
nounce either for or against me ; take my life, or restore it, as you 
please ; I will receive your voice as that of Christ himself, who pre- 
sides and speaks through you. If I have deserved death, I refuse 
not to die ; the earth is the Lord's, and all that therein is. May He 
be praised for ever and ever. May He maintain you to all eternity. 
Amen. 

" Signed the day of the Holy Trinity, in the year 1518. Brother 
Martin Luther, Augustin. " 

In this letter what admirable humility and sincerity are evident ! 
Yet by his expressions of deference to the Pope, he meant not to 
sacrifice one iota of the truth. He was willing to be instructed, to 
be convinced, if possible, but he could not, he would not re- 
nounce it. In the very solutions, to which he called the attention 
of Leo, were these bold words : " I care little what pleases or dis- 
pleases the Pope. He is a man like other men. There have been 
many popes who have not only taken up with errors and vices, but 
things yet more extraordinary. I listen to the Pope as pope, that is, 
when he speaks in the canons, agreeably to the canons, or regulates 
any matter conjointly with a council, — but not when he speaks of 
his own mind. If I acted on any other rule, might I not be required 
to say, with those who know not Jesus Christ, that the horrible mas- 
sacres of Christians, by which Julius II. was stained, were the good 
deeds of a kind shepherd of the Lord's sheep ?" 



451 



CHAPTER VII. 

LUTHER AND CAJETAN. THE NOBLE CONSTANCY OF THE REFORMER. 

§ 83. — Leo X., roused at length by the outcry of the theologians 
and monks, now appointed an ecclesiastical court in Rome, for the 
purpose of judging Luther, and in which the reformer's great 
enemy, Sylvester Prierias, was at once accuser and judge. The 
preliminaries were soon arranged, and the court summoned Luther 
to appear before it in person within sixty days. Luther was at 
Wittemberg, quietly awaiting the good effects which he imagined 
his submissive letter to the Pope was calculated to produce, when, 
on the 7th August, two days only after the letters from Frederick and 
Maximilian had been dispatched to Rome, he received the summons 
from the papal tribunal. " At the moment that I looked for bene- 
diction," said he, " I saw the thunderbolt descend upon me. I was 
like the lamb that troubled the stream at which the wolf was drink- 
ing. Tetzel escaped, and I was devoured." 

The Elector and the members of the University at Wittem- 
berg, protested against Luther going to Rome, and the Pope at 
length consented that his cause should be heard in Germany, and on 
the 23d of August, 1518, cardinal Cajetan de Vio received his 
commission as the Pope's legate to reduce Luther to submission. 
In Leo's instructions to Cajetan, he says, " We charge you to com- 
pel the aforesaid Luther to appear before you in person ; to prose- 
cute and reduce him to submission without delay, as soon as you 
shall have received this our order ; he having already been declared 
a heretic by our dear brother Jerome, Bishop of Asculan. For 
this purpose invoke the power and assistance of our very dear son 
in Christ, Maximilian, and the other princes of Germany, and of all 
the communities, universities, and potentates, whether ecclesiastical 
or secular. And when you have secured his person, cause him to 
be detained in safe custody, that he may be brought before us. If 
he should return to a sense of his duty, and ask pardon for so great 
an offence, freely and of his own accord, we give you power to re- 
ceive him into the unity of holy mother church. If you fail to 
get possession of his person, we give you power to proscribe him 
in all places in Germany ; to put away, curse, and excommunicate 
all those who are attached to him, and to enjoin all Christians to 
shun their society. And to the end that this pestilence may the 
more easily be rooted out, you will excommunicate all the prelates, 
religious orders, universities, communities, counts, dukes and poten- 
tates, the emperor Maximilian excepted, who shall neglect to seize 
the said Martin Luther, and his adherents, and send them to you un- 
der proper and safe custody. And if (which God forbid) the afore- 
said princes, communities, universities, and potentates, or any who 
belong to them, shelter the said Martin and his adherents, or give 



452 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vj. 

The Pope's flattering letter to the Elector, to induce him to withdraw his protection from Lnther. 

them publicly or secretly, directly or indirectly, assistance and ad- 
vice, we lay an interdict on these princes, communities, universities 
and potentates, with their towns, boroughs, countries, and villages ; 
as well as on the towns, boroughs, countries, and villages, where 
the said Martin shall take refuge, as long as he shall remain there, 
and three days, after he shall have quitted the same." 

§ 84. — While Rome was thus arming the Legate with her thun- 
ders, she was endeavoring, by soft and flattering speeches, to detach 
from Luther's interest the prince whose power she most dreaded. 
The same day (the 23d of August, 1518), the Pope wrote to the 
elector of Saxony. He had recourse to the practised policy of 
Rome with powerful princes, and sought to flatter the prince's 
vanity. " Dear Son," said the Roman Pontiff, " when we think of 
your noble and worthy family ; of you who are its ornament and 
head ; when we remember how you and your ancestors have al- 
ways wished to uphold the Christian faith and the honor and digni- 
ty of the Holy See, we cannot believe that a man who abandons 
the faith can rely on your highness's favor, and recklessly give the 
rein to his wickedness. And yet reports have reached us from all 
quarters, that a certain brother Martin Luther, a monk of the order 
of St. Augustine, acting the part of a child of iniquity and a de- 
spiser of God, has forgotten his habit and his order, which require 
humility and obedience, and boasts that he fears neither the authori- 
ty nor the chastisement of any man, assured, as he declares himself, 
of your favor and protection. But, as we are sure that he is, in 
this, deceiving himself, we have thought it good to write to your 
Highness, and to exhort you, according to the will of God, to be 
jealous of your honor as a Christian prince, the ornament, the glory, 
and the sweet savor of your noble family, — to defend yourself from 
these calumnies, — and to clear yourself, not only from the commis- 
sion of so great a crime as that which is imputed to you, but also 
from the very suspicion which the rash presumption of this monk 
tends to bring upon you." 

Before this letter of the Pope had yet reached Germany, and while 
Luther was still fearing that he should be obliged to appear at Rome, 
a fortunate circumstance occurred to comfort his heart. He needed 
a friend into whose bosom he could pour out his sorrows, and whose 
faithful love should comfort him in his hours of dejection. God sent 
him such a friend in Melancthon, who, at the early age of twenty- 
one, arrived at Wittemberg to enter upon the duties of his professor- 
ship, on the 25th of August, just two days after the Pope had signed 
the brief institutions to cardinal Cajetan, and the letter to the elec- 
tor of Saxony. 

§ 85. — The order for Luther's appearance at Augsburg, before the 
Cardinal legate, at length arrived. It was now with one of the prin- 
ces of the Roman Church that Luther had to do. All his friends be- 
sought him not to set out. They feared that a snare might be laid 
for him on his journey, or a design formed against his life. Some 
set about finding a place of concealment for him, and others from 



chap, vn.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 453 



Luther goes to Augsburg to appear before the Pope's legate, Cardinal Cajetan. 

different quarters gave him the most alarming information. Count 
Albert of Mansfeldt sent him a message to abstain from set- 
ting out, because some great nobles had bound themselves by an 
oath, to seize and strangle, or drown him. But nothing could shake 
his resolution. Everywhere, in the history of Luther, and of the re- 
formation, do we find ourselves in the presence of that intrepid spirit, 
that elevated morality, that boundless charity, which the first estab- 
lishment of Christianity had exhibited to the world. " I am like 
Jeremiah," said Luther, at the moment we are speaking of, — " ' a 
man of strife and contention ;' but the more they increase their 
threatenings, the more they multiply my joy. My wife and 
children are well provided for. My lands and houses and all my 
goods are safe. They have already torn to pieces my honor and 
my good name. All I have left is my wretched body ; — let them 
have it ; — they will then shorten my life by a few hours. But as to 
my soul, — they shall not have that. He, who resolves to bear the 
word of Christ to the world, must expect death at every hour." 

In accordance with this self-sacrificing spirit, Luther set out on 
foot, on his perilous journey to Augsburg, accompanied by two faith- 
ful friends, Link and Leonard, and arrived at the monastery of the 
Augustins in that city, on the 7th of October. On the following day, 
a crafty Italian courtier named Serra Longa, paid Luther a visit, to 
persuade the reformer to submission, or to prepare him for his inter- 
view with the Cardinal legate. The instructions given to Luther 
by this courtier of Rome are curious. " Remember," said he, " that 
you are to appear before a prince of the church ! I will myself, 
conduct you to him. But first let me tell you how you must appear 
in his presence. When you enter the room where he is sitting, you 
must prostrate yourself with your face to the ground ; when he 
tells you to rise, you must kneel before him, and you must not stand 
erect till he orders you to do so." 

§ 86. — Luther had neglected to provide himself with a safe-conduct 
His friends advised him, by no means to appear before the Le- 
gate without one, as he would then be at the mercy of Cajetan. 
But should he obtain such a document, the Legate could not im- 
prison or harm him, without persuading the emperor Maximilian to 
violate his faith. They took upon themselves the task of obtaining 
the necessary safe-conduct from the Emperor. Cajetan's plan was, no 
doubt, to compel Luther, if possible, to retract ; and if he failed in 
that, to secure his person, and have him conveyed to Rome, where 
he would doubtless have shared the fate of Huss and of Jerome. 
Hence he was in hopes that Luther would apply for no safe-con- 
duct, but entrust himself entirely to his mercy. 

Serra Longa offered to accompany Luther before the Legate, 
but the reformer told him of the advice of his Augsburg friends to 
procure a safe-conduct. " Beware of asking anything of the sort," 
replied Serra Longa quickly, " you have no need of it whatever. 
The Legate is well disposed toward you, and quite ready to end 
the affair amicably. If you ask for a safe-conduct, you will spoil 



- - 1 

Melt to 



;. ;;i " ; 



■:r. 



r: " i: 



t .5 i : 



- w - 



l:: ir. 7-7 —1:- nej sej 



:.z f7~ 



.7 -7.-i : . ' - 

. - 

: : :~~ 1: 1 



1 : . _ ; - - ;_ ---:. 7 — 
:.:i : : : ~ : __~ * ~.l- m t . : 
__i -::r::i. ; _-: : : ::.: 
ssfce 700-"" asked tie Eafas, 
*■ WJaere ?* sol TjsdJBgar - fariiffg^ - sat; Z&zkh 
cf frisk, * Um n zz_^ o ^ __ 

tins r^^^^ scd. _iaiesper:_7 

: .' Z- 



i»f _l .1- :. 5 j 1 

1 :.i>f 



:-_ 



. . - - 



:: : 
."7:7:1 



7: 
If rifl: : - 

-7-7:1 ::" iif : 
: 17:7 : I7 ::•:— z: :: 

._LZ ~ 



CHAP, m] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 455 

Luther's first appearance before the Cardinal Legate. 



self before the Pope's representative. The Legate was silent. 
He expected, says a contemporary, that Luther would begin his 
recantation. But Luther waited reverently for the Roman Prince 
to address him. Finding, however, that he did not open his lips, he 
understood his silence as an invitation to open the business, and 
spoke as follows : — " Most worthy father, upon the summons of 
his Holiness the Pope, and at the desire of my gracious Lord, the 
elector of Saxony, I appear before you, as an humble and obedient 
son of the Holy Christian Church ; and I acknowledge that it was 
I who published the propositions and theses that are the subject of 
inquiry. I am ready to listen with all submission to the charges 
brought against me, and, if I am in error, to be instructed in the 
truth." 

The Cardinal, who had determined to assume the tone of a 
kind and compassionate father towards an erring child, answered 
in the most friendly manner, commended Luther's humility, and ex- 
pressed the joy he felt on beholding it, saying : — " My dear son, 
you have filled all Germany with commotion by your dispute 
concerning indulgences. I hear that you are a doctor well 
skilled in the Scriptures, and that you have many followers ; 
if, therefore, you wish to be a member of the church, and to 
have in the Pope a most gracious lord ; — listen to me." After 
this exordium, the Legate did not hesitate to tell him all that he ex- 
pected of him, so confident was he of his submission : " Here," 
said he, " are three articles which, acting under the direction of our 
most holy Father, pope Leo X., I am to propose to you: — 
First, you must return to your duty ; you must acknowledge your 
faults, and retract your errors, your propositions, and sermons. 
Secondly, you must promise to abstain for the future from propa- 
gating your opinions. And, thirdly, you must engage to be more 
discreet, and avoid everything that may grieve or disturb the 
church." " Most worthy father," replied Luther, " I request to be 
permitted to see the Pope's brief, by virtue of which you have re- 
ceived full power to negotiate this affair." 

§ 88. — Serra Longa and the rest of the Italians of the Cardinal's 
train were struck with astonishment at such a demand, and al- 
though the German monk had already appeared to them a strange 
phenomenon, they were completely disconcerted at so bold a speech. 
Christians familiar with the principles of justice desire to see them 
adhered to in proceedings against others or themselves ; but those 
who are accustomed to act according to their own will are much 
surprised when required to proceed regularly and agreeably to 
form and law. " Your demand, my son," replied Cajetan, " cannot 
be complied with. You have to acknowledge your errors ; to be 
careful for the future what you teach ; not to return to your vomit ; 
so that you may rest without care and anxiety ; and then, acting 
by the command and on the authority of our most holy father the 
Pope, I will adjust the whole affair." " Deign then," said Luther, 
" to inform me wherein I have erred." 



456 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Points which, the Legate required Luther to yield. 

At this request, the Italian courtiers, who had expected to see 
the poor German fall upon his knees and implore mercy, were 
still more astonished than before. Not one of them would have 
condescended to answer so impertinent a question. But the Legate, 
who thought it scarcely generous to crush this feeble monk by the 
weight of all his authority, and trusted, moreover, to his own learn- 
ing for obtaining an easy victory, consented to tell Luther what he 
was accused of, and said : — " My beloved son . there are two pro- 
positions put forward by you, which you must, before all, retract : 
1st, ' The treasure of indulgences does not consist of the merits 
and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ ; — 2dly, the man who re- 
ceives the holy sacrament must have faith in the grace offered to 
him.' " 

Both these propositions did indeed strike a death-blow at the 
commerce of Rome. If the Pope had not power to dispose at 
will of the Saviour's merits, — if, on receiving the paper in which 
the brokers of the church traded, men did not acquire a portion of 
that infinite righteousness, — this paper currency lost its value, and 
men would count it no better than a mere rag. And thus also 
with the sacraments. The indulgences were, in some sense, an 
extraordinary branch of commerce with Rome ; the sacraments 
made part of her ordinary traffic. The revenue they yielded was 
by no means small. But to assert that faith was necessary to make 
them productive of any real benefit to the soul of the Christian, 
was to rob them of their attraction in the sight of the people. For 
faith is not in the Pope's gift ; it is beyond his power, and can come 
from God alone. To declare its necessity was, therefore, to snatch 
from the hands of Rome both the speculation and the profits at- 
tached to it. In assailing these two doctrines, Luther had followed 
the example of Christ himself. In the very beginning of his minis- 
try, he had overturned the tables of the money-changers, and driven 
the dealers out of the temple. " Make not my Father's house a 
house of merchandize." Cajetan continued : " I will not bring for- 
ward the authority of St. Thomas, and the other scholastic doctors, 
to confute these errors; I will rest entirely on the Holy Scriptures, 
and speak to you in perfect friendship." 

§ 89.— Nevertheless, when he proceeded to bring forward his 
proofs, he departed from the rule he had laid down. He combated 
Luther's first proposition by an Extravagance or Constitution of pope 
Clement ; and the second, by all sorts of opinions from the scholas- 
tic divines. The discussion turned at its outset upon this constitu- 
tion of the Pope in favor of indulgences. Luther, indignant at 
hearing what authority the Legate attributed to a decree of Rome, 
exclaimed : " I cannot receive such constitutions as sufficient proofs 
on subjects so important. For they wrest the Holy Scriptures, and 
never quote them to the purpose." 

" The Pope," said the Legate, " has authority and power over all 
things." " Save the Scriptures," replied Luther with some warmth. 

"Save the Scriptures !" exclaimed Cajetan. " Do not you know 



chap, vii.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 457 

Luther declares he cannot and will not yield those points. Cajetan's wish to send him to Rome. 

that the Pope is higher than the Councils, for he has recently con- 
demned and punished the council of Basil." 

After some further discussion, Luther declared in relation to one 
of the articles in dispute, " If I yielded anything there, I should be 
denying Christ. I cannot, therefore, and will not yield that point, 
but* by God's help will hold it to the end." Cardinal Cajetan could 
hardly restrain his temper at this bold and decisive declaration, and 
exclaimed with some warmth, " Whether you will or will not, you 
must this very day retract that article, or else for that article alone, 
I will proceed to reject and condemn all your doctrine." " I have 
no will but the Lord's," boldly declared Luther. " He will do with 
me what seemeth good in his sight. But had I a hundred heads, I 
would rather lose them all than retract the testimony I have borne 
to the holy Christian faith." 

" I am not come here to argue with you," said Cajetan. " Re- 
tract, or prepare to endure the punishment you have deserved." 
Luther clearly perceived that it was impossible to end the affair by 
a conference. His adversary was seated before him as though he 
himself were Pope, and required an humble submission to all that 
he said to him, whilst he received Luther's answers, even when 
grounded on the holy Scriptures, with shrugs, and every kind of 
irony and contempt. Having, therefore, shown a disposition to 
withdraw : " Do you wish," said the Legate to him, " that I should 
give you a safe-conduct to repair to Rome ?" Nothing would have 
pleased Cajetan better than the acceptance of this offer. He would 
thus have got rid of an affair of which he began to perceive the 
difficulties, and Luther and his heresy would have fallen into the 
hands of those who would have known how to deal with them. 
But the reformer, who was sensible of the dangers that surrounded 
him even at Augsburg, took care to refuse an offer that would have 
delivered him up, bound hand and foot, to the vengeance of his 
enemies. He rejected the proposal as often as Cajetan chose to re- 
pent it : which he did several times. The Legate concealed the 
chagrin he felt at Luther's refusal ; he assumed an air of dignity, 
and dismissed the monk with a compassionate smile, under which 
he endeavored to hide his disappointment, and at the same time, with 
the politeness of one who hopes to have better success another 
time. 

§ 90 — After two other interviews with the Legate, of which the 
first may be regarded as a specimen, Luther saw that his powerful 
opponent would listen to no argument from Scripture, and would be 
satisfied with nothing short of an unconditional retraction A 
rumor, moreover, reached him that if he did not retract, he was to 
be seized and thrown into a dungeon. When the Imperial counsel- 
lors, through the Bishop of Trent, had informed the Legate that 
Luther was under the protection of the Emperor's safe-conduct, he 
had passionately replied, "Be it so, but I shall do what the Pope 
enjoins me." We have already seen that the Pope's orders were to 
secure his person, detain him in safe custody, and bring him as a 



458 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Luther's departure from Augsburg. His escape from his popish adversaries. 

prisoner to Rome. (See page 451.) His friends advised him, before 
the opportunity might be irrevocably lost, to return from Augsburg. 
They knew Cajetan well enough to be ^satisfied that he would 
scruple at no means to get Luther into his power, and the lessons of 
Constance had taught them how little an emperor's safe-conduct 
might avail with popish moralists to save a victim from the flames. 
They suspected that the Legate might be even then in communica- 
tion with the Emperor to induce him to revoke or to violate his safe- 
conduct. 

§ 91. — For these reasons they advised Luther to seize the oppor- 
tunity of returning to Wittemberg, and he followed their advice. 
They advised him to take every possible precaution, fearing, that if 
his departure were known, it might be opposed. He followed their 
directions as well as he could. A horse, that Staupitz had left at his 
disposal, was brought to the door of the convent. Once more he bids 
adieu to his brethren : he then mounts and sets out, without a bridle 
for his horse, without boots or spurs, and unarmed. The magistrate 
of the city had sent him as a guide, a horseman, who was well ac- 
quainted with the roads. This man conducts him in the dark 
through the silent streets of Augsburg. They direct their course 
to a little gate in the wall of the city. One of the counsellors, Lan- 
gemantel, had ordered that it should be opened to him. He is still 
in the Legate's power. The hand of Rome is still over him ; doubt- 
less, if the Italians knew that their prey was e'scaping, the cry of 
pursuit would be raised : — who knows whether the intrepid adver- 
sary of Rome may not still be seized and thrown into prison ? . . . 
At last Luther and his guide arrive at the little gate : — they pass 
through. They are out of Augsburg ; and putting their horses into 
a gallop, they soon leave the city far behind them. Luther urged 
his horse and kept the poor animal at full speed. He called to mind 
the real or supposed flight of John Huss, the manner in which he 
was overtaken, and the assertion of his adversaries, who affirmed 
that Huss having, by his flight, annulled the Emperor's safe-conduct, 
they had a right to condemn him to the flames. However, these 
uneasy feelings did not long occupy Luther's mind. Having got 
clear from the city where he had spent ten days under that terrible 
hand of Rome which had already crushed so many thousand wit- 
nesses for the truth, and shed so much blood, — at large, breathing 
the open air, traversing the villages and plains, and wonderfully de- 
livered by the arm of the Lord, his whole soul overflowed with 
praise. He might well say : " Our soul is escaped as a bird out of 
the snare of the fowlers ; the snare is broken, and we are delivered. 
Our help is in the name of God, who made heaven and earth." 
Thus was the heart of Luther filled with joy. But his thoughts 
again reverted to De Vio : " The Cardinal," thought he, u would 
have been well pleased to get me into his power and send me to 
Rome. He is, no doubt, mortified that I have escaped from him. 
He thought he had me in his clutches at Augsburg. He thought he 
held me fast ; but he was holding an eel by the tail. Shame that 



chap, vm.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 459 

Reaches Wittemberg. The Pope sends another legate, Charles Miltitz. 

these people should set so high a price upon me ! They would 
give many crowns to have me in their power, whilst our Saviour 
Christ was sold for thirty pieces of silver." 

Luther reached Wittemberg on the 30th of October, and found 
on his arrival, that the disappointed Legate had written a letter to 
the Elector, breathing vengeance against the " contemptible monk" 
that had escaped him, and earnestly entreating Frederick to send 
him as a prisoner to Rome, or at least to banish him from his terri- 
tories. The Elector refused to deliver up Luther to the tender 
mercies of Rome, and the Reformer appealed from the decision of 
the Pope to a General Council. This appeal was made at Wittem- 
berg, in the chapel of Corpus Christi, on the 28th of November, 
1518. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

LUTHER STRIKES AT THE THRONE OF ANTI-CHRIST. THE BREACH MADE 

IRREPARABLE. 

§ 92. — Pope Leo dispatched another legate, Charles Miltitz, to 
Germany, who, warned by the result of Cajetan's mission, tried the 
effect of mildness, persuasion and guile ; and his courtly and crafty 
entreaties so far availed, as to induce Luther, on the 3d of March, 
1519, to write to the Pope a respectful epistle, declaring that though 
he could not retract his doctrines, he would " not seek to weaken, 
either by force or artifice, the power of the Roman church or of his 
Holiness." We are to remember, however, that the light burst upon 
Luther's mind only by degrees. Though he had attacked with all 
his might the popish doctrine of indulgences and human merits, yet 
he had not learned, as he afterwards did, that the anti-Christian 
power which originated and gave to those indulgences all their effi- 
cacy, was itself a hideous usurpation, which must be struck down 
by the lightning of God's holy word. 

Not long afterward, the light on this subject dawned gradually on 
his mind. He studied the decretals of the Popes, and the discover- 
ies he made, materially modified his ideas. He wrote to Spalatin — 
" I am reading the decretals of the pontiffs, and, let me whisper it in 
your ear, I know not whether the Pope is anti-Christ himself, or 
whether he is his apostle ; so misrepresented, and even crucified, 
does Christ appear in them." 

At length a challenge from the scholastic Doctor Eck upon the 
question of the primacy of Rome brought Luther to the bold avowal 
of the truth he had by this time discovered, contained in the following 
thesis — " It is by contemptible decretals of Roman pontiffs, com- 



460 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 

Luther disputes with Doctor Eck at Leipsic, on the primacy of the Pope. 

posed hardly four centuries ago, that it is attempted to prove the 
primacy of the Roman church ; — but arrayed against this claim are 
eleven centuries of credible history, the express declarations of 
Scripture, and the conclusions of the Council of Nice, the most 
venerable of all the councils." 

§ 93. — Eck and Luther met as combatants at Leipsic, and the pub- 
lic disputation between them commenced on the 4th of July. The 
subject was the primacy of the Pope. " The doctor," said Eck, 
" requires of me a proof that the primacy of the church of Rome 
is of divine right ; I find that proof in the words of Christ — ' Thou 
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.' St. Augus- 
tine, in one of his epistles, has thus explained the meaning of the 
passage — * Thou art Peter, and on this rock, that is to say, on Peter, 
I will build my church.' It is true, that Augustine has elsewhere 
said, that by this rock we must understand Christ himself, but he 
has not retracted his first explanation." — " If the reverend doctor," 
replied Luther, " brings against me these words of St. Augustine, 
let him himself first reconcile such opposite assertions. For certain 
it is, that St. Augustine has repeatedly said, that the rock was 
Christ, and hardly once that it was Peter himself. But even though 
St. Augustine and all the Fathers should say that the Apostle is the 
rock of which Christ spake, I would, if I should stand alone, deny 
the assertion — supported by the authority of the Holy Scripture — 
in other words by divine right — for it is written, * Other foundation 
can no man lay than that is laid, even Christ Jesus. Peter himself 
calls Christ the chief-corner stone, and living rock, on which we are 
built up, a spiritual house." 

It was during this discussion that Luther ventured publicly to 
speak with approval of some of the doctrines of Wickliff and Huss, 
in the following words — " Among the articles of John Huss and the 
Bohemians, there are some that are most agreeable to Christ. This 
is certain ; and of this sort is that article : ' There is only One church 
universal ;' and again : ' That it is not necessary to salvation that 
we should believe the Roman church superior to others.' It mat- 
ters little to me whether Wickliff or Huss said it. It is Truth." 
These words produced an immense sensation on the audience. 
Some expressed aloud their feelings at the temerity of a monk, in a 
Catholic assembly, speaking with respect of Wickliff and Huss, 
those execrable heresiarchs, whom the church had condemned, ana- 
thematized and burned. 

Luther did not give way to this burst of murmurs. " Gregory 
Nazianzen," continued he, with noble calmness, " Basil the Great, 
Epiphanius, Chrysostom, and a great many other Greek bishops, are 
saved ; and yet they never believed that the church of Rome was 
superior to other churches. It does not belong to the Roman pon- 
tiffs to add new articles of faith. There is no authority for the be- 
lieving Christian but the Holy Scripture. It, alone, is of divine 
right. I beg the worthy Dr. Eck to grant me that the Roman pon- 
tiffs have been men, and not to speak of them as if they were Gods." 



chap, m] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 461 

Hoiror produced among the monks by the heresies of Luther. Ulric Zwingle, the Swiss reformer 

As a proof of the horror produced among the blinded adhe- 
rents of Rome, by the bold assertions of Luther, it is related that 
during this dispute at Leipsic, Luther one Sunday entered the 
church of the Dominicans just before high mass. There were pre- 
sent only a few monks, who were going through the earlier masses 
at the lower altars. As soon as it was known in the cloister that 
the heretic Luther was in the church, the monks ran together in 
haste, caught up the remonstrance, and, taking it to its receptacle, 
carefully shut it up, lest the holy sacrament should be profaned by 
the impure eyes of the Augustin of Wittemberg. While this was 
doing, they who were reading mass collected together the sacred 
furniture, quitted the altar, crossed the church, and sought refuge in 
the sacristy, as if, says a historian, the devil himself had been be- 
hind them. 

§ 94. — At length pope Leo, who for some time had been too much 
occupied with intrigues relative to the election of an Emperor to 
succeed the deceased Maximilian, to concern himself very much 
about the progress of the growing heresy, awoke to the importance 
of striking a decisive blow. Accordingly, on the 15th of June, 
1520, he issued his bull of condemnation against Luther, anathema- 
tizing his doctrines and his books, and commanding the latter to be 
collected and burnt wherever they could be found. In the opinion 
of Dr. Merle, Luther, courageous as he was, would, even after the 
disputation of Eck, have been silent if Rome herself had kept 
silence, or shown any desire to make concessions. But God had 
not allowed the reformation to be dependent on the weakness of 
man's heart ; Luther was in the hands of One whose eye penetrated 
results. Divine providence made use of the Pope to break every 
link between the past and the future, and to throw the reformer 
into a course altogether unknown, and leading he knew not whither. 
The Papal bull was Rome's bill of divorce addressed to the pure 
church of Jesus Christ in the person of one who was then standing 
as her humble but faithful representative ; and the church accepted 
it, that she might thenceforward hold only from her Head who is in 
heaven. 

Whilst at Rome, the condemnation of Luther was sought for with 
violent animosity, an humble priest, an inhabitant of one of the rude 
towns of Switzerland, who never had any intercourse with the 
reformer, had been deeply affected at the thought of the blow which 
hung over him, and whilst even the intimates of the doctor of Wit- 
temberg were silent and trembling, this Swiss mountaineer formed 
the resolution to do his utmost to arrest the dreaded bull ! His 
name was Ulric Zwingle. The Swiss priest dreaded the conse- 
quences to the church of so severe a blow struck at Luther. He 
labored hard to induce a papal nuncio in Switzerland, who was his 
friend, to employ all his influence with Leo to deter him from ex- 
communicating Luther. "The dignity of the holy See itself is 
concerned in it," said he , " for if things come to such a pass, Ger- 
many, enthusiastically attached to the Gospel and its teacher, will 
30 



4G2 HISTORY OF ROHANISM. [book yi 

The Pope's apostrophe to Peter. Paul, &c. in his bull against Lather. 

be sure to treat the Pope and his anathemas with contempt." The 
effort was unavailing, and it appears that, even at the time it was 
made, the blow was already struck. Such was the first occasion 
on which the path of Luther and that of Zwingle were so ordered 
as to meet together. 

§ 95. — In the bull of Leo against Luther he thus invokes the prince 
of the apostles, " Arise, Peter ! remember thy holy Roman church, 
mother of all the churches, and mistress of the faith. Arise, 
Paul ! for a new Porphyry is here, attacking thy doctrines and the 
holy popes, our predecessors. Finally, arise, O assembly of all the 
saints ! holy church of God ! and intercede for us with God Al- 
mighty." " As soon as this bull shall be published/' continues the 
Pope, H the bishops are to search diligently for the writings of Mar- 
tin Luther in which these errors are contained, and to burn them 
publicly and solemnly in the presence of the clergy and of the laity. 
As to Martin himself, what is there, in the name of Heaven, that 
we have not done ? Imitating the goodness of God Almighty, we 
are ready, notwithstanding, to receive him again into the bosom of 
the church ; and we allow him sixty days to forward to us his re- 
cantation in writing, attested by two prelates ; or, rather (which 
would be more satisfactory), to present himself before us in Rome, 
that none may any more doubt his obedience. In the meantime, he 
must from this moment cease preaching, teaching and writing, and 
commit his works to the flames. And if he do not recant within the 
space of sixty days, we, by these presents, sentence himself and his 
adherents as open and contumacious heretics." 

Luther quailed not bef3re those papal thunders, which for centu- 
ries had made the mightiest monarchs tremble on their thrones. On 
the 6th of October he published his famous tract on the Babylonian 
captivity of the church. He commences this work by ironically 
stating all the advantages for which he is indebted to his enemies. 
" Whether I will or no," says he, " I learn more and more every 
day, urged on as I am by so many celebrated masters. Two years 
ago I attacked indulgences : but with such faltering indecision that 
I am now ashamed of it. It, however, is not to be wondered at ; 
for then I had to roll forward the rock by myself." He then re- 
turns thanks to Doctor Eck and to his other adversaries. u I de- 
nied," he continues, " that the Papacy was from God, but admitted 
that it stood by human right. But now, after having read all the 
subtleties on which these worthies set up their idol, I know that 
Papacy is nothing but the reign of Babylon, and the violence of the 
mighty hunter Ximrod. I therefore request all my friends, and all 
booksellers, that they will burn the books I have before written on 
this subject, and in their stead substitute this single proposition: — 
* The Papacy is a general chase, led by the Bishop of Rome, and 
having for its object the snaring and -ruining of souls.' " 

Luther concludes this fearless attack upon the popish Babylon as 
follows : " I hear that new papal excommunications have been con- 
cocted against me. If this be so, this book may be regarded as a 



chap, m] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 463 

Luther burning the Pope's bull at Wittemberg. Finally excommunicated as an incorrigible heretic 

part of my future ' recantation? The rest will follow shortly, in 
proof of my obedience ; and the whole will, by Christ's help, form 
a collection such as Rome has never yet seen or heard of." 

§ 96. — On the 10th of December following, Luther took the final 
step which rendered reconciliation impossible. On that day a placard 
was affixed to the walls of the university of Wittemberg. It con- 
tained an invitation to the professors and students to repair at the 
hour of nine in the morning to the east gate, beside the Holy Cross. 
A great number of doctors and youths assembled, and Luther, put- 
ting himself at their head, led the procession to the appointed spot. 
A scaffold had already been erected. One of the oldest among the 
Masters of Arts soon set fire to it. As the flames arose, Luther 
drew nigh, and cast into the midst of them the Canon Law, the 
Decretals, the Clementines, the Extravagants of the popes, and a 
portion of the works of Eck and of Emser. When these books 
had been reduced to ashes, Luther took the Pope's bull in his hand, 
held it up, and said aloud : " Since thou hast afflicted the Lord's 
Holy One, may fire unquenchable afflict and consume thee !" and 
thereupon he threw it into the flames. He then with much compo- 
sure bent his steps toward the city, and the crowd of doctors, pro- 
fessors and students, with loud expressions of applause, returned to 
Wittemberg in his train. " The Decretals," said Luther, " are like 
a body whose face is as fair as a virgin's ; but its limbs are forceful 
as those of the lion, and its tail is that of the wily serpent. In all 
the papal laws, there is not a single word to teach us what Jesus 
Christ truly is." " My enemies," he said again, " by burning my 
books, may have disparaged the truth in the minds of the common 
people, and occasioned the loss of souls ; for that reason I have 
burned their books in my turn. This is a mighty struggle but just 
begun. Hitherto I have been only jesting with the Pope. I entered 
upon this work in the name of God ; — He will bring it to a close 
without my aid, by his own power. If they dare to burn my books 
— of which it is no vain boast to say that they contain more of the 
Gospel than all the Pope's books put together, — I may with far bet- 
ter reason burn theirs, which are wholly worthless." By this act, 
the daring reformer distinctly announced his separation from the 
Pope and the papal church. He now accepted the excommunica- 
tion which Rome had pronounced. He proclaimed in the face of 
Christendom that between him and the Pope there was war even 
to the death. Like the Roman who burned the vessels that had 
conveyed him to the enemy's shore, he left himself no resource but 
to advance and offer battle. After this, there could be no peace 
with Rome. 

§ 97. — On the 3d of January, 1521, Leo issued his final bull of 
excommunication against Luther. The former had given him op- 
portunity to retract within a limited time ; in this, the sentence was 
definitively pronounced, and Luther declared an incorrigible heretic, 
fitted only for destruction. Alcandcr and Caraccioli were appointed 
legates of the Pope, and after unsuccessfully using every possible 



464 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 



The papal legates permitted by the Emperor to burn Luther's books, but not to burn him. 

persuasion with the Elector, to employ against the reformer the 
secular arm, they busied themselves everywhere throughout the 
empire in collecting his writings and publicly committing them to 
the flames. To these measures, the papal legates had obtained the 
consent of the young emperor Charles V. ; but after all, Aleander 
cared little about books or papers — Luther himself was the mark 
he aimed at. " These fires," he remarked again, " are not sufficient 
to purify the pestilential atmosphere of Germany. Though they 
may strike terror into the simple-minded, they leave the authors of 
the mischief unpunished. We must have an imperial edict sen- 
tencing Luther to death." Aleander found the Emperor less com- 
pliant when the reformer's life was demanded, than he had shown 
himself before, when his books alone were attacked. " Raised as I 
have been so recently to the throne, I cannot," said Charles, " without 
the advice of my counsellors, and the consent of the princes of the 
empire, strike such a blow as this against a faction so numerous and 
so powerfully protected. Let us first ascertain what our father, 
the elector of Saxony, thinks of the matter ; we shall then be pre- 
pared to give our answer to the Pope." The legates, therefore, 
renewed their applications to Frederick, but that humane and honor- 
able-minded prince shuddered at the thought of delivering up the 
courageous Luther to the fate of Huss and of Jerome. 

At length, for the first time, the Elector by his counsellors publicly 
declared his intentions with legard to Luther. He stated to the papal 
nuncios that " neither his imperial majesty nor any one else had yet 
made it appear to him that Luther's writings had been refuted, or 
demonstrated to be fit only for the flames ; that he demanded, there- 
fore, that doctor Luther should be furnished with a safe-conduct, 
and permitted to answer for himself before a tribunal composed of 
learned, pious, and impartial judges." In reply to this, said the 
arrogant Aleander, " I should like to know what would the Elector 
think, if one of his subjects were to appeal from his judgment to that 
of the king of France, or some other foreign sovereign." But, per- 
ceiving at last that the Saxon counsellors were not to be wrought 
upon, " We will execute the bull," said he ; " we will pursue and 
burn the writings of Luther. As for his person," he added, affect- 
ing a tone of disdainful indifference, " the Pope has little inclination 
to imbrue his hands in the blood of the unhappy wretch." Thus did 
the legates of Rome vainly attempt to conceal their mortification 
and chagrin, that theii expected prey had escaped out of their 
hands. 



465 



CHAPTER IX 

LUTHER AT THE DIET OF WORMS, AND IN HIS PATMOS AT WARTBURG. 

§ 98. — A grand diet of the empire was about to be held, at which 
the Emperor and all the princes of Germany would be present. 
Aleander received directions to attend it, and to demand, on the 
part of his master, the employment of the secular arm for the sup- 
pression of the rising heresy. The Diet of Worms was opened Jan- 
uary 6, 1521. A more splendid assembly has been scarcely ever 
held. The nobles of Germany were anxious to do honor to the 
court of their young Emperor, and to testify their dutiful regards. 
They vied with each other in the costliness of their equipments, and 
the number and rank of their attendants. It seemed as if the wealth 
of the empire had been collected together at one place for proud 
display. The occasion, too, was unusually interesting and impor- 
tant. In addition to political affairs of pressing urgency, the state 
of religion called for anxious deliberation. The cry for reform was 
heard on every hand. All saw that the disease required prompt 
attention ; but none knew what means to suggest, while danger was 
daily increasing. Aleander, the papal nuncio, was true to his mas- 
ter's interests. On his arrival at Worms he exerted himself to the 
utmost to procure the immediate condemnation of Luther. He 
would have had him proscribed and put to the ban of the empire, 
that his party might be crushed by one vigorous blow. But this 
was found to be impracticable. The reformer's opinions had taken 
too deep root to be easily plucked up. Some even talked of taking 
the whole matter out of the Pope's hands, and referring the deci- 
sion to impartial judges, chosen by the principal potentates of Eu- 
rope. Aleander was perplexed and enraged. Still he persevered, 
sometimes applying to the Emperor, sometimes to his ministers and 
other members of the diet, among whom he scattered profusely 
large sums of money intrusted to him by the court of Rome. At 
length he succeeded, by force of bribes and intrigue, in obtaining 
permission to address the assembled diet. He appeared before 
them on the 13th of February, and spoke for three hours in a strain 
of impassioned eloquence, describing Luther as a monster of iniqui- 
ty, whose crimes ought to be visited with the utmost severity of 
the laws. 

Aleander had hoped to obtain his condemnation without giving 
him an opportunity to reply ; but much to the chagrin of the Legate, 
the reformer was summoned to the diet, that he might in person 
avow or retract the opinions imputed to him, and be dealt with ac- 
cordingly. With the summons an ample safe-conduct was trans- 
mitted, guaranteeing his security in going and returning ; signed, 
not only by the Emperor, but also by those princes through whose 
States it would be necessary for him to travel. For this precaution 
he was indebted to the elector of Saxony, who knew the men with 



466 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

Persuasions of friends and foes to keep Luther from the Diet at Worms. His courageous reply. 

whom he had to deal, and positively refused to allow the reformer 
to leave Wittemberg without that security. This was another mor- 
tification to Aleander, who was fully prepared to act over again the 
iniquity of the infamous council of Constance, which caused Huss 
to be seized and burned, notwithstanding the assurance given for 
his safety. The popish Nuncio was, however, compelled to sub- 
mit to the decision of the diet, which he did with as good a grace 
as possible.* 

§ 99. — Strenuous efforts were employed to prevent Luther from 
appearing at Worms. His friends trembled for his safety and his 
life. His enemies dreaded (what some of them had already wit- 
nessed) his reasoning, eloquence, and knowledge of the scriptures, 
so superior to their own. The papal party tempted him with the 
hope of an amicable adjustment : the advocates of truth sought to 
excite his apprehensions. All their efforts failed. " Tell your mas- 
ter," he said to a messenger from Spalatin, " that though there 

SHOULD BE AS MANY DEVILS IN WoRMS AS THERE ARE TILES ON THE 
ROOFS OF THE HOUSES, I WOULD GO !" 

Uninfluenced by persuasions and undaunted by threats, Luther 
entered Worms on the 16th of April. The day after his arrival he 
was summoned to attend the diet. On the morning of that day his 
soul had endured unwonted depression, almost amounting to an- 
guish. But in his distress he sought the Lord with strong crying 
and tears, and was graciously heard. Peace returned, and holy, 
undaunted courage again filled his spirit. He cheerfully attended 
the officer who was appointed to conduct him to the hall of audi- 
ence. He reached the place with some difficulty, so great was the 
crowd that thronged every avenue, in eager curiosity to see the man 
whose fame had spread throughout Germany, and on whom the 
thunders of the Vatican had hitherto fallen harmlessly. At length 
he stood before the august assembly. The Emperor occupied the 
throne. Next to him sat his brother, the arch-duke Ferdinand. Six 
electors of the empire were present ; twenty-four dukes ; eight 
margraves ; thirty prelates ; seven ambassadors ; the deputies of 
ten free cities ; princes, counts and barons ; the papal nuncios ; in 
all, two hundred and four noble and illustrious personages. The 
countenances of many betrayed deep inward concern and anxiety. 
Luther had held communion with God, and enjoyed " perfect peace." 
On the table was laid a collection of his writings. He was asked 
whether he acknowledged them as his productions, and whether he 
was prepared to retract the opinions they contained. To the first 
question he answered in the affirmative. To the second he replied 
that the question was very serious and important, and ought not to 
be answered without due consideration, lest he should in any way 

* See a compendious, but deeply interesting history of the " Reformation in 
Europe, by the author of the Council of Trent " (Rev. J. M. Cramp), chap, iii., 
sect. 3, a work which may be profitably read by those whose time would forbid the 
more diffuse and circumstantial, but thrilling narrative of D'Aubigne\ 



chap, ix.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 467 

Luther refuses to retract his writings. His noble and memorable protestation. 

injure the cause of truth ; he asked, therefore, for a brief delay. 
So reasonable a request could not be refused. 

Next day he appeared again. The questions were repeated. 
Luther then addressed the assembly. He had acknowledged, he 
said, the books on the table to be his. Their contents differed much 
from each other. In some, he had treated of faith and works, un- 
masking the errors of the age ; he could not retract them without 
treachery to the Gospel. A second class consisted of writings in 
which he had exposed the enormous corruptions and abuses of the 
papacy ; these were so notorious, and had been so long and so justly 
the subjects of loud complaint in Germany, that it would be worse 
than folly to suppress the works in which they were held up to pub- 
lic reprobation. In the third place, he had in some of his books 
attacked individuals who had advocated existing evils ; and he was 
willing to confess (for he could not pretend to be free from fault) 
that he had sometimes written with unbecoming violence : yet he 
could not retract the sentiments advanced in those writings, because 
such a course would encourage the enemies of the truth, and embolden 
them in their opposition. Wherefore he prayed that instead of per- 
sisting in the demand for retractation, the diet would take measures 
to convince him, from the Scriptures, of his error. As soon as he 
should be convinced, he would immediately acknowledge it. " You 
have not answered the question," said the chancellor of the arch- 
bishop of Treves, to whom the management of this part of the busi- 
ness was intrusted. il A clear and express reply is required. Will 
you or will you not retract ?" The reformer's answer was worthy 
of him. " Since your most serene majesty, and the princes, require 
a simple answer, I will give it thus : unless I shall be convinced by 
proofs from Scripture, or by evident reason (for I believe neither in 
popes nor in councils, since they have frequently erred and contra- 
dicted themselves), I cannot choose but adhere to the word of God, 
which has possession of my conscience. Nor can I possibly, nor will 
/ ever make any recantation, since it is neither safe nor honest to act 
contrary to conscience. Here I take my stand ; I cannot do other- 
wise. God be my help ! Amen." 

§ 100.— This speech made a deep impression. The Emperor himself 
was struck with admiration. " If you will not retract," resumed the 
chancellor, " the Emperor and the States of the empire will see 
what ought to be done with an obstinate heretic." " God be my 
help," rejoined Luther ; " I can retract nothing." He then with- 
drew, leaving the diet in deliberation. When he was called in 
again, another effort was made. His appeal to Scripture was 
treated with contempt, since he had revived errors which had been 
condemned by the council of Constance ; as if the authority of the 
council of Constance were superior to that of the word of God ! 
In conclusion, the chancellor said, " The Emperor commands you 
to say simply, yes or no, whether you mean to maintain whatever 
you have advanced, or whether you will retract a part ?" " I have 
no other answer to give than what I have already given," replied 



468 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vl 

The popish enemies of Luther seek in vain to induce the Emperor to violate his safe-eonduct. 

the courageous reformer. In spite of the persuasions or menaces 
of his opposers, he persisted in this noble determination. In reply 
to the entreaties of the archbishop of Treves, who labored bard to 
induce him to submit to the diet — " I will put my person and my life 
in the Emperor's hands," said he ; " but the word of God — never !" 
He claimed for every Christian the right of private judgment ; if 
he consented to a council, it would only be on condition that the 
council should be compelled to judge according to Scripture. 

Protracted debates followed. Some counselled the violation of the 
safe-conduct, and urged the Emperor to seize Luther, and put him 
to death. But the high-minded princes of Germany scorned the 
base proposal. Charles himself, bigoted ' as he was, revolted at it. 
" If good faith were banished from the whole earth," he exclaimed, 
" it ought still to find refuge in the courts of kings." At length, the 
adversaries of the reformer saw that it was useless to labor longer 
with him to induce him to submit, and other measures must be 
adopted. Efforts were made by some of Luther's bitterest popish 
adversaries, but without success, to induce the Emperor, like his 
predecessor Sigismund, .to violate his safe-conduct, and to leave 
Luther, as Sigismund bad left Huss, to the tender mercies of the 
church; and it was in reply to these suggestions, that Charles 
uttered that expression already mentioned in the account of the 
cruel and treacherous murder of Huss, u I should not like to blush 
like Sigismund" (See page 402.) 

On the 25th of April, the chancellor, Doctor Eck, Luther's 
former antagonist at Leipsic, attended by the chancellor of the 
Empire, and a notary, presented themselves. The Chancellor ad- 
dressed him as follows : — " Martin Luther, his Imperial Majesty, 
the Electors, Princes, and States of the Empire, having repeatedly 
and in various ways, — but in vain, — exhorted you to submission, — 
the Emperor, in his character of defender of the Catholic faith, 
finds himself compelled to resort to other measures. He therefore 
orders you to return to whence you came, within the space of twen- 
ty-one days, and prohibits you from disturbing the public peace on 
your journey, either by preaching or writing." 

§ 101 — If Charles V. had too much regard for his word to violate 
his safe-conduct to Luther, it was not because he favored either the 
reformer or his doctrines. He was willing to take any other step, 
to oblige the Pope and his emissaries, and to put a stop, if possible, 
to the rising heresy. At the instigation of Aleander, he issued an 
edict, the draft of which was prepared by the papal Legate him- 
self, placing Luther under the ban of the empire, and threatening 
the same to all who should favor or protect him. The nature of 
this sentence will be best explained by the following extract from 
the decree : — " We, Charles the Fifth, &c.,to the Electors, Princes, 
Prelates, and to all to whom these presents may come. . . . The 
Augustin monk, Martin Luther, regardless of our exhortations, 
has madly attacked the holy church, and attempted to destroy it by 
writings full of blasphemy. ... In a word, and passing over many 



chap, xx.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 469 

Luther under the ban of the empire. The Emperor's edict. Seized on his way home. 

other evil intentions, this being, who is no man, but Satan himself 
under the semblance of a man in a monk's hood, has collected in 
one offensive mass, all the worst heresies of former ages, adding 
his own to the number. . . . We have, therefore, dismissed from 
our presence this Luther, whom all reasonable men count a mad- 
man, or possessed by the devil ; and it is our intention that, so 
soon as the term of his safe-conduct is expired, effectual measures 
be forthwith taken to put a stop to his fury. . . . For this end, and 
on pain of incurring the penalty of treason, we hereby forbid you to 
receive the said Luther from the moment when the said term is ex- 
pired, or to harbor or to give him meat or drink, or by word or act, 
publicly or in private, to aid or abet him. We further enjoin you 
to seize, or cause him to be seized, wherever he may be, and to 
bring him before us without delay, or hold him in durance until you 
shall be informed how to deal with him, and have received the re- 
ward due to your co-operation in this holy work. ... As to his 
adherents, you are enjoined to seize upon them, putting them down, 
and confiscating their property. . . . And if any one, whatever 
may be his rank, should dare to act contrary to this decree of our 
Imperial Majesty, we command that he be placed under the ban of 
the Empire. Let each one observe this decree." 

§ 102. — In the meanwhile, Luther had left Worms, and after 
spending a day or two on his way at his native village, at Eisenach, 
was on the road to Wittemberg, accompanied by Amsdorff and his 
brother James. They skirted the woods of Thuringen, taking the 
path that leads to Waltershausen. As the wagon was passing a 
narrow defile near the ruined church of Glisbach, a short distance 
from the castle of Altenstein, suddenly a noise was heard, and in a 
moment, five horsemen, masked and armed from head to foot, fell 
upon them. His brother James, as soon as he caught sight of the 
assailants, jumped from the wagon, and fled as fast as he could, 
without uttering a word. The driver would have resisted. " Stop," 
cried a hoarse voice, and instantly one of the attacking party threw 
him to the earth. Another of the masks grasped Amsdorff, and 
held him fast. While this was doing, the three horsemen laid hold 
on Luther, maintaining profound silence. They forced him to 
alight, and throwing a knight's cloak over his shoulders, set him on 
a led horse that they had with them. This done, the two other 
masks let go Amsdorff and the wagoner, and the whole five sprang 
into their saddles. One dropped his cap, but they did not stop to 
recover it ; and in the twinkling of an eye, the party and their 
prisoner were lost in the thick gloom of the forest. At first they 
took the direction of Broderode ; but they rapidly changed their 
route, and without quitting the forest, rode first in one direction and 
then in another, turning their horses' feet to bafile any attempt to 
track their course. Luther, little used to riding, was soon over- 
come with fatigue. His guides permitted him to stop for a few 
instants. He rested on the earth beside a beech tree, and drank 
some water from a spring which still bears his name. His brother 



47 h HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



L-Jl: 



James, continuing his flight from the scene of the rencounter, 
re: red Waltershausen that evening. The driver, hastily throw- 
ing himself into the wage a, in which Amsdorff had already mount- 
ed, galloped his horse at mil speed, and conducted Luther s friend 
to Wittemberg. A: Waltershausen, at Wittemberg, in the open 
country, the villages and towns on the route, the ws t tread that 
Luther was carried ofE Some rejoiced at the report, but the 
greater number were struck with astonishment and indignation, — 
and soon a cry of grief resounded throughout Germany — u Luther 
b a fallen into the hands of his enemies F 

§103. — These apprehensions, however, were groundless. The 
abduction of Luther was planned by his friends and protectors, 
with the concurrence of the elector Frederick, and, as s : m 
pose, with the connivance even of the Emperor himself, who, not- 
whhstanding his desire to court the favor of the Pope, and to up- 
hold the religion of Rome, might yet have been unwilling to incur 
the indignation of Germany by delivering up Luther to the flames. 
Be this as it may : ~::hout doubt, the hand of God was visible in 
thus providing his faithful servant with a retreat from the rage of 
Lis bhttthhtrsty enemies. ^"::: the eut;:er:r Chines "?.s induce: 
t: issue his edict against Luther, doubtless his popish adversaries 
thought that the victory was theirs. Like Haman glutting his 
eyes with the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai, Aleander 
and his associates were, doubtless, feasting their imaginations with 
the eunected destruction of the reformer and the reformation. 1 
God had other desiuus. Popery must be robbed of its prey, and his 
faithful servant must have leisure and retirement to continue his 
bold exposure of the mother of harlots, and above all, to give tbe 
New Testament, from which he had learned the doctrines he 
preached, to the Germans in their native tongue. These objects 
irere accomplished by his mysterious but providential abduction. 

The pit :e :: which Luther ~":.s innhiite: ":;.- his mysttritus r.:;if5 
was the lofty and isolated castle of Wartburg, an ancient reai- 
drh:e ::the hhiytth-es :t Thuuuuee. They::;k ? — :--.- hi; 
ciesihsiicui it: lit. etthrthtu him ::t the emumiy mess rieiered t;: 
him. er.ri eu; hittiu r him t: he: his terri mm heir ur:~. the: u: tit 
in the testie might hmt~ ~h; he ~ms. he: tttemhems :■: the : es- 
tle of Wartburg were to know the prisoner only by the nam 
knight ihetrge. Luther stirfeiy retumier him sen unit: 
gular metamorphosis. Lett at length to his meditations, he had 
leisure to revolve the extraordinary events heat had befallen nil 
Worms, the uncertain future that awaited him, ins new 

strtrge h: : it. 

During" the ten months of the reformers captivity, the knigtt 
George — ;.s hit :he. In the testhe :t '•": :h: eer. Luther mutism 
works which mightily tended to shake the Romish power in 
many. Auricular confession, private messes end monastic n 
the themes on which his resistless eloquence was emp:t 
He held them up to the indignant reprobation of men, and satisfac- 



{ 



chap, ix.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 471 

Translates the New Testament. Returns to Wittemberg. Dies peacefully on his bed. 

torily proved that they are alike opposed to the word of God and to 
Christian freedom. But his greatest work was the translation of the 
New Testament into the German language. That also was execut- 
ed at Wartburg. It is the noblest monument of his genius, and 
was the most precious gift that Germany had yet received. The 
volume was published in September, 1522, and was received with 
gratitude and joy by those who loved the truth ; but it was denoun- 
ced, vilified, and in many places publicly burned by the bigoted Ro- 
manists. 

§ 104. — At length, Luther left his retreat, and arrived at Wittem- 
berg, on the 6th of March, 1522, where he was joyfully received 
by his beloved Melancthon, and other fellow-laborers in the work 
of reformation, and immediately resumed his former labors with ac- 
ceptance and success. The imperial edict had proved as harmless 
against him as the papal bulls, and notwithstanding his being placed 
under the ban of the empire, by which all were forbidden to give 
him food or shelter, and authorized to seize his person wherever he 
: might be found, no one presumed to molest him. There seemed to 
be a shield of divine protection continually around him, and on it 
inscribed in characters which made even his popish enemies to 
falter, " Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophet no harm." 

The history of the remaining years of Luther's life, of the rapid 
progress of his opinions in Germany, France, Switzerland, and 
England, and other countries ; of the diets of Nuremburg, Spires, 
and Augsburg, and the protest of the reformers against the deci- 
sions of Spires,* seem to belong rather to a history of the Reforma- 
tion than of Romanism. It will be sufficient here to add, that in 
spite of all the rage of his adversaries, Luther continued for nearly 
a quarter of a century after his return from his Patmos (as he was 
accustomed to call it) at Wartburg, to advocate those doctrines for 
which he had made so noble a stand before the crowned and mitred 
heads of the diet at Worms, and with redoubled energy to expose 
the abominations, and attack the corruptions of apostate Rome. 
Luther died peacefully and triumphantly in his bed on the 18th 
of February, 1546. in the sixty- third year of his age,f and the 

* In the year 1526, a diet of the empire had been held at Spires, which granted 
liberty to the reformers of holding their opinions till a general council, notwith- 
standing the clamors of the popish party for the execution of the edict of Worms, 
against Luther and his friends. In 1529, a second diet was held at Spires, in 
' which the popish party triumphed. The decisions of the former diet of Spires 
were revoked, and the mass was ordered to be restored to the churches. Against 
this decree, the reformers entered their solemn protest, and from this circumstance 
were called protestants. 

t For some few years before his death, Luther had suffered much from disease. 
His popish enemies hoped every day he would die, and about a year before his 
death, a pamphlet was published at Naples, to inform the world that Luther was 
dead, and giving the particulars of his end. In this ebullition of popish malignity, 
it was asserted that Luther had 6pent his time in gluttony and drunkenness, and 
blaspheming the Pope ; that upon the approach of death he had received the sacra- 



472 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vi. 

Circumstances of Luther's death. Ignatius Loyala, the founder of the Jesuits. 

anti-Christian church of Rome never has, and never can, recover from 
the blow struck by the German reformer, till the voice of pro- 
phecy is fulfilled and the triumphant shout of the angel of the Reve- 
lation is heard, " Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen." 

§ 105. — Contemporary with the great reformer, another remark- 
able individual, but of an entirely opposite character, appeared in 
Spain, and five years previous to the death of Luther, succeeded in 
establishing a Society which exerted a mighty influence on be- 
half of the papacy in after generations, the celebrated order of the 
Jesuits. This was Ignatius Loyal a, who was born in 1491, and 
was consequently eight years younger than Luther. In early life, 
Loyala was a soldier and a warrior, infected with all the vices that 
are so common in camps. At about the age of thirty, he received 
a severe wound in the leg, at the siege of Pampeluna, in the war be- 
tween the emperor Charles V., and the French king, Francis I. 
During the lingering sickness which ensued upon this wound, he em- 
ployed himself in reading books of romance and chivalry, and the 
lives of the Saints, till combining the two ideas of chivalry and de- 
votion to the Virgin, he resolved to become a knight errant in 
the cause of " our Blessed Lady." 

Full of this idea he arose from his bed an altered man. The 
soldier had become a Saint. He betook himself to study, self-mor- 
tification and penance. He journeyed to Italy, to Jerusalem, and 
there, on the spot, where Christ was crucified, claimed to have re- 
ceived from the Saviour himself, a revelation, that he should found 

ment, and immediately died ; but the consecrated wafer had leaped out of the 
stomach of the arch-heretic, and to the astonishment of all beholders, remained 
suspended in the air (!) ; that the morning after he was buried, the tomb was found 
empty, but such an intolerable smell, and such an odor of burnt brimstone came 
from it, that it made everybody sick who came near it, whereupon many fearing 
the Devil would in like manner come and steal their dead bodies out of their graves, 
repented and joined the Catholic church ! ! A copy of this pamphlet was sent to 
Luther by the Landgrave of Hesse, with which the reformer was very much 
amused, and in reply, only expressed his joy that " the Devil and his crew," the 
Pope and the papists, hated him so heartily. 

Luther died during a visit to his native village of Eisleben. About the last 
words he uttered were, (i O, heavenly father, although this body is breaking away 
from me, and I am departing from this life, yet I certainly know I shall for ever be 
with thee, for no one can pluck me out of thy hand." Dr. Jonas said to him, 
" Most beloved father, do you still hold on to Christ, the Son of God, our Saviour 
and Redeemer ?" His fading countenance once more brightened, his clear blue 
eyes sparkled with intelligence, and he replied, in a distinct and thrilling tone, " O 
yes !" These were the last words he was heard to utter. An affecting incident 
occurred just as he breathed his last. One of the old men of the village in at- 
tendance, who, nearly sixty years before, had often carried the favorite little Martin 
to school in bad weather, forgetting in that moment the mighty reformer, and think- 
ing only of the friend of his aged heart, putting his withered face to the cheek of the 
departed Luther, and his arm across his bosom, exclaimed in the plaintive notes of 
his childhood, u Martin, dear Martin, do speak to me once more !" But there was 
no reply. The mighty spirit had fled, and Luther was in the presence of that 
Saviour whom he had ardently loved and faithfully served. (See an interesting 
article on the last days and death of Luther, in the Biblical Repository and Clas- 
sical Review for April, 1845, from the pen of the Rev. Professor Stowe.D. D.) 



chap, ix.] POPERY ON A TOTTERING THRONE— A. D. 1303-1545. 473 

Pope Paul III. sanctions the order of the Jesuits. Popish parallel between the Jesuit and the Reformer 

a new order, to be called " The Society of Jesus." Returning home, 
he was joined by Lainez (the second general of the order), Francis 
Xavier, Salmeron, Bobadilla, Rodriguez, and Le Fevre ; and in 1534 
these seven united in recording their solemn vow at the altar of St. 
Denys, in the city of Paris. Six years afterwards (A. D. 1540), a 
bull was granted by Pope Paul III., sanctioning the order of the Jes- 
uits, granting to the members the most ample privileges, and appoint- 
ing Ignatius Loyola the first general of the order, with almost des- 
potic power over its members. In return, Ignatius and his followers 
were to render unlimited obedience to the Pope, and to hold them- 
selves in readiness, at a moment's notice, to go to any part of the 
world to advance the interests and to promote the designs of the Holy 
See ; and the wily pontiff was too sagacious not to perceive the im- 
mense value of such an army of obedient soldiers to fight his battles 
in all parts of the world, since the terrible blow inflicted on the pa 
pacy by the efforts of Luther and his associates, in the work of refor- 
mation. Thus was originated a society which has filled a large share 
in the history of the world for the last three centuries, and which, 
after passing through many reverses, still exists ; an ever-active and 
almost omnipresent instrument of papal despotism ; the secret, insinu- 
ating, but ever-watchful and vigilant foe to freedom, civil or religious, 
and to the pure and unadulterated gospel of Christ. 

§ 106. — The following parallel between Luther and Ignatius Loy- 
ala, from the pen of Damianus, a bigoted papist, one of the first his- 
torians of the Jesuits, may be regarded, considering the source 
whence it proceeds, as the highest possible eulogium upon the Ger- 
man reformer It is taken from the " Synopsis Historian Societ. 
Jes.," printed in 1640: "In the same year, 1521, Luther, moved 
by a consummate malice, declared war openly against the church : 
Ignatius, wounded in the fortress of Pampeluna, having become bet- 
ter, and, as it were, stronger, from his wound, raised the standard in 

defence of religion. Luther attacks the See of St. Peter, with 

insults and blasphemies : Ignatius, as if to undertake his cause, is 

miraculously cured by St. Peter. Luther, subdued by rage, 

ambition, and lust, quits a religious life : Ignatius, eagerly obeying 

the call of God, changes from a profane to a religious life. 

Sacrilegious Luther contracts an incestuous marriage with a holy 
virgin of God : Ignatius binds himself by a vow of perpetual con- 

tinency. Luther contemns all the authority of his superiors : 

the first precepts of Ignatius, full of Christian humility, are to sub- 
mit and obey. Luther declaims like a fury against the Holy 

See: Ignatius everywhere supports it. Luther draws as many 

from it as he can: Ignatius conciliates and brings back as many to 

it as he can. All Luther's studies and enterprises are directed 

against it: Ignatius, by a special vow, consecrates his labors, with 
those of his associates, to it. Luther detracts from the venera- 
tion and worship of the sacred rites of the church : Ignatius main- 
tains all veneration for them. The sacrifice of the mass, the 



474 


HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [bocz u 


^;-:i: :- 


■'•--, T •-.-.-' -~-ii':'r. : r.ZT-r ■:::'- ^ '--. ■■ :-"■=--- • - =-- •-** I-~ -r-.s T -t- - ----■•-.-.. 





eucharist. the mother of God. the tutelary saints, the indulgences of 
the pontiffs, and the things attacked by Luther with such fury, were 
us which the industry of Ignatius and his companions was 
eagerly and continually employed in seeking new modes of cele- 
brating. To this Luther; the disgrace of Germany, the hog : : 

Epicurus, the destroyer of Europe, the accursed portent of the 

universe, the abomination of God and men. etc. God. in his 

eternal wisdom, opposed Ignatius."* 

* As the reader may he gratified :: see the identical words of this remarkable 
effusion of popish bigotry, the anginal Latin is snbjome:. a fSodera anno rigeei- 
mo-primo, adnlta m neqnitia, paban ecclesis bellum indixit Lntherns : laesns in 
Pampelonensi arce Ignatius, alias ex vnlnere. fortiorqne quasi lefendenoae reli- 

gionis signum snstnlit. -Lntherns Petri sedem probris. conviulsqae lacessere 

1:^:7:::- : Ignatius goasi 11 5U:::;:rL:2.^: sanaam, 1 S Petre prodBgioBe cnra- 

tur. Lntherns hi. unhitione. h'zii.ne rl;:u5. 1 relirhsi vi:= ii=:e=si:: Ir. 

ratios Be: vccante i-zigre ohsecntns. a profana ad rafigiosam tianafE 

batherus mm sacra Deo virgine incests nvptiaE mil sacrflegas: perpetnse conti- 

nentiE'::: se adstriiigit Ignatius. Lntherns omnem snperiornm contemnrt 

anctoritatem : prima Ignatii monita sunt, plena :h: 5: :.= femjganms, sabesae et 

parere. In St:^ apoBtolicam, farentis in morem, declamat Lathe rus : illam 

nbiqne tuetar Ignatius. A: ea :\.:::uot potest Luth eran avertit : tuotqoot 

potest concihi" reda :::;ue Ignatius. Adversns illam minentnr omnia Lntheri 

stque conatos : IgnafmB boos suannnuue labores peeuhari vote iili conse- 

crat. Lntherns sacris ecclesie ritibus yeneratjanenij cnltnmqne detraxit : 

Ignatins omnem hh= reveren tiam asserit. Misssqne sacrificio. encharistiae. 

Dei parse, tntelaribns divis. et iilis. tanto Lntheri fnrore impngnatis, pontincnm 
DMhugeutas ; in qnibns novo semper invento celebrar.iis Ignatii sociornmqnedesn- 

dat industria. Lutherc :h: Gennaniz ::::::. !:::::: poroo, Europx e :■::.". 

nrhfe nxfehci portento, Dei afque bomnram ::::. etc.,sterno consflio Dt 
posnit Ignatium." {Dcrr.li~-.:.s His:. S-:<. Jes. — Lib. i. Diss. vi.. n. IS.} 



BOOK VII. 



POPERY AT TRENT. 



FROM THE OPENING SESSION OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT, A. D. 1545, TO THE 
CLOSING SESSION, A. D. 1563. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE FIRST FOUR SESSIONS. PRELIMINARIES, AND DECREE UPON THE 
AUTHORITY OF TRADITION AND THE APOCRYPHA. 

§ 1. — At the time of Luther's death, the fathers of Trent had 
just commenced the celebrated council, called at that city by pope 
Paul III., partly with the professed design of promoting a reform 
of the abuses in the church, and of the morals and manners of the 
clergy, which was so loudly demanded ; but chiefly for the pur- 
pose of rooting out the Lutheran heresy ; and, in opposition to the 
doctrines of the German reformers, of stating and defining with 
more exactitude and precision than ever before, the doctrines of 
the Romish church. The opening session of the council of Trent 
was held on the 13th of December, 1545, and the closing session 
was not held, till the month of December, 1563 (after several sus- 
pensions and intermissions), about eighteen years from its com- 
mencement. The council of Trent is the last general council ever 
held by the Romish church, and consequently the very highest 
source of authority as to the present doctrines and character of 
Romanism. In the present chapter we shall give a synopsis of 
the most remarkable doctrinal decrees of the different sessions of 
this celebrated council.* 

* The principal original authorities for the history of the council of Trent, are, 
(1) The History of the council of Trent, by Father Paul Sarpi,& learned Roman- 
ist, born at Venice, in 1552, and died in 1623, aged 71. The work was first 
printed at London, in Italian, in 1619, and in Latin in 1620. The English edition 
which I have used, " translated out of Italian by a person of quality," is that of 
London, 1676. The work of Father Paul was regarded by the Pope as too favor- 
able to protestants, and he was called by some " a protestant in a friar's frock." 

(2.) The History of the council of Trent by cardinal Sforza Pallavicini, who 
was born in 1607, and died in 1667, aged 60, a bigoted papist, written in opposi- 
tion to that of Father Paul. The evident partiality and bigotry of Pallavicini ren- 
der him an unsafe guide, but his work may be profitably read, in connection with 



476 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m 

Question whether to begin with doctrine or discipline. Popery too eorrupt to be reformed. 

§ 2. — About the commencement, an important question arose,whe- 
ther the fathers should begin with the subject of doctrine or of disci- 
pline ; whether they should first, for the sake of guarding the church 
against the growing Lutheran heresy, discuss and accurately define 
the doctrines which every true son of the church must receive ; or 
whether, in compliance with the demands that reached them from 
every quarter, they should proceed at once to the reformation of 
the notorious abuses in the church, and to enact laws to restrain the 
acknowledged immorality and profligacy of the clergy. The em- 
peror Charles, by his representatives and advocates in the council, 
contended earnestly for the latter course, maintaining that the refor- 
mation of the ecclesiastics would be the fittest means of reclaiming 
men from heretical depravity. The Pope had already determined 
on the former, and had instructed his legates to use all their influ- 
ence to settle the matters of doctrine, before they turned their atten- 
tion to matters of reform. If this course had been fully adopted, 
years would doubtless have been exclusively occupied in splitting 
hairs and framing decrees on doctrinal subjects, and probably the 
subject of reform, so much dreaded by a corrupt Pope and priest- 
hood, have been crowded out altogether. 

As it was, the influence of the Emperor's party was sufficient to 
secure a compromise of this question, by the adoption of a plan 
proposed by the bishop of Feltri, that some subject of doctrine, and 
some subject of reform or discipline, should be decided in each ses- 
sion of the council.* 

Every effort was employed by the Pope and his legates to defeat 
important measures of reform ; and the little that was done on 
this head during the whole session of the council, is scarcely worthy 
of mention. The fact is that Popery had become a mass of moral 
corruption — far too corrupt indeed to admit of a radical reform, 
without demolishing the whole system ; and the insignificant 
attempts at reform made during the council, in matters relative to 
pluralities of benefices, intrusions of mendicant monks, &c, &c, 
were like attempting to cure a human body covered all over with 
ulcers from the mass of corruption within by sticking a square half 
inch of court-plaster upon one or two of the sores. Nothing efFec- 

that of Father Paul. The best edition is that of Rome, two vols., folio, 1656. 
For an able dissertation on the comparative merits of Sarpi and Pallavicini, see 
Ranke's history of the Popes, appendix, section ii., pp. 437-448. 

(3.) A translation of Father Paul's work into French, in two volumes, folk), 
with copious and valuable notes, reviewing the criticisms and cavils of Pallavicini, 
by Pierre F. Courayer, a French divine, who was born in 1681, and died in 1776, 
aged 95. The title of this valuable performance is, " Histoire du Concile de 
Trente, traduite de nouveau en Francois avec des Notes Critiques, Historiques, 
et Theologiques par Pierre F. le Courayer, D.D." 1736. 

The most valuable accessible history of the council of Trent, drawn from ac- 
curate original sources, with care and skill, is that of the Rev. J. M. Cramp, a 
work which I cannot recommend too highly, and to which I would take this oppor- 
tunity of acknowledging my obligations in the present division of my work. 

* Pallavicini, book vi., chap. 7, sec. 6 — 8. 



chap. i. J POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 477 

Ceremonies of opening. Indulgences promised to all who should pray for the council. 

tual could be done with Popery by way of reformation, but by dis- 
placing tradition and papal dictation from the throne, and restoring 
the Bible to its proper place, as the only rule of faith and discipline ; 
and this would have been at once to overturn, from the very foun- 
dation, the whole fabric, and to establish in its stead the doctrine 
and discipline of Luther and the reformation. 

The decrees of the council of Trent, therefore, are chiefly useful 
as being the most correct and authoritative exposition of what Po- 
pery was in the Trentine age, and what it still continues to be. 
Passing over the decrees on discipline, which are of very little im- 
portance, we shall proceed to cite the most important portions of the 
decrees on doctrines, accompanied with such historical and explana- 
tory remarks as may be necessary to a clear understanding of the 
whole. The portions of the decrees cited will be in the original 
Latin as well as in English, to guard against that hacknied resort of 
Romanists, the charge of inaccurate translation. The original Latin 
of the decrees is copied from the first edition, printed at Rome 
in 1564. 

§ 3. — First Session. — This was held, as already remarked, on 
the 13th of December, 1545. Three legates had been appointed to 
preside in the name of the Pope — the cardinals De Monte, Santa 
Croce and Pole. Of these, De Monte was the president. Much 
pomp and religious solemnity were exhibited on the occasion of the 
opening of the council. The legates, accompanied by the cardinal 
of Trent, four archbishops, twenty-four bishops, five generals of 
orders, the ambassadors of the king of the Romans, and many 
divines, assembled in the church of the Trinity, and thence went 
in procession to the cathedral, the choir singing the hymn Veni Cre- 
ator. When all were seated, the cardinal De Monte performed the 
mass of the Holy Ghost ; at the end of which he announced a bull 
of indulgences issued by the Pope, promising full pardon of sin to 
all who in the week immediately after the publication of the bull in 
their respective places of abode should fast on Wednesday and Friday, 
receive the sacrament on Sunday, and join in processions and suppli- 
cations for a blessing on the council. A long discourse followed, de- 
livered by the bishop of Bitonto. After this, the Cardinal rose and 
briefly addressed the assembly ; the accustomed prayers were offered, 
and the hymn Veni Creator again sung. The papal bull authorizing 
their meeting was then produced and read ; and a decree was una- 
nimously passed,*' declaring that the sacred and general council of 
Trent was then begun — for the praise and glory of the holy and 
undivided Trinity — the increase and exaltation of true religion — the 
extirpation of heresy — the peace and union of the Church — the 
reformation of the clergy and Christian people — and the destruction 
of the enemies of the Christian name. The Pope adopted decisive 
measures to secure his authority, and prevent all intermeddling with 

* The members of the council signified their assent by the word placet (it 
pleaseth), and their dissent by non placet (it doth not please.) 
31 



478 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m 

A popish bishop declares that laymen have " nothing to do but to hear and submit." 

his prerogative. He appointed a congregation or committee of 
cardinals to superintend the affairs of the council, watch its pro- 
ceedings, and aid him with their advice. The legates were 
instructed to begin with the discussion of disputed doctrines and to 
treat the reformation of abuses as a matter of secondary moment ; 
notes were to be taken and transmitted to him, of any observations 
relative to his court, the reform of which he reserved for himsel£ 
To all letters and documents his own name and those of the legates 
were to be prefixed, that it might appear that he was not only the 
author, but also " the head and ruler" of the council :* and he ap- 
pointed the secretary and other necessary officers without consult- 
ing the fathers, or permitting them to exercise their undoubted right 
of election. 

§ 4. — The Second Session was held January 7th, 1546, and 
was chiefly consumed in discussions as to the style to be adopted 
by the council, and the order of the future proceedings, whether 
they should commence with doctrine or discipline. Several of the 
members of the council desired the insertion of the words " repre- 
senting the universal church." In the debate which ensued, the 
bishop of Feltri observed, that if the clause were admitted, the 
Protestants would take occasion to say, that since the church is 
composed of two orders, the clergy and the laity, it could not be 
fully represented if the latter were excluded. To this the bishop of 
St. Mark replied, that the laity could not be termed the church, 
since, according to the canons, they had only to obey the commands 
laid upon them ; that one reason why the .council was called was, 
to decide that laymen ought to receive the faith which the church 
dictated, without disputing or reasoning ; and that consequently the 
clause should be inserted, to convince them that they were not the 
church, and had nothing to do but to hear and submit ! It was 
finally agreed to employ the words oecumenical and universal in the 
designation of the council. 

§ 5. — The Third Session was celebrated February 4th, 1546, 
and nothing was done, except to adopt as a decree of the council 
and to repeat the Nicene creed. It was objected by some that it 
would be very ridiculcus to hold a session for the purpose of repeat- 
ing a creed 1200 years old, and which was universally believed ; 
that it would be of no service against the Lutherans, who received 
it as well as themselves ; and that the heretics would take occasion 
to say, and with good reason, that if that creed contained the faith 
of the church, they ought not to be compelled to believe anything 
else. Many of the fathers could not help expressing their discon- 
tent, and were heard complaining to one another as they left the 
assembly, that the negotiations of twenty years had ended in com- 
ing together to repeat the belief ! 

§ 6. — The Fourth Session was celebrated on the 8th of April, 
1546, and was one of the most important sessions of the council. 

* Pallavicini, Lib. v., cap. 16, sec. 2. 



CHAP. I.] 



POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 



479 



The Council places Tradition on a level with Scripture. 



So do the Puseyitea — note. 



In this session, a decree was passed which placed tradition upon an 
equality with the Scriptures — declared the books of the Apocrypha to 
be a part of the word of God — elevated the Latin translation of the 
Scriptures called the Vulgate, to an authority superior to that of the 
inspired Hebrew and Greek originals, and enacted severe penal laws 
against the liberty of the press. The decree passed at this session 
was divided into two parts: — (1.) Of the Canonical Scriptures; 
(2.) Of the Edition and Use of the Sacred Books. In quoting from 
this decree I shall, for the sake of order and perspicuity, prefix head- 
ings in italics. 

Tradition declared of equal authority with the Scripture. 



Sacro-sancta cecumenica et generalis 
Tri-dentina Synodus, in Spiritu sancto 
legitime congregata, praesidentibus in ea 
eisdem tribus Apostolicae Sedis Legatis, 
hoc sibi perpetud ante oculos proponens, 
ut sublatis erroribus, pnritas ipsa Evan- 
gelii in Ecelesia conservetur : quod 
promissum ante per Prophetas in Scrip- 
turis Sanctis, Dominus noster Jesus 
Christus Dei Filius, proprio ore primum 
promulgavit ; deinde per suos Apostolos, 
tanquam fontem omnis et salutaris veri- 
tatis, et morum disciplinae, omni creaturee 
praedicari jussit : perspiciensque hanc ve- 
ritatem et disciplinam contineri in libris 
scriptis, et sine scripto traditionibus, quae 
ab ipsius Christi ore ab Apostolis accep- 
tae, aut ab ipsis Apostolis, Spiritu sancto 
dictante, quasi per manus traditae, ad nos 
usque pervenerunt; orthodoxorum Pa- 
trum exempla secuta, omnes libros tarn 
veteris quam novi Testamenti, cum utri- 
usque unus Deus sit auctor, necnon tra- 
ditiones ipsas, turn ad fidem, turn ad 
mores pertinentes, tanquam vel receptas 
a Christo, vel a Spiritu sancto dictatas, 
et continua successione in Ecelesia Ca- 
tholica conservatas, pari pietatis affectu 
ac reverentia suscipit, et veneratur. 



The sacred, holy, oecumenical and 
general council of Trent, lawfully as- 
sembled in the Holy Spirit, the three 
before mentioned legates of the Aposto- 
lic See presiding therein ; having con- 
stantly in view the removal of error and 
the preservation of the purity of the 
gospel in the church, which gospel, pro- 
mised before by the prophets in the sa- 
cred Scriptures, was first orally published 
by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of 
God, who afterwards commanded it to 
be preached by his apostles to every 
creature, as the source of all saving 
truth and discipline ; and perceiving that 
this truth and discipline are contained 

BOTH IN WRITTEN BOOKS AND IN UNWRIT- 
TEN traditions, which have come down 
to us, either received by the apostles 
from the lip of Christ himself, or trans- 
mitted by the hands of the same apos- 
tles, under the dictation of the Holy 
Spirit ; following the example of the 
orthodox fathers, doth receive and revet 
ence, with equal piety and veneration, 
all the books, as well of the Old as oi 
the New Testament, the same God be 
ing the author of both — and also the 
aforesaid traditions, pertaining both 
to faith and manners, whether received 
from Christ himself, or dictated by the 
Holy Spirit and preserved in the Catho- 
lic church by continual succession. 

This placing of uncertain Tradition upon an equality with the 
Sacred Scriptures is still, of course, the doctrine of Rome, and may 
be regarded as the grand distinguishing point between Popery and 
Protestantism. He who receives a single doctrine as matter of 
faith upon the mere unsupported authority of tradition, so far occu- 
pies the popish ground defined in the above decree.* 

* That the Puscyite unites with the Romanist is occupying this popish ground, 
Bee the proofs adduced above, page 67, and also the valuable work of Bishop M'D 
vaine upon the Oxford divinity, pp. 307—315. 



480 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



[book vn. 



Canon of Scripture adopted by the council, including the apocryphal books. 

§ 7. — The Apocryphal books placed on a level with the inspired 
Scriptures. 



Sacrorum vero librorum indicem huic 
decreto adscribendum censuit ; ne cui 
dubitatio suboriri possit, quinam sint, qui 
ab ipsa Synodo suscipiuntur. Sunt vero 
infra scripti : Testamenti veteris, quin- 
que Moysis, id est, Genesis, Exodus, 
Leviticus, Nutneri, Deuteronomium ; Jo- 
sue, Judicum, Ruth, quatuor Regum, duo 
Paralipomenon, Esdrae primus, et secun- 
dus, qui dicitur Nehemias, Tobias, Ju- 
dith, Hester, Job, Psalterinm Davidicum 
centum quinquaginta psalmorum, Para- 
bolae, Ecclesiastes, Canticum cantico- 
rum, Sapientia, Ecclesiasticus, Isaias, 
Jeremias cum Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel, 
duodecim Prophetae minores, id est, 
Osea, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Mi- 
cheas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Ag- 
gaeus, Zacharias, Malachias ; duo Ma- 
chabaeorum, primus et secundus. Testa- 
menti novi, quatuor Evangelia, secun- 
dum Matthaeum, Marcum, Lucam et 
Joannem ; Actus Apostolorum a Luca 
Evangelista conscripti : quatuordecim 
Epistolae Pauli Apostoli ; ad Romanos, 
duae ad Corinthios, ad Galatas, ad Ephe- 
sios, ad Philippenses, ad Colossenses, 
duae ad Thessalonicenses, duae ad Timo- 
theum, ad Titum, ad Philemonem, ad 
Hebrasos ; Petri Apostoli duae, Joannis 
Apostoli tres, Jacobi Apostoli una, Judss 
Apostoli una, et Apocalypsis Joannis 
Apostoli. 



Moreover, lest any doubt should ari.je 
respecting the sacred books which are 
received by the council, it has been 
judged proper to insert a list of them in 
the present decree. 

They are these : of the Old Testa- 
ment, the five books of Moses, — Gene- 
sis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and 
Deuteronomy ; Joshua ; Judges ; Ruth ; 
four books of Kings ; two books of 
Chronicles ; the first and second of Es- 
dras, the latter is called Nehemiah ; To- 
bit; Judith; Esther; Job; the Psalms 
of David, in number 150 ; the Proverbs ; 
Ecclesiastes ; the Song of Songs ; Wis-* 
dom ; Ecclesiasticus ; Isaiah ; Jeremiah, 
with Baruch; Ezekiel; Daniel; the 
twelve minor Prophets, — Hosea, Joel, 
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, 
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zecha- 
riah, and Malachi ; and two books of 
Maccabees, the first and second. Of the 
New Testament, the four Gospels, ac- 
cording to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 
John ; the Acts of the Apostles written 
by the Evangelist Luke ; fourteen Epis- 
tles of the Apostle Paul, — to the Ro- 
mans, two to the Corinthians, one to the 
Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the 
Philippians, to the Colossians, two to 
Thessalonians,to Timothy, one to Titus, 
to Philemon, and to the Hebrews ; two 
of the Apostle Peter ; three of the Apos- 
tle John ; one of the Apostle James ; 
one of the Apostle Jude ; and the Reve- 
lation of the Apostle John. 



Thus did the apostate church of Rome add unto the inspired word 
of God, a series of books, the writers of which lay no claim to inspi- 
ration, and which possess no higher title to that distinction than the 
Metamorphoses of Ovid, or the forged popish decretals of Isidore ; 
thus subjecting itself to the curse pronounced in the Apocalypse, 
upon such as presume to add to the word of God : " For I tc stify 
unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this 
book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto 
him the plagues that are written in this book." (Rev. xxii., 18.) 

§ 8. — The motives of the papists in giving these apocryphal 
books a place in the canon of Scripture, are abundantly evident 
from the use which they make of them in establishing some of their 
unscriptural doctrines and practices. Yet so entirely opposed are 
the passages usually cited for this purpose to the whole tenor of the 
inspired word of God, as to be sufficient, of themselves, were there 



chap. i.J POPERY AT TRENT— A D. 1545-1563. 481 

Arguments against the inspiration of the Apocrypha— false in doctrine— immoral. 

no other arguments, to prove that they are not inspired. Two or 
three instances of this only can be given. 

(1.) The Apocrypha teaches, as do the papists, that a man can 
justify himself and make atonement for his sins by his own works ; 
the inspired word of God ascribes justification and atonement 
wholly to the merit of Christ's righteousness, and the efficacy of his 
sufferings. 

Apocryphal Texts. — Says one of these writers : " The just, which 
have many good works laid up with thee, shall out of their own deeds 
receive reward." Tobit xii., 8, 9. " Prayer is good with fasting, and 

alms, and righteousness." " Alms doth deliver from death, and 

shall purge away all sins. Those that exercise alms and righteous- 
ness shall be filled with life." Ecclus. iii., 3. " Whoso honoreth his 
father maketh atonement for his sins." 30. " Alms maketh atone- 
ment for sins !" xxxv., 3. " To forsake unrighteousness is a pro- 
pitiation." 

Inspired Texts. — To show how entirely these texts are opposed to 
the inspired word of God, it will be sufficient to cite the following 
two as specimens of hundreds, teaching the same glorious doc- 
trine. Rom. iii., 24, 25. " Being justified freely, by his grace, 
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus : whom God hath 
set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood" Gal. ii., 
16. "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the 
law but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in 
Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and 
not by the works of the law : for by the works of the law shall 
no flesh be justified." 

(2.) The apocryphal book of Maccabees teaches the popish prac- 
tice of praying for the dead ; which is opposed to the whole tenor 
of God's inspired word, and never once hinted at in a single pas- 
sage of the old or the new Testament (2 Mace, xii., 43, 44). "And 
when he had made a gathering throughout the company, to the sum 
of 2000 drachms of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sin- 
offering, doing therein very well and honestly : for if he had not 
hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been 
superfluous and vain to pray for the deadV 

(3.) But these apocryphal books are not only destitute of the slight- 
est ckim to inspiration, they are also immoral, and teach and com- 
mend practices plainly condemned in God's word. The bible con- 
demns suicide. (Exodus xx., 13.) The book of Maccabees com- 
mends as noble and virtuous the desperate act of Razis, in falling 
upon his sword rather than suffering himself to be taken by the 
enemy (2 Mace, xiv., 41, &c). The bible condemns the assassina- 
tion of the Shechcmites, in language of just severity (Gen. xlix., 7). 
The Apocrypha highly commends this base and treacherous whole- 
sale murder (Judith ix., 2, &c). The bible forbids, and condemns 
magical incantations (Lev. xix., 20, and Deut. xviii.. 10, 1 1,14). The 
Apocrypha represents an angel of God as giving directions for such 
incantations, by the heart, liver, and gall of a fish (!) in a ludicrous 



482 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ti* 

Silly apocryphal story of incantation by a fish's liver. Apocryphal books not in the ancient catalogue. 

and contemptible story, fitter for the Arabian Nights' Entertain- 
ments, or the Adventures of Baron Munchausen, than for a book 
claiming to be a part of God's word (Tobit vi., 1-8). " And 
as they went on their journey they came to the river Tigris, and 
they lodged there ; and when the young man went down to wash 
himself, a fish leaped out of the river, and would have drowned him. 
Then the angel said unto him, take the fish. And the young man 
laid hold of the fish and drew it to land. To whom the angel said, 
open the fish, and take the heart and the liver, and the gall, and put 
them up safely. So the young man did as the angel commanded 
him, and when they had roasted the fish, they did eat it. Then the 
young man said unto the angel, brother Azarias, to what use is the 
heart and the liver and the gall of the fish ? And he said unto him, 
touching the heart and the liver, if a devil, or an evil spirit trouble 
any, we must make a smoke thereof before the man or the woman, 
and the party shall be no more vexed. As for the gall, it is good 
to anoint a man that hath whiteness in his eyes ; he shall be 
healed." In the same book of Tobit, the angel that is introduced, 
is guilty of wilful lying, by representing himself as being a kins- 
man of Tobit (v. 12), and afterwards contradicting himself, by af- 
firming that he is Raphael, one of the holy angels (xii., 17), It is 
unnecessary to refer to the silly fable of Bel and the dragon, the 
ark going after Jeremiah at the prophet's command (2 Mace, ii., 4), 
the story of Judith, &c, and the numerous contradictions and ab- 
surdities that are found in these books. It will be sufficient, in ad- 
dition to the above, to show that the apocryphal books were never 
admitted into the canon of Scripture during the first four centuries, 
that the writers themselves lay no claim to inspiration, and that 
even popish authors, previous to the council of Trent, have admit- 
ted that they did not belong to the canon of scripture. 

(4.) These apocryphal books are not mentioned in any of the earliest 
catalogues of the sacred writings ; neither in that of Melito, Bishop 
of Sardis, in the second century,* nor in those of Ongen,f in the 
third century, of Athanasius,J Hilary,§ Cyril of Jerusaiem,|| Epi- 
phanius,T[ Gregory Nazianzen,** Amphilochius,ff Jerome, J j Rufi- 

* This catalogue is inserted by Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History, lib. iv\, 
c. 26. 

f Ibid., lib. vi., c. 25, p. 399. 

| In his Festal or Paschal Epistle. See the extract in Dr. Lardner's Works, 
vol. iv., pp. 282—285., 8vo. ; vol. 2, pp. 399, 400, 4to. 

§ Prolog, in Psalmos, p. 9. Paris, 1693. Lardner, vol. iv., p. 305, 8vo. ; vol. 
ii., p. 413, 4to. 

|| In his Fourth Catechetical Exercise. Ibid:, vol. iv., p. 299, 8vo. ; vol. ii., 
p. 411, 4to. 

IT In various catalogues recited by Dr. Lardner, vol. iv., pp. 312, 313, 8vo ; voL 
ii., p. 409, 4to. 

** Carm. 33. Op., torn, ii., p. 98. Ibid., vol. iv., pp. 407, 408, 8vo. ; vol. ii., 
p. 470, 4to. 

ft In Carmine Iambico ad Seleucum, p. 126. Ibid., p. 413, 8vo. ; vol. ii., p. 473. 

tt In Praefat. ad Libr. Regum sive Prologo Galeato. Lardner, vol. v., pp. 16, 



chap. I.] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 483 

Never quoted by Christ and his apostles. Lay no claim themselves to inspiration. 

nus,* and others of the fourth century ; nor in the catalogue of 
canonical books recognized by the council of Laodicea,f held in the 
same century, whose canons were received by the Catholic church ; 
so that, as Bishop Burnet well observes, " we have the concurring 
sense of the whole church of God in this matter."J 

(5.) These books were never quoted, as most of the inspired books 
were, by Christ and his apostles. They evidently formed therefore no 
part of that volume to which Christ and his apostles so often referred, 
under the title of Moses and the prophets. There is scarcely a book in 
the Old Testament, which is not quoted or referred to in some passage 
of the New Testament. Christ has thus given the sanction of his 
authority to Moses, and the Psalms, and the prophets ; that is, to the 
whole volume of scripture which the Jews had received from 
Moses and the prophets ; which they most tenaciously maintained 
as canonical : and which is known by us under the title of the Old 
Testament. But there was not one of the apocryphal books so ac- 
knowledged by the Jews, or so referred to by Christ and his 
apostles. 

(6.) The authors of these books lay no claim to inspiration, and in 
some instances make statements utterly inconsistent therewith. 
The book of Ecclesiasticus, which, though not inspired, is superior to 
all the other apocryphal books, was written by one Jesus the son of 
Sirach. His grandfather, of the same name, it seems, had written 
a book, which he left to his son Sirach ; and he delivered it to his 
son Jesus, who took great pains to reduce it into order ; but he no- 
where assumes the character of a prophet himself, nor does he claim 
it for the original author, his grandfather. In the prologue, he says, 
" My grandfather Jesus, when he had much given himself to the 
reading of the Law, and the Prophets, and other books of our 
fathers, and had gotten therein good judgment, was drawn on also 
himself to write something pertaining to learning and wisdom, to 
the intent that those which are desirous to learn, and are addicted 
to these things, might profit much more, in living according to the 
law. Wherefore let me entreat you to read it with favor and at- 
tention, and to pardon us wherein we may seem to come short of 
some words which we have labored to interpret. Farther, some 
things uttered in Hebrew, and translated into another tongue, have 
not the same force in them. From the eight and thirtieth year, 
coming into Egypt when Euergetes was king, and continuing there 
for some time, I found a book of no small learning : therefore I 

17, 8vo. ; vol. ii., p. 540, 4to., and also in several of his prefaces to other books, 
which are given by Dr. L., vol. v., pp. 17—22, 8vo. ; or vol. ii., pp. 510—543, 4to. 

* Expositio ad Symb., Apost. Lardner, vol. v., p. 75, 76, 8 vo. ; vol. ii., p. 573, 4to. 

t Can. 59, 60. Lardner, vol. iv., pp. 308, 309, 8vo. ; vol. ii., pp. 414, 415, 4to. 
Besides Dr. Lardner, Bishop Oosin, in his Scholastical History of the Canon, and 
Mohlonhawer (Introd. ad Vet. Test., pp. 148—154), have given extracts at length 
from the above mentioned fathers, and others, against the authority of the apocry- 
phal hooks. 

J. On the Sixth Article of the Anglican church, p. 111. 6th edit. 



484 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [boos m 



The author of the Maccabees disavows inspiration. A temperance argument against the Apocrypha. 

thought it most necessary for me to bestow some diligence and 
travail to interpret it ; using great watchfulness and skill, in that 
space, to bring the book to an end," &c. These avowals, as will 
be seen at a glance, are altogether inconsistent with the supposition 
that this modest and candid author wrote under the direction of in- 
spiration. 

The writer of the second book of the Maccabees professes to 
have reduced a work of Jason of Cyrene, consisting of five volumes, 
into one volume. Concerning which work, he says, " Therefore to 
us that have taken upon us this painful labor of abridging, it was 
not easy, but a matter of sweat and watching." Again, " leaving 
to the author the exact handling of every particular, and laboring 
to follow the rules of an abridgment. To stand upon every point, 
and go over things at large, and to be curious in particulars, belong- 
eth to the first author of the story ; but to use brevity, and avoid 
much laboring of the work, is to be granted to him that maketh an 
abridgment." " Is anything more needed to prove that this wri- 
ter did not profess to be inspired ? If there was any inspiration in 
the case, it must be attributed to Jason of Cyrene, the original 
writer of the history ; but his work is long since lost, and we now 
possess only the abridgment which cost the writer so much labor 
and pains. Thus, I think it sufficiently appears, that the authors of 
these disputed books were not prophets ; and that, as far as we can 
ascertain the circumstances in which they wrote, they did not lay 
claim to inspiration, but expressed themselves in such a way, as no 
man under the influence of inspiration ever did."* The author of 
this book concludes with the following words, which are utterly un- 
worthy of a person writing by inspiration. " Here will I make an 
end. And if I have done well, and as is fitting the story, it is 

THAT WHICH I DESIRED ; BUT IF SLENDERLY AND MEANLY, IT 18 THAT 

which I could attain unto. For as it is hurtful to drink wine or 
water alone ; and as wine mingled with water is pleasant, and de- 
lighteth the taste ; even so speech finely framed dehghteth the ears 
of them that read the story. And here shall be an end." 

(7) There is one additional evidence at least, that this book is not 
inspired, to be drawn from the silly expression just quoted that " it 
is hurtful to drink water alone." If there were no other proof, this 
single expression would be sufficient to show that God was not its 
author, especially since the investigations of total abstinence so- 
cieties have proved that cold water alone, instead of being hurtful, 
is the most healthful beverage which can be used.f 

* Alexander on the Canon, page 80. 

f The above brief sketch of the evidences which prove that the books of the 
Apocrypha are uninspired, and therefore not a part of the sacred scriptures, would 
not have appeared in the present work, had it not been called for, by the fact that 
Romish priests are taking advantage of the general ignorance that prevails rela- 
tive to the Apocrypha, to inculcate some of the unscriptural doctrines of their apostate 
church upon the authority of these books. In a recent course of popular lectures 
in defence of the doctrines of Popery in the city of New Yoik, the preacher took 



chap, n.] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563 485 

The curse against rejecters of tradftion or the Apocrypha. Standard authors on the Apocrypha (note). 

After attentively weighing the above evidences, that the apocry- 
phal books possess not the slightest claim to be regarded as a part 
of God's word, let the reader peruse the following additional extract 
from the decree of the council of Trent. 

The curse upon those who refuse to receive the apocryphal books as 
inspired, or who reject the authority of the traditions. 

Si quis autem libros ipsos integros Whoever shall not receive, as sacred 

cum omnibus suis partibus, prout in Ec- and canonical, all those books and every 

clesia Catholica legi consueverunt, et in part of them, as they are commonly 

veteri vulgata Latina editione habentur, read in the Catholic Church, and are 

pro sacris et canonicis non susceperit ; contained in the old Vulgate Latin edi- 

et traditiones praedictas sciens et prudens tion, or shall knowingly and deliberately 

contempserit ; ANATHEMA SIT. despise the aforesaid traditions ; LEI 

HIM BE ACCURSED. 



CHAPTER II. 

FOURTH SESSION CONTINUED. LATIN VULGATE EXALTED ABOVE THE 
INSPIRED HEBREW AND GREEK SCRIPTURES. PRIVATE JUDGMENT AND 
LIBERTY OF THE PRESS FORBIDDEN, AND A POPISH CENSORSHIP OF 
THE PRESS ESTABLISHED. 

§ 9. — The second part of the decree passed at the fourth ses- 
sion is entitled, " of the edition and use of the Sacred books," and 
as this decree authoritatively declares the present doctrine of the 
Romish church with respect to the Scriptures, I shall quote the 
largest part of it in three divisions, with appropriate headings. 

as his text to establish the doctrine of prayers for the dead, evidently because he 
could not find one in God's inspired word, 2 Mace, xii., 43, 44, above cited. He 
might just as well, in the estimation of protestants, have taken a text from the his- 
tory of Robinson Crusoe or Sinbad the Sailor. Yet many might be ensnared 
with the plausible train of remark ; " If these books are not inspired," say the 
papists, " why have even protestants bound them up in their bibles ?" And to 
this we can only reply — why indeed ? No consistent protestant should ever pur- 
chase a bible with the Apocrypha. Let booksellers, if they choose, publish these 
apocryphal books, and let readers purchase and read them as they would any other 
curious and ancient writings, but let them never be bound in the same volume 
with God's inspired word. 

The reader who would examine still further the overwhelming evidences that 
the apocryphal books are uninspired and uncanonical, is referred to any or all of 
the following works : — Lardner's works, Vol. v. ; Home's Critical Introduction, Vol. 
i., Appendix No. v. ; Alexander on the Canon. But especially the recent 
valuable work entitled, " The arguments of Romanists on behalf of the apocrypha, 
discussed and refuted by Professor Thornwall, of South Carolina College." 



486 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m 

A mere human performance, and an imperfect one too, placed above God's inspired word. 

The Latin Vulgate put in the place of the inspired Hebrew and 
Greek Scriptures as the only authentic word of God, from which all 
translations were therefore in future to be made, and to which all 
appeals were to be ultimately referred. 

Insuper eadem sacro-sancta Synodus Moreover, the same most holy coun- 

considerans non pariim utilitatis ac- cil. considering that no small advantage 

cedere posse Ecclesiae Dei, si ex omni- will accrue to the church of God, if of 

bus Latinis editionibus, quae circumfe- all the Latin editions of the Sacred 

runtur, sacrorum librorum, quaenam pro Book which are in circulation, some one 

authentica habenda sit, innotescat, sta- shall be distinguished as that which 

tuit, et declarat, at haec ipsa vetus et ought to be regarded as authentic — doth 

vulgata editio, quae longo tot seculorum ordain and declare, that the same old 

usu in ipsaEcclesia probata est, in pub- and Vulgate edition which has been 

licis lectionibus, disputationibus, pra- approved by its use in the church for so 

dicationibus, et expositionibus pro au- many ages, shall be held as authentic, in 

thentica habeatur ; et ut nemo illam re- all public lectures, disputations, sermons, 

jicere quovis praetextu audeat vel prs- and expositions ; and that no one shall 

sumat. dare or presume to reject it, under any 

pretence whatsoever. 

Thus were the ipsissima verba, the very words, in the 
original Hebrew and Greek, winch were dictated by the Holy 
Spirit, thrown aside by the council of Trent, and a mere human 
performance substituted in their place, viz., the Latin translation 
of Jerome, which many of the most learned Romanists have ac- 
knowledged to abound with errors. The learned Roman Catholic, 
Dr. Jahn, confesses that in translating the Scriptures into the Vul- 
gate Latin, Jerome " did not invariably give what he himself be- 
lieved to be the best translation of the original, but occasionally, as 
he confesses (Prcef. ad Com. in Eccles.) followed the Greek trans- 
lators, although he was aware that they had often erred through 
negligence, because he was apprehensive of giving umbrage to his 
readers by too wide a departure from the established version ; and 
therefore we find that, in his commentaries, he sometimes corrects 
his own translation. Sometimes, too, he has substituted a worse in 
place of the old translation." In another place, Dr. Jahn adds as 
follows : " The universal admission of this version throughout the 
vast extent of the Latin church multiplied the copies of it, in the 
transcription of which it became corrupted with many errors. 
Towards the close of the eighth or the beginning of the ninth cen- 
tury, it was, at the command of Charlemagne, corrected by Alcuin 
from the Hebrew text. This recension was either not widely pro- 
pagated, or was again infected with errors ; for which reason Lan- 
franc, archbishop of Canterbury, who died in 1089, caused some 
copies to be again corrected. Nevertheless, cardinal Xicholas, 
about the middle of the twelfth century, found • tot exemplar ia quot 
codices' (as many copies as manuscripts), and therefore prepared a 
correct edition." 

In the year 1540, the celebrated printer, Robert Stephens, 
printed an edition of the Vulgate with the various readings of 
three editions and fourteen manuscripts. " This again," says Dr 



chap, n.] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 487 

The two infallible papal editions of the Vulgate with 2000 variations between them. 

Jahn, " was compared by Hentenius with many other manuscripts 
and editions, and he added the various readings to an edition pub- 
lished at Louvain in 1547. This edition was frequently reprinted, 
and was published at Antwerp in 1580, and again in 1585, en- 
riched with many more various readings, obtained by a new colla- 
tion of manuscripts by the divines of Louvain."* 

§ 10. — As the Vulgate was thus exalted by the council of Trent to 
the place of the inspired original, it was, of course, necessary to 
prepare an authorized edition of this Latin version on account of 
the innumerable variations in the different editions of the Vulgate 
issued previous to that time. To effect this object, pope Sixtus V. 
commanded a new revision of the text to be made, and corrected the 
proofs himself of an edition which was published at Rome in 1590, 
and proclaimed, by his infallible papal authority, to be the authentic 
and unalterable standard of Scripture. 

It was very soon discovered, however, that this edition abounded 
with errors, though it had been accompanied by a bull, enjoining 
its universal reception, and forbidding the slightest alterations, un- 
der pain of the most dreadful anathemas. 

The popish dignitaries thus found themselves in a most em- 
barrassing predicament, and that whichever horn of the painful 
dilemma they choose, if the facts only became known, it would be 
equally fatal to themselves ! Either this edition must be maintain- 
ed as a standard with thousands of glaring errors, or infallibility 
must be shown to he fallible, by the correction of these errors. To 
make the best of a bad thing, the edition, as far as possible, was 
called in, and a more correct edition issued by pope Clement VIII. 
in 1592, accompanied by a similar bull. Happily for the cause of 
truth, the popish doctors were unable to effect an entire destruc- 
tion of the edition of Sixtus. It is now exceedingly rare, but there 
is a copy of it in the Bodleian library at Oxford, and another in 
the royal library at Cambridge. 

The learned Dr. James, who was keeper of the Bodleian li- 
brary, compared the editions of Sixtus and Clement, and exposed 
the variations between the two in a book which he called, from the 
opposition between them, Bellum Papale, i. e. the Papal War. In 
this work Dr. James notices 2000 variations, some of whole verses, 
and many others clearly and decidedly contradictory to each other. 
Yet both editions were respectively declared to be authentic by the 
same plenitude of knowledge and power, and both guarded against 
the least alteration by the same tremendous excommunication. f 

Dr. Jahn candidly relates the facts above named, and makes 

* See Dr. Jahn's Introduction to the Old Testament, sect. 62, 64. 

f For a full account of these two editions of the Vulgate, see Dr. Townley's 
illustrations of biblical literature, ii., 168, &c. For between thirty and forty 
specimens of these variations, between the two infallible editions, see a small 
work published by the present author in 1843, entitled "Defence of the protes' 
taut, Scriptures against popish apologists for the Champlain Bible-burners," pp 
45-48. 



488 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vn, 

Eighty thousand errors in the Vulgate. Laws forbidding private judgment and liberty of the press. 

the following remarkable admission : — H The more learned Catho- 
lics have never denied the existence of errors in the Vulgate ; on 
the contrary, Isidore Clarius collected eighty thousand." It is 
amusing to notice the embarrassment caused to this learned Roman- 
ist, by the decree of the council of Trent establishing the authority 
of the Vulgate. As a good Catholic he was bound to receive that 
decree, and yet his learning forbade him to blind his eyes to the errors 
of that version, elevated by the said decree to a higher stand than 
the original Hebrew and Greek text. The attempt of Dr. Jahn to 
explain the decree of the council of Trent, so as to reconcile it 
with his own enlightened views of the Latin Vulgate, exhibits an 
amusing specimen of ingenuity, and may be seen in his Introduc- 
tion to the Old Testament, section 65. 

It is hardly necessary to add, that the Rhemish Testament, 
Douay bible, and all other popish versions of the Scriptures are 
made (not from the original Hebrew and Greek, but) from the 
above imperfect Latin Vulgate version of Jerome ; and as the stream 
cannot be expected to rise higher than the fountain, the errors of 
the Vulgate are perpetuated in all the translations made from it. 
True, even the Douay bible is better than none : but Romish priests 
are afraid to let even that be given to their blinded adherents with- 
out notes to prove that, wherever it condemns their anti-Christian 
system, it does not mean what it says. This, however, is in strict 
accordance with the council of Trent, which we shall see in the 
next extract forbids the right of private judgment. 

§ 11. — The right of private judgment in reading the Scriptures 
prohibited, and its exercise punished. The next extracts which 
we shall quote from the decree, are as follows : — 

Praeterea, ad coercenda petulentia in- In order to restrain petulant minds, 

genia, decernit, ut nemo, suag prudentiae the council further decrees, that in mat- 

innixus, in rebus fidei, et morum, ad ters of faith and morals and whatever 

sedificationem doctrinae Christianas perti- relates to the maintenance of Christian 

nentium, sacram scripturam ad suos sen- doctrine, no one, confiding in his own 

sus contorquens, contra eum sensum, judgment, shall dare to wrest the sacred 

quem tenuit et tenet sancta mater Ec- Scriptures to his own sense of them, con- 

clesia, cujus est judicare de vero sensu trary to that which hath been held and 

et interpretatione Scripturarum sancta- still is held by holy mother church, whose 

rum, aut etiam contra unanimem con- right it is to judge of the true meaning 

sensum Patrum, ipsam Scripturam sa- and interpretation of Sacred Writ ; or 

cram interpretari audeat ; etiam si hu- contrary to the unanimous consent of the 

jusmodi interpretationes nullo unquam fathers; even though such interpretations 

tempore in lucem edendas forent. Qui should never be published. If any dis- 

contravenerint, per Ordinarios deckren- obey, let him be denounced by the ordina- 

tur, et pcenis a jure statutis puniantur. vies, and punished according to law. 

§ 12. — The liberty of the press authoritatively forbidden. 

Sed et Impressoribus modum in hac Being desirous also, as is reasonable, 

parte, ut par est, imponere volens, qui of setting bounds to the printers, who with 

jam sine modo, hoc est, putantes sibi li- unlimited boldness., supposing themselves 

cere quidquid libet, sine licentia superi- at liberty to do as they please, print edi- 

orum ecclesiasticorum, ipsos sacra tions of the Holy Scriptures with notes 



CHAP, n.] 



POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 



489 



The decree of the council enacting fines and penalties for exercising the liberty of the press. 



Scripturae libros et super illis annota- 
tiones, et expositiones quorumlibet in- 
differenter, saepe tacito, eaepe etiam 
ementito praelo, et quod gravius est, sine 
nomine auctoris imprimunt ; alibi etiam 
impressos libros hujusmodi temere ve- 
nales habent ; decernit, et statuit, ut post- 
hac sacra Scriptura, potissimum vero 
haec ipsa vetus et vulgata editio, quam 
emendatissime imprimatur ; nullique li- 
ceat imprimere, vel imprimi facere quos- 
vis librcs de rebus sacris sine nomine 
auctoris; neque illos in futurum ven- 
dere, aut etiam apud se retinere, nisi 
primum examinati probatique fuerint ab 
Ordinario, sub poena anathematis et pe- 
cuniae in canone Concilii novissimi La- 
teranensis apposita. Et, si regulares 
fuerint, ultra examinationem, et proba- 
tionem hujusmodi, licentiam quoque a 
suis superioribus impetrare teneantur, 
recognitis per eos libris, juxta formam 
suarum ordinationum. Qui autem scrip- 
to eos communicant, vel evulgant, nisi 
antea examinati, probatique fuerint, eis- 
dem poenis subjaceant quibus impres- 
sores. Et qui eos habuerint, vel lege- 
rint, nisi prodiderint auctores, pro aucto- 
ribus habeantur. Ipsa vero hujusmodi 
librorum probatio in scriptis detur, atque 
ided in fronte libri, vel scripti, vel im- 
pressi, authentice appareat : idque to- 
tum, hoc est, et probatio, et examen, 
gratis fiat: ut probanda probentur, et 
reprobentur improbanda. 



and expositions taken indifferently from 
any writer, without the permission of their 
ecclesiastical superiors, and that at a con- 
cealed or falsely-designated press, and 
which is worse, without the name of the 
author — and also rashly expose books of 
this nature to sale in other countries ; the 
holy council decrees and ordains, that 
for the future the sacred Scriptures, and 
especially the old Vulgate edition, shall 
be printed in the most correct manner 
possible ; and no one shall be permitted 
to print, or cause to be printed any books 
relating to religion without the name of 
the author ; neither shall any one here- 
after sell such books, or even retain them 
in his possession, unless they have been 
first examined and approved by the ordi- 
nary, under penalty of anathema, and 

THE PECUNIARY FINE ADJUDGED BY THE 

last council of Lateran.* And if 
they be regulars, they shall obtain, be- 
sides this examination and approval, the 
license of their superiors, who shall ex- 
amine the books according to the forms 
of their statutes. Those who circulate 
or publish them in manuscript without 
being examined and approved, shall be 
liable to the same penalties as the 
printers ; and those who possess or read 
them, unless they declare the authors of 
them, shall themselves be considered as the 
author. The approbation of books of 
this description shall be given in writ- 
ing, and shall be placed in due form on 
the title-page of the book, whether ma- 
nuscript or printed ; and the whole, that 
is, the examination and the approval, 
shall be gratuitous, that what is deserv- 
ing may be approved, and what is un- 
worthy may be rejected. 

The above extracts from this decree need no comment. Let it 
be remembered that these prohibitions and penalties were enacted 
by the last general council of the Romish church, that they have 
never been repealed, that they are now enforced wherever Popery 
has the power to enforce them, and always will be, wherever that 
power shall be possessed. The proofs arc abundant that Popery 
hates liberty of opinion and of the press, as much in the nineteenth 
century as she did in the sixteenth, when these laws were passed 



* The decree of the council of Lateran here referred to, which was enacted in 
1515, was to this effect ; that no book whatever should be printed without exami- 
nation and license by the bishop, his deputy, or an inquisitor ; and that those who 
offended should forfeit the whole impression of the book printed, which should be 
publicly burnt, pay a fine of 100 ducats, be suspended from the exercise of their 
trade for one year, and lie under excommunication ! (See above, p. 434.) 



490 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vn. 

Indignation of the protestants at the decrees of the council upon tradition, the Apocrypha, &c. 

by the supreme authority of the church. As, however, we are about 
to transcribe the ten rules of the congregation of the index in rela- 
tion to prohibited books, no comments are necessary. Those cele- 
brated rules are an emphatic commentary upon the above cited 
decree. 

§ 13. — The proceedings of the council — says Mr. Cramp (p. 57) — 
were carefully watched by the protestants. They quickly per- 
ceived that it was altogether under the control of the Pope, and 
would issue no enactment contrary to the established order of things 
at Rome. Several publications were sent forth, declaratory of their 
views and feelings, one of which was written by Melancthon. In 
these works, while they expressed their willingness to abide by the 
decisions of a council composed of learned and pious men, eminent 
for the fear and love of God, they positively refused to acknowledge 
the authority of the assembly at Trent. Their reasons were nu- 
merous and weighty. They objected to the presidency of the Pope, 
he being a party in the cause ; to the Romish prelates, the appointed 
judges, many of whom were ignorant and wicked men, and all of 
them declared enemies of the reformation, but especially to the 
rules of judgment laid down in connexion with Scripture, and 
treated with equal or greater deference — viz., tradition and the scho- 
lastic divines. 

The friends of the departed Luther, who had just been gathered 
to his rest, the great champion of the Bible, were deservedly indig- 
nant that the council should place tradition on a level with the Scrip- 
tures, which they regarded as an act of daring impiety. They 
were surprised to hear, that several books which had ever been 
regarded as of doubtful authority, and had only received the sanc- 
tion of some provincial councils and of two or three popes, should 
now, without examination, be ranked among the acknowledged pro- 
ductions of inspired men, and be made portions of the Sacred Vol- 
ume. Nor were they less astonished and surprised at the decision 
respecting the Vulgate, in which that version, though confessed to 
abound with errors, was made the authoritative and sole standard 
of faith and morals, to the neglect of the original Greek and He- 
brew Scriptures. Nor were the free spirits of the sixteenth cen- 
tury less indignant that so insignificant a company of priests and 
monks should endeavor, by restraining the liberty of the press, and 
appointing a censorship of popish priests, to crush the germ of 
inquiry, to strengthen the bonds which had held the nations so long, 
and to cast the mantle of ignorance over the population of a whole 
continent. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the protes- 
tants looked upon the council, not only with suspicion but disgust, 
and positively refused to submit to its authority or decrees. 

During the continuance of the council, a committee was appoint- 
ed, called the congregation of the index, whose duty it was to pre- 
pare an index of prohibited books. This index was not published 
till March 24, 1564, shortly after the adjournment of the council, by 
pope Pius IV., to whom it had been committed by the council. The 



chap, h.J POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 49. 

The ten rules of the index of prohibited books. These rul-es the present imperative laws of Romanism. 

following ten rules, generally called " the rules of the congregation 
of the index," are here given, though belonging to a later period of 
the council, on account of their connection with the subject of the 
present chapter, and they are transcribed entire, on account of their 
vast importance, as illustrative of the policy of the church of Rome, 
in repressing as much as possible the circulation of the Scriptures, 
and in placing restrictions upon the freedom of the press. Let it be 
remembered that the following rules are the present imperative 
laws of the Romish church, adopted by the very highest authority 
in that church, the last general council, and sent forth to the world 
untfer the sanction of its supreme head, pope Pius. These rules 
are the laws of the Romish church, in precisely the same sense as a 
statute enacted by the House of Representatives and Senate of 
the United States, and signed by the President, becomes the law of 
the American nation ; and all popish bishops and priests are bound 
to enforce these laws, wherever Popery prevails, to the very utmost 
of their ability. Let the protestant lover of his bible, and of that 
glorious bulwark of liberty, the freedom of the Press, pay particu- 
lar attention to the passages marked by italics or capitals, and then 
say whether it is possible for freedom to exist in any land where 
Popery is the predominant religion, and the priests of Rome pos- 
sess the power to enforce these laws of their church. 

§ 14. — The ten rules of the congregation of the index of pro- 
hibited books, enacted by the council of Trent, and approved by pope 
Pius IV. in a bull, issued on the 24th of March, 1564. 

By these rules, the following descriptions of books are con- 
demned and prohibited : — 

Regula 1. Libri omnes quos ante Rule 1. " All books condemned by the 

annum MDXV aut Summi Pontifices, supreme pontiffs, or general councils, 

aut Concilia oecumenica damnarunt, et before the year 1515, and not comprised 

in hoc indice non sunt, eodem modo in the present Index, are, nevertheless, 

damnati esse censeantur, sicut olim to be considered as condemned, 
damnati fuerint. 

Regula 2. Hseresiarcharum libri, tarn Rule 2. " The books of heresiarchs, 

eorum qui post praedictum annum whether of those who broached or dis- 

haereses invenerunt, vel suscitarunt, seminated their heresies prior to the 

quam qui ha3reticorum capita aut duces year above mentioned, or of those who 

sunt vel fuerunt, quales sunt Lutherus, have been, or are, the heads or leaders 

Zuinglius, Calvinus, Balthasar Paci- of heretics, as Luther, Zuingle, Calvin, 

montanus, Swenchfeldius, et his similes, Balthasar Pacimontanus, Swenchfeld, 

cujuscumque nominis, tituli aut argu- and other similar ones, are altogether 

menti existant, omnino prohibentur, forbidden, whatever may be their names, 

•Aliorum autem haereticorum libri, qui titles, or subjects. And the books of 

de religione quidem ex professo tractant, other heretics, ivhich treat professedly 

omnino damnantur. Qui vero de re- upon religion, are totally condemned; 

ligione non tractant, a Theologis Catho- but those which do not treat upon re- 

licis, jussu Episcoporumetlnquisitorum ligion are allowed to be read, after be- 

examinati et approbati permittuntur. ing examined and approved by Catholic 

Libri etiam Catholici conscripti, tarn ab divines, by order of flu 1 bishops and in- 

aliis qui postea in haDresim lapsi sunt, quisitors. Those Catholic books also 

quam ab illis qui post lapsum ad Eccle- arc permitted to be read, which have 

siaj gremium rediere, approbati a facul- been composed by authors who have 



492 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



[book vi/. 



Rules on prohibited books continued. The circulation of the Bible " will cause more evil than good." 



tate Theologica alicujus Universitatis 
Catholicae, vel ab Inquisitione generali 
permitti poterunt. 



Regula 3. Versiones scriptorum etiam 
Ecclesiasticorum, quae hactenus editse 
sunt a damnatis auctoribus, modo nihil 
contra sanam doctrinam contineant, per- 
mittuntur. Librorum autem veteris 
Testamenti versiones, viris tantum doc- 
tis et piis judicio Episcopi concedi pote- 
runt : modo hujusmodi versionibus tam- 
quam elucidationibus Vulgates editionis, 
ad intelligendam sacram Scripturam, 
non autem tanquam sano textu utantur. 
Versiones vero novi Testamenti, ab 
auctoribus prims classis hujus indicis 
factae nemini concedantur, quia utilitatis 
parum, periculi vero plurimum lectoribus 
ex earum lectione manare solet. Si quae 
vero annotationes cum hujusmodi quae 
permittuntur versionibus, vel cum Vul- 
gata editione circumferuntur, expunctis 
locis suspectis a facultate Theologica 
alicujus Universitatis Catholicae, aut 
inquisitione generali permitti eisdem 
poterunt, quibus et versiones. Quibus 
conditionibus totum volumen Bibliorum, 
quod vulgo Biblia Vatabli dickur, aut 
partes ejus concedi viris piis et doctis 
poterunt. Ex Bibliis vero Isidori Clarii 
Brixiani prologus et prolegomena praeci- 
dantur : ejus vero textum, nemo textum 
Vulgatae editionis esse existimet. 



afterwards fallen into heresy, or who, 
after their fall, have returned into the 
bosom of the church, provided they 
have been approved by the theological 
faculty of some Catholic university, or 
by the general inquisition. 

Rule 3. " Translations of ecclesiasti- 
cal writers, which have been hitherto 
published by condemned authors, are 
permitted to be read, if they contain 
nothing contrary to sound doctrine. 
Translations of the Old Testament may 
also be allowed, but only to learned and 
pious men, at the discretion of the bishop ; 
provided they use them merely as eluci- 
dations of the vulgate version, in order 
to understand the Holy Scriptures, and 
not as the sacred text itself. But 
Translations of the New Testament 
made by authors of the first class of 
this Index, are allowed to no one, since 
little advantage, but much danger, 
generally arises from reading them. If 
notes accompany the versions which 
are allowed to be read, or are joined to 
the vulgate edition, they may be per- 
mitted to be read by the same persons 
as the versions, after the suspected 
places have been expunged by the theo- 
logical faculty of some Catholic uni- 
versity, or by the general inquisitor. 
On the same conditions also, pious and 
learned men may be permitted to have 
what is called Vatablus's Bible, or any 
part of it. But the preface and pro- 
legomena of the Bible published by 
Isidorus Clarius are, however, excepted ; 
and the text of his editions is not to be 
considered as the text of the vulgate 
edition. 



Regula 4. Cum experiment© mani- 
festum sit, si sacra Biblia vulgari lin- 
gua passim sine discrimine permittantur, 
plus inde, ob hominum temeritatem, de- 
triment^ quam utilitatis oriri, hac in 
parte judicio Episcopi, aut inquisitoris 
stetur: ut cum concilio Parochi vel 
Confessarii, Bibliorum a Catholicis auc- 
toribus versorum lectionem in vulgari 
lingua eis concedere possint, quos in- 
teMexerint ex hujusmodi lectione, non 
damnum, sed fidei atque pietatis aug- 
mentum capere posse, quam facultatem 
in scriptis habeant. Qui autem absque 
tali facultate ea legere seu habere prae- 
sumpserit, nisi prius Bibliis Ordinario 
redditis, peccatorum absolutionem per- 
cipere non possit. Bibliopolae vero, qui 



Rule 4. " Inasmuch as it is mani- 
fest FROM EXPERIENCE, THAT IF THE 

Holy Bible, translated into the 
vulgar tongue, be indiscriminately 
allowed to every one, the temerity 
of men will cause more evil than 

GOOD TO ARISE FROM IT, it is, OH this 

point, referred to the judgment of the 
bishops, or inquisitors, who may, by the 
advice of the priest or confessor, permit* 
the reading of the blble trans- 
lated into the vulgar tongue by 
Catholic authors, to those persons 
whose faith and piety, they appre- 
hend, will be augmented, and not 
injured by it ; and this permission 

THEY MUST HAVE IN WRITING. But if 

any one shall have the presumption to 



chap, n.] 



POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 



493 



Punishments for those who have the '■'■'presumption " to read or sell the Bible without permission. 



praedictam facultatem non habenti Bib- 
lia idiomate vulgari conscripto vendi- 
derint, vel alio quovis modo concesse- 
rint, librorum pretium, in usos pios ab 
Episcopi convertendum, amittant, aliis- 
que pcEnis pro delicti qualitate ejusdem 
Episcopo arbitrio subjaceant. Regu- 
lares vero non nisi facilitate a Praelatis 
suis habita, ea legere, aut emere pos- 
fiint 



Regula 5. Libri illi, qui hsereticorum 
auctorum opera interdum ^rodeunt, in 
quibus nulla aut pauca de suo apponunt, 
sed aliorum dicta colligunt, cujusmodi 
sunt Lexica, Concordantiae, Apophtheg- 
mata, Similitudines, Indices, et hujus- 
modi, si quae habeant admista, quae-ex- 
purgatione indigeant, illis Episcopi et 
Inquisitores, una cum Theologorum 
Catholicorum concilio, sublatis, aut 
emendatis, permittantur. 

Regula 6. Libri vulgari idiomate de 
controversiis inter Catholicos et haereti- 
cos nostri temporis disserentes non pas- 
sim permittantur : sed idem de iis ser- 
vetur, quod de Bibliis vulgari lingua 
scriptis statutum est. Qui vero de ra- 
tione bene vivendi, contemplandi, con- 
fitendi, ac similibus argumentis, vulgari 
sermone conscripti sunt, si sanam doc- 
trinam contineant, non est cur prohibe- 
antur; sicut nee sermones populares 
vulgari lingua habiti. Quod si hacte- 
nus in aliquo regno vel Provincia aliqui 
libri sunt prohibit!, quod nonnulla con- 
tinerint quae sine delectu ab omnibus 
legi non expediat, si eorum auctores 
Catholici sunt, postquam emendati fue- 
rint, permitti ab Episcopo et Inquisitore 
poterunt. 



READ OR POSSESS IT WITHOUT SUCH 

written permission, he shall not re- 
ceive absolution until Tie have first de- 
livered up such Bible to the ordinary. 
Booksellers, however, who shall sell, or 
otherwise dispose of Bibles in the vulgar 
tongue, to any person not having such 
permission, shall forfeit the value 
of the books, to be applied by the bishop 
to some pious use ; and be subjected by 
the bishop to such other penalties as 
the bishop shall judge proper, according 
to the quality of the offence. But regu- 
lars shall neither read nor purchase 
such Bibles without a special license 
from their superiors. 

Rule 5. " Books of which heretics are 
the editors, but which contain little or 
nothing of their own, being mere com- 
pilations from others, as lexicons, con- 
cordances, apophthegms, similes, in- 
dexes, and others of a similar kind, may 
be allowed by the bishops and inquisi- 
tors, after having made, with the advice 
of Catholic divines, such corrections and 
emendations as may be deemed requi- 
site. 

Rule 6. " Books of controversy be- 
twixt the Catholics and heretics of the 
present time, written in the vulgar 
tongue, are not to be indiscriminately 
allowed, but are to be subject to the 
same regulations as Bibles in the vul- 
gar tongue. As to those works in the 
vulgar tongue, which treat of morality, 
contemplation, confession, and similar 
subjects, and which contain nothing 
contrary to sound doctrine, there is no 
reason why they should be prohibited ; 
the same may be said also of sermons 
in the vulgar tongue, designed for the 
people. And if in any kingdom or 
province, any books have been hitherto 
prohibited, as containing things not 
proper to be read, without selection, by 
all sorts of persons, they may be al- 
lowed by the bishop and inquisitor, after 
having corrected them, if written by 
Catholic authors. 



Regula 7. Libri qui res lascivas seu Rule 7. " Books professedly treating 
obscoenas ex professo tractant, narrant, of lascivious or obscene subjects, or 
aut docent, cum non solum fidci, sed et narrating, or teaching them, are utterly 



morum, qui hujusmodi librorum lectione prohibited, 



not only faith but 



* We suppose this rule is not intended to apply to obscene and lascivious books 
intended for the instruction of candidates for the priesthood, or for examination of 
32 



49-A 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



'sees vn. 



- 



- restrictions upon the liberty of the 



opi selent, ratio hi'ienaa si:, morals, which air readily corrupted by 



: rrmieentttr : et mi f:s h: - ;:- 
tint - hi::s::::; - neaiantur. 

Av.m 

BCTmrtnfe .-: gantiam et ertorle- 

ermttmtar : n till a tanaen ra- 
time mer:; rr-lezenrli eramt. 



Regtda 8. Iibri quorum priucipale 
argumentum bonum est, in quibus ta- 
men : :er alima inserta sunt, 

hsresim, sen im: ietateni m anamnene. 

:er. s\: :ers.a.mera seectan:. a Caeholi- 
cis Theohezis, imehsitiorhs gei 
auctoritate. ma a;_m. nmeeoi rossmr. 
Idem judiciei:.- sit ie armea;. svaaa rea- 
ms, sen annotatim:: as :m a aamnatis 
auctoribas, libris non dam a s ar posita? 
ear.: : sea costhac nan nisi ernendati 
star. 



the perusal of them, are to be attended 
In : and those who possess them shall 
he severely rear: 

But the aria : .written by 

the heathens, are permitted to be read, 
because :: the elegance and propriety 
of the language ; though on no account 
shall they be suffered :: be read by 
young r arsons. 

Rule 8. -Books, the principal sub- 
ject ... :s good, but in which 

smee ma m; era :::a;imahy ram. ha tea 

tending t: mam- a..l impiety, amhaa- 
thm. :r mrerstirim. : : ':-: ".:.:.;. 
../:-. ■:':'..,'...: ::::,: ':: C. :: he 
divines, byjthe authority of the general 

l::a:m.a. The same yaa'rrment is 
als: firmer! :: prefaces, mmmaries :: 
rm.es. taken frim the imaermer au- 



m :-: ':-:-: : a ■.■:S-:d. 



R:j:\: h Ik'eri irranes et seripta 
emantiae. Aerimar.tiae. 
Panama: m Onomanriae. hamammaa. 
Xeirmt entire, sim :: mi'ms : : aa.ma : 
strtheria. mm m angaria, a: 
in ants : m Lcae am sus ::- 

ear. Emseirk 
mm;: rrelrgiae maiaaris her:. 

indices I : . antur, yel habean- 
tur. ma tie rarer! s : mramrm a; sa_- 

ess bus l urtuilisve casH as, :.::: 
tionibn : aa vrhmtat- : en- 

dent, :i 

- 

...a m- 
rionis, agriculture, sive : 
juvane.e enaria rmsmeta sunt 



R-:^:'.z 10. lee hertram. aharamve 
scrirtmarara imrressime s err era::. m:a 
in Concilia Lete'renens: su: Le:ne X . 
S-ess. 1 : . Bfatatmn es: ^oare, d in 
ahna uree Rema ] s ^ : ineeri- 

menen;. ier Yicariam Sarami E . - 
et Sacri Peh.th Magisfiapi, veJ per- 
sonas a Sanctissfam h:n::e: ntetrode- 



i?:.:," 9. "Ah ::ehs ani T.-r:t:ngs of 
geomancy. hydromancT. aeroman : ; . | ; - 
romaney, onom:: :.::::: and 
netrtneaney; :: ~h:;j: treet :: s:::e- 
ries. Trains. e:r-:r:e;. anseiees. or 
magical incantations, are utterly re- 
;e::eh Tr.e 

_e::h; reeri ar^r.;: my rirnn; reee- 

:e aev itises. or 

hich treat of judicial astrolo- 

gy. :r emtahe nre seiner en fas ;reehet::ns 

the events of future continreneies. 
mi ::renh::s : : :nr:e:::r ; . :r ::' th:se 
e:thns ..... :v::::. n::n tne :h :: 
Bat sneh :r:n::ns end heserra- 
t::ns ::' nitnre". thine; es :-..-. '""ritten in 
aid of navigation . agricnltnie^ and me- 
t : 

R U 1 . "In tne printing of books or ^ 
other writings, the rules si. hi be :> 

i. which were ordained in the / 
10th session of the council of Laie- 
nnder Leo X Tnerefore, if any 

Rome, it shall first be examined by 
the Pope's Yicar and the master cf 



conscience ry to confession. I: se. Dens's Theology, their most :::::< 

e.h-.rh- "'-.::. thr'stnients. e -:er:en :■: : ie: it New 

Y:rie. 1S44. :h. the approbation of bishop Hughes, most mi; be :e.:ie:e:ne 
the;:: ?r::miy. however, the rule ms — dy intended tc at :1 to works 

of the; description when : 



chap, n.] 



POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 



495 



Punishments of booksellers who violate these rules. 



Their shops to be examined by inquisitors. 



putandas prius examinetur. In aliis 
verd locis ad Episcopum, vel alium ha- 
bentem scientiam libri vel scripturae im- 
primendaB, ab eodem Episcopo deputan- 
dum, ac Inquisitorem hsereticas pravita- 
tis ejus civitatis, vel dioecesis, in qua 
impressio fiet, ejus approbatio et examen 
pertineat, et per eorum manum propria 
subscriptione gratis et sine dilatione im- 
ponendam sub pcenis et censuris in 
eodem decreto contentis approbetur: 
hac lege et conditione addita, ut exem- 
plum libri imprimendi authenticum, et 
manu auctoris subscriptum, apud ex- 
aminatorem remaneat; eos vero, qui 
libellos manuscriptos vulgant, nisi ante 
exarainati probatique fuerint iisdem pce- 
nis subjici debere judicarunt Patres de- 
putati, quibus impressores : et qui eos 
habuerint et legerint, nisi auctores pro- 
diderint, pro auctoribus habeantur. Ip- 
sa vero hujusmodi librorum probatio in 
scriptis detur, et in fronte libri vel 
scripti, vel impressi authentice appareat, 
probatioque et examen ac cetera gra- 
tiae fiant. 



Praeterea in singulis civitatibus ac 
dicecesibus, domus vel loci ubi ars im- 
pressoria exercetur, et bibliothecae li- 
brorum venialium saspius visitentur a 
personis ad id deputandis ab Episcopo, 
sive ejus Vicario, atque etiam ab In- 
quisitore haereticae pravitatis, ut nihil 
eorum qua? prohibentur, aut imprimatur, 
aut vendatur, aut habeatur. Omnes vero 
librarii, et quicumque librorum venditores 
habeant in suis bibliothecis Indicem 
librorum venalium, quos habent, cum 
subscriptione dictarum personarum, nee 
alios libros habeant, aut vendant aut 
quacumque ratione tradant, sine licen- 
tia eorumdem deputandorum, sub poena 
amissionis librorum, et aliis arbitrio 
Episcoporum vel Inquisitorum impo- 
nendis. Emptores vero lectores, vel 
impressores, eorumdem arbitrio punian- 
tur. Quod si aliqui libros quoscumque 
in aliquam civitatem introducant, tene- 
antur eisdem personis deputandis re- 
nunciare : vel si locus publicus merci- 
bus ejusmodi constitutus sit, ministri, 



the sacred palace, or other persons chosen 
by our^most holy father for that purpose. 
In other places, the examination of any 
book or manuscript intended to be print- 
ed shall be referred to the bishop, or 
some skilful person whom he shall 
nominate, and the inquisitor of heretical 
pravity of the city or diocess in which 
the impression is executed, who shall 
gratuitously and without delay affix 
their approbation to the work in their 
own handwriting, subject, nevertheless, 
to the pains and censures contained in 
the said decree ; this law and condition 
being added, that an authentic copy of 
the book to be printed, signed by the 
author himself, shall remain in the 
hands of the examiner : and it is the 
judgment of the fathers of the present 
deputation, that those persons who pub' 
lish works in manuscript, before they 
have been examined and approved, should 
be subject to the same penalties as those 
who print them, and that those who 
read or possess them should be con- 
sidered as the authors, if the real au- 
thors of such writings do not avow 
themselves. The approbation given in 
writing shall be placed at the head of 
the books, whether printed or in manu- 
script, that they may appear to be duly 
authorized; and this examination and 
approbation, &c, shall be granted gra- 
tuitously. 

" Moreover, in every city and diocess, 
the house or places where the art of print- 
ing is exercised, and also the shops of 
booksellers, shall be frequently visited by 
persons deputed for that purpose by the 
bishop or his vicar, conjointly with the 
inquisitor of heretical pravity, so that 
nothing that is prohibited may be printed, 
kept, or sold. Booksellers of every de- 
scription shall keep in their libraries a 
catalogue of the books which they have on 
sale, signed by the said deputies ; nor 
shall they keep or sell, nor in any way 
dispose of any other books, without per- 
mission from the deputies, under pain 

OF FORFEITING THE BOOKS, AND BEING 
LIABLE TO SUCH OTHER PENALTIES AS 
SHALL BE JUDGED PROPER BY THE 
BISHOP OR INQUISITOR, WHO SHALL AL- 
SO PUNISH THE BUYERS, READERS, OR 

printers of sucii wokks. If any per- 
son import foreign boohs into any city, 
they shall be obliged to announce them to 
the deputies; or if this kind of mer- 
chandise be exposed to sale in any public 



496 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



[book vn. 



Books of deceased persons not to be used, till examined by inquisitors. Punishments of disobedience. 



publici ejus loci prasdictis personis sig- 
nificent libros esse adductos. Nemo ve- 
ro audeat librum, quern ipse vel aftus in 
civitatem introduxit, alicui legendum 
tradere, vel aliqua ratione alienare, aut 
commodare, nisi ostenso prius libro, et 
habita licentia a personis deputandis, 
aut nisi notorie constet, librum jam esse 
omnibus permissum. 

Idem quoque servetur ab heredibus et 
executoribus ultimarum voluntatum, ut 
libros a defunctis relictos, sive eorum 
indicem illis personis deputandis offer- 
rant, et ab iis licentiam obtineant, prius- 
quam eis utantur, aut in alias personas 
quacumque ratione transferant. In his 
autem omnibus et singulis poena statua- 
tur vel amissionis librorum, vel alia ar- 
bitrio eorumdem Episcoporum, vel In- 
quisitorum pro qualitate contumacia3 
vel delicti. 

Circa vero libros, quos Patres depu- 
tati examinarunt aut expugnarunt, aut 
expurgandos tradiderunt, aut certis con- 
ditionibus, ut rursus excuderentur, con- 
cesserunt, quidquid illos statuisse con- 
stiterit, tarn bibliopolae, quam ceteri ob- 
servent. Liberum tamen sit Episcopis 
aut Inquisitoribus generalibus secun- 
dum facultatem quam habent, etiam 
libros, qui his regulis permitti videntur, 
prohibere, si hoc in suis regnis, aut pro- 
vinciis, vel diaecessibus expedire judi- 
caverint. Ceterum nomina, cum libro- 
rum qui a Patribus deputatis purgati 
sunt, turn eorum quibus illi hanc pro- 
vinciam dederunt, eorumdem deputato- 
rum Secretarius notario Sacra? univer- 
salis Inquisitionis Romas descripta 
Sanctissimi Domini nostri jussu tradidit. 

Ad extremum vero omnibus fidelibus 
preecipitur, ne quis audeat contra harum 
regularum praescriptum, aut hujus in- 
dicis prohibitionem libros aliquos legere 
aut habere. Quod si quis libros haere- 
ticorum, vel cujusvis auctoris scripta, 
ob haeresin, ob falsi dogmatis suspicio- 
nem damnata atque prohibita, legerit, 
sive habuerit, statim in excommunica- 
tionis sententiam incurrat. Qui vero 
libros alio nomine interdictos legerit, 
aut habuerit, prater peccati mortalis 
reatum, quo amcitur, judicio Episcopo- 
rum severe puniatur. 



-place, the public officers of the place shall 
signify to the said deputies, that such 
books have been brought ; and no one 

SHALL PRESUME TO GIVE TO READ, OR 
LEND, OR SELL, ANY BOOK WHICH HE 
OR ANY OTHER PERSON HAS BROUGHT 
INTO THE CITY, UNTIL HE HAS SHOWN 
IT TO THE DEPUTIES, AND OBTAINED 

their permission, unless it be a work 
well known to be universally allowed. 

" Heirs and testamentary executors 
shall make no use of the books of the de- 
ceased, nor in any way transfer them to 
others, until they have presented a cata- 
logue of them to the deputies, and ob- 
tained their license, under pain of the 
confiscation of the books, or the inflic- 
tion of such other punishment as the 
bishop or inquisitor shall deem proper, 
according to the contumacy or quality of 
the delinquent. 

" With regard to those books which the 
fathers of the present deputation shall 
examine, or correct, or deliver to be cor- 
rected, or permit to be reprinted on cer- 
tain conditions, booksellers and others 
shall be bound to observe whatever is or- 
dained respecting them. The bishops and 
general inquisitors shall, nevertheless, be 
at liberty, according to the power they 
possess, to prohibit such books as may 
seem to be permitted by these rules, if 
they deem it necessary for the good of the 
kingdom, or province, or diocess. And 
let the secretary of those fathers, accord- 
ing to the command of our holy father, 
transmit to the notary of the general in- 
quisitor, the names of the books that have 
been corrected, as well as of the persons 
to whom the fathers have granted the 
power of examination. 

" Finally, it is enjoined on all the 
faithful, that no one presume to 
keep or read any books contrary 
to these rules, or prohibited by 
this index. but if any one keep or 
read any books composed by here- 
tics, or the writings of any author 
suspected of heresy, or false doc- 
trine, he shall instantly incur the 
sentence of excommunication ; and 
those who read or keep works in- 
terdicted on another account, be- 
sides the mortal sin committed, 
shall be severely punished at the 
will of the bishops." 



chap, n.] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 497 

Authors honored with a place in the index. Extracts from a popish license to read heretical books. 

§ 15. — The committee appointed at the council of Trent, and 
under whose supervision the above rules were drawn up, was made 
permanent, and exists at the present day under the style of " the 
congregation of the index." Under the care of this committee, the 
original index of prohibited books has ever since been receiving 
constant additions, and of course, by this time, has grown to a pon- 
derous size. Among the names of authors included in this index 
prohibitojnus, are many familiar and dear to the protestant world : 
WicklifF, Luther, Calvin, Bucer, Zwinglius, Melancthon, Beza, Ty*i- 
dal, Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, Knox, Coverdale, Bishop Hooper, 
John Fox, John Huss, Jerome of Prague, Addison, Lord Bacon, 
George Buchanan, Cave, Claude, Grotius, Sir Matthew Hale, Locke, 
Milton, Mosheim, Robertson, Saurin, Jeremy Taylor, Young, the 
author of Night Thoughts, and even Leigh Richmond, the sainted 
author of that sweet little tract, which has been the means of lead- 
ing so many souls to Christ, has, for writing " The Dairyman's 
Daughter," been honored (for it is an honor) by a place in this pro- 
scriptive popish index.* 

None of the works of these authors are allowed to be read by the 
blinded and priest-ridden votaries of Rome, according to the above 
•rules of the index, without a special license from the popish bishop ; 
and this can only be obtained by favored individuals under very 
peculiar circumstances. Bishop Burnet, in the collection of records 
appended to his history of the Reformation, has preserved a Latin 
copy of such a license, granted by the Romish Bishop Tonstal, of 
London, on the 7th of March, 1527, to the celebrated papist, Sir Tho- 
mas More, who was about to write against the reformed doctrines, 
from which the following extracts are translated : — " Forasmuch as 
the church of God has, of late throughout Germany, been infested 
by heretics, certain sons of iniquity have joined together, who are 
endeavoring to bring into our country the ancient damned heresy 
of WicklifF and of Luther, and are publishing in great abundance 
their most corrupt writings into our vernacular tongue ; and striv- 
ing with great efforts to corrupt the truth of the Catholic faith by 
their most pestilential dogmas. And forasmuch as it is greatly to 
be feared that the Catholic verity may be in danger, unless good 
and learned men oppose themselves to the malignity of the afore- 
said men, &c. . . . And forasmuch as thou, most famous brother, 
both in our own tongue and in Latin can excel even a Demosthenes," 
&c. The document then alludes, as an example, to the most illus- 

* Beside the index prohib'Uorius, the papists have their index expurgatorius — 
that is, an hsdex of books not entirely prohibited, but in which certain passages 
are expurgated ; and this includes multitudes of passages not only from protestant 
but from Romish writers, and even from various editions of the works of the 
Fathers. For a full account of both these indexes, see that valuable, learned, 
and authentic work, "Mendham's Literary Policy of the Church of Rome, exhib- 
ited in an account of the damnatory catalogues, or Indices, both Prohibitory and 
Expurgatory." London, 1820. 



498 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vil 

Bishop Tonstal's license to Sir Thomas More to read the works of Luther, &c— note. 

trious king, Henry VIII. , who by his defence of the Sacraments of 
the Church " had merited the immortal name of the Defender of 
the faith," and to the writings of Luther, by reading of which Sir 
Thomas might understand in what lurking places these crooked 
serpents hide themselves ' quibus latibulis tortuosi serpentes sese 
condant ;' and after exhorting him to obtain an immortal name by 
thus defending the church against the heretics, concludes by grant- 
ing him the license to read the heretical books in the following 
words : " To that end we grant and concede unto you the power 
and license of keeping and reading books of this kind."* 

May the time never arrive when the free-born sons of Protestant 
America, before being at liberty to write, and to publish, and to 
read what they choose, must, like the ignorant and degraded inhab- 

* The following is a correct transcript of this curious and ancient document : 
" Cuthbertus permissione Divina London Episcopus Clarissimo et Egregio viro 
Domino Thomae More fratri et amico Charissimo Salutem in Domino et Benedict. 
Quia nuper, postquam Ecclesia Dei per Germaniam ab hsereticis infestata est, 
juncti sunt nonnulli iniquitatis Filii, qui veterem et damnatum haeresim Wycliffi- 
anam et Lutherianam, etiam haeresis Wycliffianae alumni transferendis in nostra- 
tem vernaculam linguam corruptissimis quibuscunq ; eorum opusculis, atque illis 
ipsis magna copia impressis, in hanc nostram Regionem inducere conantur ; quam 
sane pestilentissimis dogmatibus Catholicae fidei veritati repugnantibus maculare 
atq ; inflcere magnis conatibus moliuntur. Magnopere igitur verendum est ne 
Catholica Veritas in totum periclitetur nisi boni et eruditi viri malignitati tarn prae- 
dictorum hominum strenue occurrant, id quod nulla ratione melius et aptius fieri 
poterit, quam si in lingua Catholica Veritas in totum expugnans haec insana dog- 
mata simul etiam ipsissima prodeat in lucem. 

" Quo fiet ut Sacrarum Literarum imperiti homines in manus sumentes novos 
istos Hcereticos Libros, atq ; una etiam Catholicos ipsos refellentes, vel ipsi per se 
verum discernere, vel ab aliis quorum perspicacius est judicium reete admoneri et 
doceri possint. Et quia tu, Frater Clarissime, in lingua nostra vernacula, sicut 
etiam in Latina, Demosthenem quendam praestare potes, et Catholicae veritatis as- 
sertor acerrimus in omni congressu esse soles, melius subcisivas horas, si quas 
tuis occupationibus suffurari potes, collocare nunquam poteris, quam in nostrate 
lingua aliqua edas quae simplicibus et ideotis hominibus subdolam haereticorum 
malignitatem aperiant, ac contra tam impios Ecclesiffi supplantatores reddant eos 
instructiores ; habes ad id exemplum quod imiteris prae-clarissimum, illustrissi Do- 
mini nostri Regis Henrici octavi, qui Sacramenta Ecclesiae contra Lutherum totis 
viribus ea subvertentem asserere aggressus, immortale nomen Defensoris Ecclesiae 
in omne aevum promeruit. Et ne Andabatarum more cum ejusmodi larvis lucteris, 
ignorans ipse quod oppugnes, mitto ad te insanas in nostrate lingua istorum nae- 
nias, atque una etiam nonnullos Lutheri Libros ex quibus hsec opinionum monstra 
prodierunt. 

" Quibus abs te diligenter perlectis, facilius intelligas quibus latibulis tortuosi ser- 
pentes sese condant, quibusq ; anfractibus elabi deprehensi studeant. Magni 
enim ad victoriam momenti est hostium Consilia explorata habere, et quid sentiant 
quove tendant penitus nosse : nam si convellere pares quas isti se non sensisse 
dicent, in totum perdas operam. Macte igitur virtute, tam sanctum opus aggre- 
dere, quo et Dei Ecclesiae prosis, et tibi immortale nomen atq ; seternam in Ccelis 
gloriam pares : quod ut facias atque Dei Ecclesiam tuo patrocinio munias, magno- 
pere in Domino obsecramus, atq ; ad ilium finem ejusmodi libros et retinendi et 
legendi facultatem atq ; licentiam impertimur et concedimus. Dat. 7 die Martii, 
Anno 1527 et nostrse Cons, sexto." (Regist. Tonst., Fol. 138; Burnet, vol. iv., 
p. 4.) 



chap, iil] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 499 

Fifth and Sixth Session. Canons and curses on original sin remitted by baptism and on justification. 

itants of popish countries,* humbly sue for permission to the despotic 
priests and inquisitors of Rome ! 



CHAPTER ID- 
original SIN AND JUSTIFICATION. 

§ 16. — The Fifth Session was held June 17th, 1546. After several 
days spent in unprofitable debate upon the subject of original sin, in 
which more use was made of the subtleties of Aquinas and Bona- 
ventura and of the unintelligible dogmas of the schoolmen than of 
the word of God, a decree was passed, which is hardly worth 
recording, expressive of the views of Rome on this point, and con- 
cluding as usual with the awful anathema on all who presumed even 
to think differently. The following two brief extracts are sufficient, 
as specimens of the spirit of this decree : — 

Si quis parvulos recentes ab uteris Whosoever shall affirm, that new- 

matrum baptizandos negat, etiam si fu- bom infants, even though sprung from 

erint a b&ptizatis parentibus orti, &c, baptized parents, ought not to be bap- 

ANATHEMA SIT. tized, &c, LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Si quis per Jesu Christi Domini nos- Whosoever shall deny that the guilt 
tri gratiam, qua? in Baptismate confer- of original sin is remitted by the grace of 
tur, reatum originalis peccati remitti ne- our Lord Jesus Christ, bestowed in bap- 
gat, &c. Si quis autem contrarium tism, &c. If any one THINKS diffek- 
senserit, ANATHEMA SIT. ently, LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

The Sixth Session was to have been held July 28th, but the pro- 
tracted debates on the important subject of justification so long de- 
layed the preparation of the decree that it had to be deferred till 
the 13th of January, 1547, when a long decree, consisting of six- 
teen chapters and thirty-three canons, was finally passed. A few 
of the canons and curses will be sufficient to indicate the doctrine 
of Rome on this point. 

Si quis dixerit, homines justificari vel Whoever shall affirm, that men are 

sola imputatione justitiae Christi, vel justified solely by the imputation of the 

sola peccatorum remissione, exclusa righteousness of Christ, by the remission 

gratia, et charitate, quae in cordibus of sin, to the exclusion of grace and 

eorum per Spiritum sanctum diffunda- charity, which is shed abroad in their 

tur, atque illis inhaereat ; aut etiam gra- hearts, and inheres in them ; or that the 

tiam, qua justificamur, esse tantum fa- grace by which we are justified is only 

vorem Dei ; ANATHEMA SIT. the favor of God ; LET HIM BE AC- 
CURSED. 

* In popish priest-ridden Spain these prohibitions of the index still operate in all 
their force, and wo be to the man who presumes to sell or to read a book pro- 
scribed by these priestly enemies of the freedom of the press* •' There is still 
fixed," says Mr. Bourgoing, " every year, at the church doors, the index, or list of 
those books, especially foreign, of which the holy office has thought fit to inter- 
dict the reading, on pain of excommunication." Modem Stale of Spain, ii., p. 276. 



500 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



[book vn. 



Canons and curses of the council on Justification. 



Si quis hominem semel justificatum 
dixerit amplius peccare non posse, 
neque gratiam amittere, atque ideo eum 
qui labitur, et peccat, nunquam vere fu- 
isse justificatum ; aut contra, posse in 
tota vita peccata omnia, etiam venialia, 
vitare, nisi ex speciali Dei privilegio, 
quemadmodum de beata Virgine tenet 
Ecclesia; ANATHEMA SIT. 



Si quis dixerit, justitiam acceptam 
non conservari, atque etiam augeri co- 
ram Deo per bona opera ; sed opera ipsa 
fructus solummodo et signa esse justifi- 
cationis adeptae, non autem ipsius au- 
gends causam ; ANATHEMA SIT. 

Si quis in quolibet bono opere justum 
saltern venialiter peccare dixerit, aut, 
quod intolerabilius est, mortaliter ; atque 
ideo poenas zeternas mereri ; tantumque 
ob id non damnari, quia Deus ea opera 
non imputet ad damnationem ; ANA- 
THEMA SIT. 

Si quis dixerit, eum, qui post Baptis- 
raura lapsus est, non posse per Dei gra- 
tiam resurgere, aut posse quidem, sed 
sola fide amissam justitiam recuperare 
sine Sacramento Pcenitentiae, prout 
sancta Romana, et universalis Ecclesia, 
a Christo Domino, et ejus Apostolis 
edocta, hue usque professa est, servavit, 
et docuit : ANATHEMA SIT. 



Si quis post acceptam justificationis 
gratiam, cuilibet peccatori poenitenti ita 
culpam remitti, et reatum aeternae poenas 
deleri dixerit, ut nullus remaneat reatus 
poenae temporalis exsolvendae vel in hoc 
seculo, vel in futuro in Purgatorio, an- 
tequam ad regna coelorum aditus patere 
possit ; ANATHEMA SIT. 



Si quis dixerit, hominis justificati bona 
opera ita esse dona Dei, ut non sint 
etiam bona ipsius justificati merita ; aut, 
ipsum justificatum bonis operibus, quas 
ab eo per Dei gratiam, et Jesu Christi 
meritum, cujus vivum membrum est, 
fiunt, non vere mereri augmentum gra- 
tiae, vitam seternam, et ipsius vitae aeter- 
nae, si tamen in gratia decesserit, con- 
secutionem, atque etiam gloriae augmen- 
tum : ANATHEMA SIT. 



Whoever shall affirm, that a man 
once justified cannot fall into sin any 
more, nor lose grace, and therefore that 
he who falls into sin never was truly 
justified ; or, on the other hand, that he 
is able, all bis life long, to avoid all 
sins, even such as are venial, and that 
without a special privilege from God, 
such as the church believes was granted 
to the blessed Virgin ; LET HIM BE 
ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm, that justifi- 
cation received is not preserved, and 
even increased, in the sight of God, 
by good works ; but that works are only 
the fruits and evidences of justification 
received, and not the causes of its in- 
crease : LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm, that a righteous 
man sins in every good work, at least 
venially ; or, which is yet more intolera- 
ble, mortally ; and that he therefore de- 
serves eternal punishment, and only for 
this reason is not condemned, that God 
does not impute his works to condemna- 
tion ; LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm, that he who 
has fallen after baptism cannot by the 
grace of God rise again ; or that if he 
can, it is possible for him to recover his 
lost righteousness by faith only, without 
the sacrament of penance, which the 
holy Roman and universal church, in- 
structed by Christ the Lord and his 
Apostles, has to this day professed, kept, 
and taught j LET HIM BE AC- 
CURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm, that when the 
grace of justification is received, the of- 
fence of the penitent sinner is so for- 
given, and the sentence of eternal pun- 
ishment reversed, that there remains no 
temporal punishment to be endured, be- 
fore his entrance into the kingdom of 
heaven, either in this world, or in the fu- 
ture state, in purgatory ; LET HIM BE 
ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm, that the good 
works of a justified man are in such 
sense the gifts of God, that they are not 
also his worthy merits ; or that he, being 
justified by his good works, which are 
wrought by him through the grace of 
God, and the merits of Jesus Christ, of 
whom he is a living member, does not 
really deserve increase of grace, eternal 
life, the enjoyment of that eternal life if 
he dies in a state of grace, and even an 
increase of glory ; LET HIM BE AC- 
CURSED. 



chap, in.] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 501 

Way in which Popery makes the work of Christ a stepping-stone for human merit. 

§ 17. — Thus did the doctors of Trent transform the finished work 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, into a mere stepping-stone for human merit, 
and teach men to look rather to their own good works as the founda- 
tion of their hope than to the glorious righteousness of the Son of God 
imputed to the believer, and received by faith ; and such has ever been 
the doctrine of Rome. Still further to " darken counsel," the doctors 
connected justification with baptism, whether in the case of an infant 
or an adult. Is an individual distressed on account of sin ? If he 
was baptized in infancy, he is told that he was then justified, and 
that penance is now the path to peace, the " second plank after ship- 
wreck." If he was not baptized in infancy, as soon as that ordin- 
ance is administered he is assured that he is safe. He is not bidden 
to look to the cross of Christ ; nothing is said of the " blood that 
cleanseth from all sin ;" he has been washed in the " laver of regene- 
ration ;" the " instrumental cause" of justification, and with this he 
is to be satisfied. Here is no room for the Apostolic declaration, 
" Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord 
Jesus Christ" (Rom. v., 1) : it is shut out altogether. 

The effect of these sentiments on the mind, and the influence it is 
intended they should exert, may be ascertained by a reference to 
the manner in which they are interwoven with the devotional exer- 
cises of Roman Catholics. The following extracts are taken from 
the " Garden of the Soul." A " Morning Prayer" contains these 
expressions : " I desire by thy grace to make satisfaction for my sins 
by worthy fruits of penance ; and I will willingly accept from thy 
hands whatever pains, crosses, or sufferings I shall meet with during 
the remainder of my life, or at my death, as just punishments of my 
iniquities ; begging that they may be united to the sufferings and 
death of my Redeemer, and sanctified by his passion, in which is all 
my hope for mercy, grace, and salvation." " How very short the 
time of this life is, which is given us in order to labor for eternity, 
and to send before us a stock of good works, on which we may live 
for eternity." The sick person is thus instructed, " Beg that God 
would accept of all your pains and uneasiness, in union with the suf- 
ferings of your Saviour Jesus Christ, in deduction of the punish- 
ment due to your sins." On these passages no comment is re- 
quired : their design and tendency are sufficiently apparent. 

We add some specimens of the prayers prescribed in the Roman 
Missal. " Let our fasts, we beseech thee, O Lord, be acceptable to 
thee, that by atoning for our sins, they may both make us worthy 
of thy grace, and bring us to the everlasting effects of thy promise." 
"Receive, O Lord, we beseech thee, the prayers of the faithful, to- 
gether with these oblations ; that by these duties of piety they may 
obtain eternal life."* " O God, who by innumerable miracles hast 
honored blessed Nicholas, the bishop ; grant, we beseech thee, that 
by his merits and intercession we may be delivered from eternal 

♦Roman Missal for the use of the Laity, pp. 61, 337. 



502 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m 

Tyndal and Luther on the glorious doctrine of justification by faith. 

flames."* " O God, who wast pleased to send blessed Patrick, thy 
bishop and confessor, to preach thy glory to the Gentiles ; grant, 
that by his merits and intercession we may, through thy grace, be 
enabled to keep thy commandments."! " God, who hast translated 
the blessed Dunstan, thy high priest, to thy heavenly kingdom ; 
grant that we, by his glorious merits, may pass from hence to never- 
ending joys."J " O God, who grantest us to celebrate the transla- 
tion of the relics of blessed Thomas, thy martyr and bishop ; we 
humbly beseech thee that, by his merits and prayers, we may pass 
from vice to virtue, and from the prison of this flesh to an eternal 
kingdom."^ 

§ 18. — In opposition to these anti-scriptural popish sentiments, it is 
cheering to turn to the glorious doctrine advocated by Luther, 
Melancthon, and their noble associates in the work of reforma- 
tion. There was no doctrine upon which the reformers were more 
unanimously agreed, than the glorious truth of justification by faith 
alone through the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Says 
the martyred Tyndal, the early translator of the New Testament, 
in his " Prologe to the Romayns :" " The somme and hole cause of 
the writing of this epistle is, to prove that a man is justified by 
fayth onely ; which proposition whoso denyeth, to him is not onely 
this Epistle and al that Paulwryteth, but also the hole Scripture so 
locked up, that he shall never understand it to his soul's health" 
Luther calls this doctrine * articulus stantis aut cadentis ecclesia? — 
the article by which a church stands or falls ; he says, " it is the 
head corner-stone which supports, nay, gives existence and life to 
the church of God ; so that without it the church cannot subsist for 
an hour." — He calls it the " only solid rock" " This Christian article," 
he writes, " can never be handled and inculcated enough. If this 
doctrine fall and perish, the knowledge of every truth in religion 
will fall and perish with it. On the contrary, if this do but flourish, 
all good things will also flourish, namely, true religion, the true 
worship of God, the glory of God, and a right knowledge of every- 
thing which it becomes a Christian to know.|| 

The following memorable protestation of Luther on this subject, 
deserves to be written in letters of gold. " I, Martin Luther, an un- 
worthy preacher of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, thus pro- 
fess, and thus believe ; that this article, that faith alone, without 
works, can justify before god, shall never be overthrown, neither 
by the Emperor, nor by the Turk, nor by the Tartar, nor by the 
Pope, with all his cardinals, bishops, sacrificers, monks, nuns, kings, 

* Roman Missal for the use of the Laity, p. 527. f Ibid., p. 563. J Ibid., p. 585. 

\ Ibid., 614. The late celebrated Romanist. Dr. Milner, said of bishop Poynter, 
" that he would give the universe to possess half his merit in the sight of God." 
Laity's Directory, 1829, p. 74. Cramp, 315. There is a striking similarity, or 
rather identity between the doctrines of the Oxford Puseyites and the Romanists 
on the article of Justification. For proof of this, and extracts from Puseyite 
writings, see M'llvaine on the Oxford Divinity— -passim. 

|| Milner's Church history, vol. iv., p. 515. Scott's Continuation of Milner, vol. 
L, p. 527. Cramp 112. 



chap, in.] POPERY AT TRENT— A D. 1545-1563. 503 

Luther's noble protestation. His visit to Rome. The just shall live by faith, 

princes, powers of the world, nor yet by all the devils in hell. 
This article shall stand fast whether they will or no. This is the 
true Gospel. Jesus Christ redeemed us from our sins, and he only. 
This most firm and certain truth is the voice of Scripture, though 
the world and all the devils rage and roar. If Christ alone take 
away our sins, we cannot do this with our works ; and as it is im- 
possible to embrace Christ but by faith, it is therefore equally impos- 
sible to apprehend him by works. If, then, faith must apprehend 
Christ, before works can follow, the conclusion is irrefragable, that 
faith alone apprehends him, before and without the consideration of 
works ; and this is our justification and deliverance from sin. Then, 
and not till then, good works follow faith as its necessary and 
inseparable fruit. This is the doctrine I teach ; and this the Holy 
Spirit and the Church of the faithful have delivered. In this will I 
abide. Amen."* 

§ 19. — And it was no wonder that Luther loved this doctrine of jus- 
tification by faith. It was that blessed passage, " the just shall live 
by faith," that first darted a ray of gospel peace and joy into his 
mind, when struggling to obtain ease for a wounded conscience by 
the ceremonies and mummeries of Popery. In 1510, the future re- 
former was dispatched on a journey to Rome. On his way thither, 
the poor German monk was entertained at a wealthy convent of 
the Benedictines, situated on the Po, in Lombardy. This convent 
enjoyed a revenue of thirty-six thousand ducats ; twelve thousand 
were spent for the table, twelve thousand on the buildings, and 
twelve thousand to supply the other wants of the monks. The 
magnificence of the apartments, the richness of the dresses, and the 
delicacy of the viands, astonished Luther. Marble, silk, and luxury 
of every kind ; what a novel spectacle to the humble brother of the 
convent of Wittemberg ! He was amazed and silent ; but Friday 
came, and what was his surprise ! The table of the Benedictines 
was spread with abundance of meats. Then he found courage to 
speak out. " The Church," said he, " and the Pope forbid such 
things." The Benedictines were offended at this rebuke from the 
unmannerly German. But Luther, having repeated his remark, and 
perhaps threatened to report their irregularity, some of them 
thought it easiest to get rid of their troublesome guest. The porter 
of the convent hinted to him that he incurred danger by his stay. 
He accordingly took his departure from this epicurean monastery, 
and pursued his journey to Bologna, where he fell sick. Some have 
seen in this sickness the effects of poison. It is more probable that 
the change in his mode of living, disordered the frugal monk of 
Wittemberg, who had been used to subsist for the most part on dry 
bread and herrings. This sickness was not " unto death," but 
for the glory of God. His constitutional sadness and depression 
returned. What a fate was before him, to perish thus far away 
from Germany under a scorching sun, in a foreign land 1 The dis- 

* Lives of the Eminent Reformers, p. 98 : Dublin, 1828. 



504 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. Ibookvu. 

Luther climbing Pilate's stair-case for indulgence. His horror and shame at himself. 

tress of mind he had experienced at Erfurth again oppressed him. 
A sense of his sins disturbed him ; and the prospect of the judgment 
of God filled him with dismay. But in the moment when his terror 
was at its height that word of Paul. " The just shall live by Faith," 
recurred with power to his mind, and beamed upon his soul like 
a ray from heaven. Raised and comforted, he rapidly regained 
health, and again set forth for Rome, expecting to find there a very 
different manner of life from that of the Lombard convents, and 
eager to efface, by the contemplation of Roman sanctity, the sad 
impression left upon his memory by his sojourn on the banks of 
the Po. 

§ 20. — On his arrival at Rome, with the hope one day of obtaining 
an indulgence promised by the Pope to any one who should ascend 
on his knees what is called Pilate's staircase, the poor Saxon monk 
was slowly climbing those steps which they told him had been 
miraculously transported from Jerusalem to Rome. But whilst he 
was going through this meritorious work, he thought he heard a 
voice like thunder speaking from the depth of his heart : " The just 
shall live by faith." These words, which already on two occa- 
sions had struck upon his ear as the voice of an angel of God, re- 
sounded instantaneously and powerfully within him. He started up 
in terror on the steps up which he had been crawling ; he was hor- 
rified at himself; and, struck with shame for the degradation to 
which superstition had debased him, he fled from the scene of his 
folly. 

This powerful text had a mysterious influence on the life of Lu- 
ther. It was a creative word for the reformer and for the refor- 
mation. It was by means of that word that God then said : " Let 
there be light, and there was light." It is frequently necessary that 
a truth should be repeatedly presented to our minds, in order to 
produce its due effect. Luther had often studied the Epistle to the 
Romans, and yet never had justification by faith, as there taught, 
appeared so clear to him. He now understood that righteousness 
which alone can stand in the sight of God ; he was now partaker 
of that perfect obedience of Christ which God imputes freely to 
the sinner as soon as he looks in humility to the God-man crucified. 
This was the decisive epoch in the inward life of Luther. That 
faith which had saved him from the fear of death became hencefor- 
ward the soul of his theology ; a stronghold in every danger, giv- 
ing power to his preaching and strength to his charity, constituting 
a ground of peace, a motive to service, and a consolation in life and 
death.* 

* Merle D'Aubigne, pp. 54, 55. 



505 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE SACRAMENTS AND THE DOCTRINE OF INTENTION. BAPTISM AND 

CONFIRMATION. 

§ 21. — The Seventh Session. — It was resolved by the fathers 
of Trent at the first general congregation,* after the sixth session 
of the council, that the subject of the next doctrinal decrees should 
be the sacraments. Respecting the number of the sacraments, the 
members were pretty generally agreed. It was held that they 
were seven, viz., baptism, confirmation, the eucharist, penance, ex- 
treme unction, orders, and matrimony. In support of this number, 
they adduced tradition and the most fanciful analogies. Some of 
them gravely argued that since seven is a perfect number, since 
there are seven days in the week, seven excellent virtues, seven 
deadly sins, seven planets, &c, therefore, as a matter of course, 
there must be seven sacraments. Such was the boasted wisdom 
of the united talent and learning of this infallible popish council ! 
Still, it is not astonishing that the fathers resorted to arguments 
like these, in support of seven sacraments, since it was impossible 
to find in the New Testament a single argument for more than two, 
viz., baptism and the Lord's Supper.f 

The doctrinal decree was ready by the 3d of March, 1547, and 
was promulgated in the seventh session held on that day. A few 
extracts from it will be sufficient. The decree was divided into 
three parts. (1) Of the sacraments in general, (2) of baptism, (3) 
of confirmation. The following are extracts from the first part, 
the sacraments in general. 

Ad consummationem salutaris de jus- In order to complete the exposition 

tificatione doctrinse, quae, in praecedenti of the wholesome doctrine of justifica- 

proxima Sessione uno omnium Patrum tion, published in the last session by 

consensu promulgata fuit ; consentaneum the unanimous consent of the fathers, 

visum est de sanctissimis Ecclesiae Sa- it hath been deemed proper to treat of 

cramentis agere, per quae omnis vera the holy sacraments of the church, by 

justitia vel incipit, vel coepta augetur, which all true righteousness is at first 

vel amissa reparatur. Propterea sacro- imparted, then increased, and after- 

sancta cecumenica et general is Triden- wards restored, if lost. For which 

tina Synodus, in Spiritu sancto legitime cause the sacred, holy, oecumenical and 

congregata, &c. . . . sanctarum Scrip- general council of Trent, lawfully as- 

turarum doctrinae, Apostolicis traditioni- sembled, &c, abiding by the doctrine 

bus, atque aliorum Conciliorum et Pa- of the sacred scriptures, the tradition 

trum consensui inhaerendo, hos pra> of the apostles, and the uniform con- 

* The meetings of the council for debating the various subjects, and for pre- 
paring the decrees, were generally called Congregations. When the decrees 
were in readiness, the Session was held at which they were authoritatively pro- 
mulgated and enacted. 

f See Father Paul's History of the council of Trent, lib. ii., s. 85. 



506 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



[book vn. 



Canons and curses of the council on the Sacraments and Intention. 



sentes canones statuendos, et decernen 
dos censuit, &c. 




Si quis dixerit, Sacramenta novae 
legis non fuisse omnia a Jesu Christo, 
Domino nostro, instituta ; aut esse plura 
vel pauciora quam septem, videlicet, 
Baptismum, Confirmationem, Eucharis- 
tiam, PcEnitentiam, Extremam Unctio- 
nem, Ordinem, et Matrimonium ; aut 
etiam aliquod horum septem non esse 
vere et proprie Sacramentum ; AN- 
ATHEMA SIT. 

Si quis dixerit Sacramenta novas legis 
non esse ad salutem necessaria, sed 
superflua ; et sine eis, aut eorum voto 
per solam fidem homines a Deo gratiam 
justificationis adipisci ; licet omnia sin- 
gulis necessaria non sint ; ANATHE- 
MA SIT. 

Si quis dixerit, Sacramenta novae legis 
non continere gratiam, quam significant, 
aut gratiam ipsam non ponentibus, obi- 
cem non conferre, quasi signa tantum 
externa sint acceptae per fidem gratiae 
vel justitiee, et notae quaedam Christianas 
professionis, quibus apud homines dis- 
cernuntur fideles ab infidelibus ; AN- 
ATHEMA SIT. 

Si quis dixerit, per ipsa novae legis 
Sacramenta ex opere operato non con- 
ferri gratiam, sed solam fidem divinae 
promissionis ad gratiam consequendam 
sufficere : ANATHEMA SIT. 



Si quis dixerit, in ministris, dum Sa 
cramenta conficiunt, et conferunt, non 
requiri intentionem saltern faciendi 
quod facit Ecclesia ; ANATHEMA 
SIT. 



sent of other councils, and of the 
fathers, hath resolved to frame and de- 
cree these following canons, &c. 

Whoever shall affirm tijat the sacra- 
ments of the new law were not all in- 
stituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, or 
that they are more or fewer than seven, 
namely baptism, confirmation, the eu- 
charist, penance, extreme unction, or- 
ders, and matrimony, or that any of 
these seven is not truly and properly a 
sacrament : LET HIM BE ACCURS- 
ED. 

Whoever shall affirm that the sacra- 
ments of the new law are not necessary 
to salvation, but superfluous ; or that 
men may obtain the grace of justifica- 
tion by faith only, without these sacra- 
ments, although it is granted that they 
are not all necessary to every indivi- 
dual :* LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm that the sacra- 
ments of the new law do not contain the 
grace which they signify ; or that they 
do not confer that grace on those who 
place no obstacle in its way ; as if they 
were only the external signs of grace 
or righteousness received by faith, and 
marks of Christian profession, whereby 
the faithful are distinguished from un- 
believers : LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm that grace is 
not conferred by these sacraments of the 
new law, by their own power [ex opere 
operatol ; but that faith in the divine 
promise is all that is necessary to ob- 
tain grace : LET HIM BE ACCURS- 

- rw 



Whoever shall affirm that when 
ministers perform and confer a sacra- 
ment, it is not necessary that they 
should at least have the intention to do 
what the church does : LET HIM BE 
ACCURSED. 



§ 22. — This last canon and curse with respect to the doctrine of 
intention, demands a few words of explanation. The doctrine of 
Popery is that the validity of a sacrament depends upon the intention 
of the officiating priest ; so that no man can be sure that he has 
been duly baptized, unless he can be sure that the priest not only 
^^-^prrrrlounced the formula of the words, but also had the intention in 
his mind to baptize him. So in like manner, no one can be sure that 
he has received absolution from the priest, or that he has duly re- 
ceived the sacrament of the eucharist, unless he can look into the 



* This exception refers, doubtless, to orders and matrimony. The former pe- 
culiar to the priesthood, the latter forbidden to them. 



chap, iv.] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 507 

Absurdity of the Romish doctrine of Intention. 

heart of the minister and be sure that he had the intention duly to 
administer these rites. Now, as Romanism teaches that these are 
absolutely necessary to salvation, and the validity of all depends 
upon the state of the priest's mind, unknown to any but the omni- 
scient God ; in what a distressing state of doubt and anxiety must 
those be who seriously believe these doctrines and attentively re- 
flect upon them T\ How different, all this, from the gospel plan of 
immediate access to the mercy seat ; not through the medium of a 
fallible and often corrupt and depraved mortal, but through the 
Lord Jesus Christ himself, the great Apostle and High Priest of our 
profession. Popery says, " come to the priest ; if he baptize you, if 
he absolve you, then you may be saved ; but if he refuse to do it, 
then you shall be damned. Or if he do it, but without the due in- 
tention of mind (of which you can never be absolutely sure), then 
he may utter the formula of baptism, he may pronounce the words 
of absolution, but still you shall be damned ! for in the words of the 
decree, the 'intention' of the priest is essential to the validity of the 
act, and the act validly performed is necessary to salvation." On 
the other hand the Scriptures say — and Protestantism re-echoes the 
blessed invitation — " Come to Christ ; for ' he is able to save unto 
the uttermost, all that come unto God by him !' * Believe in the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved' — and ' him that cometh 
unto me I will in no wise cast out.' " In the one system, all is made 
to depend on the priest, and the sinner is thus held in the chains of 
mental bondage to a miserable mortal ; in the other all is shown to 
depend on Christ, and the ransomed believer is enabled to say, " I 
know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able 
to keep that which I have committed to him, until that day." Such 
is tjje slavery of Popery. Such is the freedom of the gospel ! 
r§ 23. — The doctrine of intention also has an important bearing 
upon the change of the wafer into the body and blood of Christ, and 
upon what is called the " sacrifice of the mass." For if the priest 
have not the intention to effect this change, and thus to " create his 
creator, then it is maintained by Romanists that no change takes 
place, the wafer does not become God, and the people who worship 
it are consequently guilty of idolatry. So that no man who wor- 
ships the host, can possibly be sure at the time that he is not guilty 
of idolatry. The following extract from the Romish Mass Book or 
Missal (p. 53), will sufficiently explain this remark. The portion of 
the book from which it is taken is entitled — ' De defectibus in cele- 
bratione missarum occurrentibus ;' that is, respecting defects oc- 
curring in the mass. 

De defectibus Vini. — Of the defects of the Wine. 

Si vinum sit factum penitus acetum, If the wine be quite sour, or putrid, or 

vel penitus putridum, vel de uvis acerbis be made of bitter or unripe grapes : or 

seu non maturis expressum, vel ei ad- if so much water be mixed with it, as 

mixtum tantum aquae, ut vinum sit cor- spoils the wine, no sacrament is made, 
ruptum, non conficitur sacramentum. 



508 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



[book vn. 



Curious extracts from the Romish Missal on defects in the Mass. 



Si post consecrationem corporis, aut 
etiam vaA t deprehendicur defectus alte- 
rius speciei, altera jam consecrata ; tunc 
si nullo modo materia quae esset appo- 
nenda haberi possit, ad evitandum scan- 
dalum procedeudum erit. 



If after the consecration of the body, 
or even of the wine, the defect of either 
kind be discovered, one being consecrat- 
ed ; then, if the matter which should 
be placed cannot be had, to avoid scan- 
dal, he must proceed. 



De defectibus Forma. — The defects in the Form. 



Si quis aliquid diminuerit vel immuta- 
ret de forma consecrationis corporis et 
sanguinis, et in ipsa verborum immuta- 
tione, verba idem non significarent, non 
conficeret sacramentum. 



If any one shall leave out or change 
any part of the form of the consecration 
of the body and blood, and in the change 
of the words, such words do not signify 



tion. 



De defectibus Ministri. — The defects of the Minister. 



Defectus ex parte ministri possunt 
contingere quoad ea, qua? in ipso requi- 
runtur. haec autem sunt, imprimis ihtek- 
tio, deinde dispositio animae, dispositio 
corporis, dispositio vestimentorum, dis- 
positio in ministerio ipso, quoad ea, quae 
in ipso possunt occurrere. 

Si quis nob raTEHDir conficere, sed 
delusarie aliquid agere. Item si aliquse 
hostiffi ex oblivione remaneant in altari, 
vel aliqua pars vini, vel aliqua hostia la- 
teat, cum non intendat consecrare. nisi 
quas videt ; item si quis habeat coram se 
undecim hostias, et intendat consecrare 
solum decern, non determinans quas de- 
cern intendit, in his casibus non conse- 
crat, quia requiritur intentio, &c, &c. 



The defects on the part of the minis- 
ter, may occur in these things required 
in him, these are first and especially br- 
TEnnoifj after that, disposition of soul, 
of body, of vestments, and disposition in 
the service itself, as to those matters 
which can occur in it. 

If any one estexd sot to consecrate, 
but to counterfeit ; also, if any wafers 
remain forgotten on the altar, or if 
any part of the wine, or any wafer lie 
hidden, when he did not intend to con- 
secrate but what he saw ; also, if he 
shall have before him eleven wafers and 
intended to consecrate but ten only, not 
determining what ten he meant, in all 
these cases there is no consecration, 
because intention is required ! 



In addition to the above extracts from the Missal, the following 
upon various other defects besides the intention of the minister, are 
curious, and worth recording : — 



Si post consecrationem ceciderit mus- 
ca vel arnea, vel aliquid ejusmodi in ca- 
licem et fiat nausea sacerdoti, extrahat 
earn et lavet cum vino, finita missa, com- 
burat et combustio ac lotio hujusmodi in 
sacrarium projiciatur. Si autem non 
fuerit el nausea, nee ullum periculum 
tiineat, sumat cum sanguine. 

Si in hieme sanguis congeletur in ca- 
lice, involvatur calix in pannis calefactis, 
si id non prone erit, ponatur in fervente 
aqua prope altare, dummodo in calicem 
non intret donee liquefiat. 

Si per negligentiam, aliquid de san- 
guine Christi ceciderit. seu quidem su- 
per terram, seu super tabulam lingua 
lambatur, et locus ipse radatur quantum 



If after consecration, a gnat, a spider, 
or any such thing fall into the chalice, 
let the priest swallow it with the blood, 
if he can ; but if he fear danger and 
have a loathing, let him take it out, and 
wash it with wine, and when mass is 
ended, burn it, and cast it and the wash- 
ing into holy ground. 

If in winter the blood be frozen in the 
cup. put warm clothes about the cup ; it 
that will not do, let it be put into boiling 
water near the altar, till it be melted, 
taking care it does not get into the cup. 

If any of the blood of Christ fall on 
the ground by negligence, it must be 
licked up with the tongue, the place be 
sufficiently scraped, and the scrapings 



chap, iv.] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 500 

The priest must piously swallow his vomit. Priests ridiculing their own mummeries, 

satis est, et abrasio comburatur : cinis burned : but the ashes must be buried in 

vero in sacrarium recondatur. hoiy ground. 

Si sacerdos evomet eucharistiam, si If the priest vomit the eucharist, and 

6pecies integrae appareant reverenter su- the species appear entire, he must pi* 

mantur, nisi nausea fiat; tunc enim ously swallow it again; but if a nausea 

species consecratse caute separentur, et prevent him, then let the consecrated 

in aliquo loco sacro reponantur donee species be cautiously separated, and put 

corrumpantur, et postea in sacrarium by in some holy place till they be cor- 

projiciantur ; quod si species non appa- rupted, and after, let them be cast into 

reant comburatur vomitus, et cineres in holy ground ; but if the species do not 

sacrarium mittantur. appear, the vomit must be burned and 1 

the ashes thrown into holy ground. j 

How miserably debased must be the soul and intellect of a ra- 
tional being, before he can submit to a religion which enjoins such 
rules as the above ! The votaries of Jupiter, Diana or Juggernaut, 
would be ashamed of them ! Is it possible for the priests to believe 
theg£ disgusting absurdities ? Credat Judceus Apella. 
£§24. — Now the question naturally arises, when these priests pro- 
nounce the words of consecration, do they always intend to conse- 
crate, or to transmute the wafer into " the body, blood, soul, and di- 
vinity of Christ ?" Let the following incident in the life of Luther suf 
flee for a reply. One day, during the visit of the future reformer at 
Rome, Luther was at table with several distinguished ecclesiastics, 
to whose society he was introduced in consequence of his charac- 
ter of envoy from the Augustins of Germany. These priests ex- 
hibited openly their buffoonery in manners and impious conversa- 
tion ; and did not scruple to give utterance before him to many in- 
decent jokes, doubtless thinking him one like themselves. They 
related, amongst other things, laughing, and priding themselves 
upon it, how when saying mass at the altar, instead of the sacra- 
mental words which were to transform the elements into the body 
and blood of the Saviour, they pronounced over the bread and 
wine these sarcastic words : " Bread thou art, and bread thou shalt 
remain ; wine thou art, and wine thou shalt remain — Panis es et 
panis manebis ; vinum es et vinum manebis." " Then," continued 
they, " we elevate the pyx, and all the people worship." Luther 
could scarcely believe his earsTN His mind, gifted with much viva- 
city, and even gaiety, in the sodfety of his friends, was remarkable 
for gravity when treating of serious things. These Romish mock- 
eries shocked him. " 1," says he, " was a serious and pious young 
monk ; such language deeply grieved me. If at Rome they speak 
thus openly at table, thought I, what, if their actions should cor- 
respond with their words, and popes, cardinals, and courtiers should 
thus say mass. And I, who have so often heard them recite it so 
devoutly, how. in that case, must I have been deceived !"* 



t 



Merle D'Aubigne, p. 53. That the priests of the nineteenth century in the 
city of Rome are no better than those of the sixteenth above mentioned, is mani 
feet from the following words of one who was but lately one of their number. 
" What was my surprise, 1 ' says Dr. Giustiniani (after becoming sceptical upon 
some of the doctrines of Popery), " when I made known my thoughts to somo 
priests my intimate friends, to find that they were rank infidels I With the Scrip- 
33 



510 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



LBooK vn. 



Canons and curses on Baptism and Confirmation. 



Baptism declared necessary to salvation. 



§ 24. — The second and third divisions of the decree were upon 
the subjects of Baptism and Confirmation. From these it will be 
sufficient to cite, without remark, the following extracts. 



Si quis dixerit, Baptismum liberum 
esse, hoc est, non necessarium ad salu- 
tem ; ANATHEMA SIT. 

Si quis dixerit, parvulos, eo quod ac- 
tum credendi non habent, suscepto Bap- 
tismo inter fideles computandos non 
esse, ac propterea, cum ad annos dis- 
cretionis pervenirent, esse rebaptizan- 
dos ; aut praestare omitti eorum Bap- 
tisma, quam eos non actu proprio cre- 
dentes baptizari in sola fide EcclesiaB ; 
ANATHEMA SIT. 



Si quis dixerit, Confirmationem bap- 
tizatorum otiosam casremoniam esse, et 
non potius verum et proprium Sacra- 
mentum; aut olim nihil aliud fuisse, 
quam catechesim quamdam, qua adoles- 
centije proximi fidei suae rationem co- 
ram Ecclesia exDonebant; ANATHE- 
MA SIT. 

Si quis dixerit, injurios esse Spiritui 
sancta eos qui sacro Confirmationis 
chrismati virtutem aliquam tribuunt ; 
ANATHEMA SIT 



Whoever shall affirm that baptism is 
indifferent, that is, not necessary to sal- 
vation; LET HIM BE ACCURSED 

Whoever shall affirm that children 
are not to be reckoned among the faith- 
ful by the reception of baptism, because 
they do not actually believe ; and there- 
fore that they are to be re-baptized when 
they come to years of discretion ; or that, 
since they cannot personally believe, it 
is better to omit their baptism, than that 
they should be baptized only in the faith 
of the church : LET HIM BE AC- 
CURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm that the con- 
firmation of the baptized is a trifling 
ceremony, and not a true and proper 
sacrament; or that formerly it was 
nothing more than a kind of catechiz- 
ing ; in which young persons explained 
the reasons of their faith before the 
church : LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm that they offend 
the Holy Spirit, who attribute any vir- 
tue to the said chrism of confirmation : 
LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 



By the first of these canons, we perceive that Rome regards 
baptism as necessary to salvation, and pronounces her curse upon 
all who believe otherwise. By the second, she consigns in a bo-dy 
to damnation (that is, so far as her good wishes can operate), at 
least one of the largest denominations of the great protestant family ; 
and by the third and fourth, that and all the other denominations 
of Christians belonging to that great family, who are unwilling to 
believe that " confirmation " is " a true and proper sacrament." 

tures they were unacquainted ; the doctrines of the church they considered as 
human fabrications ; mocked at and ridiculed things most sacred in the eye of a 
devoted papist, and laughed at the ignorance of the poor deluded people." (Papal 
Rome as it is, p. 42. 



511 



CHAPTER V. 

SUSPENSION OF THE COUNCIL IN 1549, AND RESUMPTION UNDER POPE 
JULIUS III. IN 1551. DECREE ON TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 

§ 25. — Soon after the session in which the canons just cited were 
passed, a proposal was made under the pretext of a fever having 
broken out at Trent to transfer the council to some other place ; and 
through the influence of the legate, De Monte, and others of the 
ultra-papal party, a vote of the majority was obtained, and a de- 
cree passed at the eighth session, March 1 1th, 1547, though not with- 
out strong opposition, to remove to Bologna, a city belonging to the 
Pope, and where the future sessions would be still more exclusively 
under his influence, than those already past. This step was very 
offensive to the emperor Charles, who employed all his influence in 
persuading, as many as possible of the divines still to continue at 
Trent. 

Those who assembled at Bologna were all Italian prelates, and 
entirely under the direction of the Pope. Being so few in number, 
and exclusively of one nation, they could hardly presume to act as 
a, general council On April 21st, they met in what was called 
the ninth session, only to adjourn to June 2d. On the latter day 
they met again, and adjourned to September 14th, when they as- 
sembled only to prorogue the council for an indefinite period ; and 
after the lapse of more than two years, the few prelates still re- 
maining at Bologna were informed by the Pope on the 17th of Sep- 
tember, 1549, that their services were no longer needed, and conse- 
quently they dispersed to their homes. 

§ 26. — In less than two months after the suspension of the coun- 
cil, pope Paul III. died, on the 10th of November, 1549. When the 
cardinals entered into the conclave to choose a successor, they pre- 
pared and signed a series of resolutions, which they severally bound 
themselves by solemn oath to observe in the event of being elected 
to the Apostolic chair. The resumption of the council, the esta- 
blishment of such reforms as it might enact, and the reformation of 
the court of Rome, were included.* It was long before they could 
agree, so powerful was the influence of party feelings and conflict- 
ing interests, producing complicated intrigue, and thereby extend- 
ing tneir deliberations to a most inconvenient and wearisome length. 
At last the choice fell on De Monte, the former legate at Trent, who 
was publicly installed into his high office, February 23d, 1 550, and 
assumed the name of Julius III. 

It affords a striking comment upon the pretended efforts of the 
ecclesiastics at the council of Trent, to effect a reform in the dis- 
cipline and morals of the priesthood, that a notoriously immoral 
man like De Monte should have been elevated to the papacy. In 
addition to his other vices, he was a notorious sodomite, and bestow- 

* Le Plat, vol. iv., p. 156-159. 



512 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vn. 



A hard question to answer The arrogant bull of pope Julius for the re-assembling of the council 

ed a cardinal's hat on a young man named Innocent, the keeper of 
his monkey, of whom he was suspected to be too fond. When the 
cardinals remonstrated with him on occasion of this promotion, he 
cooly replied, "A nd what merit did you discover in me, that you 
raised me to the Popedom ?" They could not easily answer such a 
question,* nor could they any more easily remove the unworthy pope 
from his ill-deserved elevation. 

§ 27. — The Emperor, who was now anxious to unite all the Ger- 
man princes in some plan of religious union, pressed the resumption 
of the council of Trent upon the new pope, and endeavored to pre- 
vail upon him, in his bull for the re-assembling of the council, to 
use such language as might not disgust the Protestants, and prevent 
them from coming to Trent. It soon became evident, however, that 
Julius wished to hinder the Protestants from attending the council, 
and was determined by this means to prevent the discussions which 
would result from their appearance there. Instead of showing any 
moderation in the style and temper of the document, he used ex- 
pressions that could not but be obnoxious and offensive, even to 
many Roman Catholics. The pontiff asserted that he possessed 
the sole power of convening and directing general councils ; com- 
manded, " in the plentitude of apostolic authority," the prelates of 
Europe to repair forthwith to Trent ; promised, unless prevented 
by his age and infirmities, or the pressure of public affairs, to pre- 
side in person ; and denounced the vengeance of Almighty God, 
and of the Apostles Peter and Paul, on any who should resist or 
disobey the decree. f When the bull was presented to the Protes- 
tants, it produced exactly the effects that were anticipated. They 
declared that such arrogant pretensions precluded the hope of con- 
ciliation, and that they must retract any promise they had given to 
submit to the council, since it could not be done without wounding 
their consciences and offending God. 

§ 28. — At length the council was re-opened. The eleventh session 
was held on the 1st of May, 1551, and the twelfth on the 1st of 
September following, but no doctrinal decrees were passed at either. 

The thirteenth session was held on the 11th of October, and a 
long decree was issued on the subject of Transubstantiation, con- 
sisting of eight chapters and eleven canons and curses. It will be 
sufficient to quote the following five of the canons and curses. 

Si quis negaverit, in sanctissimas Whoever shall deny, that in the most 

Eucharistize Sacramento contineri vere, holy sacrament of the eucharist there 

realiter et substantialiter corpus et san- are truly, really, and substantially con- 

guinem una cum anima et divinitate tained the body and blood of our Lord 

Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ac proinde Jesus Christ, together with his soul and 

totum Christum : sed dixerit tantum- divinity, and consequently Christ entire ; 

* Thuan. Hist, dcs Conclaves, Tom. i., p. 101. 

f Wolf. Lect. Memorab., torn, ii., p. 640-644. Wolfius says that a new coinage 
was issued by Julius III., with this motto — " Gens et regnum, quod mihi non parue- 
rit peribit — The nation and kingdom which will not obey me, shall perish." See 
also Father Paul's council of Trent, lib. iii., sec. 33. 



CHAP. V.] 



POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 



513 



Canons and curses of the council on Transubstantiation. 



modo esse in eo ut in signo, vel figura, 
aut virtute; ANATHEMA SIT. 

Si quis dixerit, in sacro-sancto Eu- 
charistiaB Sacramento remanere sub- 
stantiam panis et vini una cum corpore 
et sanguine Domini nostri Jesu Christi, 
negaveritque mirabilem illam et singu- 
larem conversionem totius substantias 
panis in corpus, et totius, substantias 
vini in sanguinem, manentibus dumtax- 
Itt speciebus panis et vini ; quam qui- 
dem conversionem Catholica Ecclesia 
aptissime Transubstantiationem appel- 
lat; ANATHEMA SI?. 

Si quis negaverit, in venerabili Sacra- 
mento Eucharistiae sub unaquaque spe- 
cie, et sub singulis cujusque speciei par- 
tibus, separatione facta totum Christum 
contineri ; ANATHEMA SIT. 

Si quis dixerit, peracta consecratione, 
in admirabili Eucharistia Sacramento 
non esse corpus et sanguinem Domini 
nostri Jesu Christi, sed tantum in usu, 
dum sumitur non autem ante vel post, 
et in hostiss seu particulis consecratis, 
quae post communionem reservantur, 
vel supersunt, non remanere verum cor- 
pus Domini ; ANATHEMA SIT. 



but shall affirm that he is present there- 
in only in a sign or figure, or by hia 
power: LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm, that in the most 
holy sacrament of the eucharist there 
remains the substance of the bread and 
wine, together with the body and blood 
of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and shall 
deny that wonderful and peculiar con- 
version of the whole substance of the 
bread into his body, and of the whole 
substance of the wine into his blood, the 
species only of bread and wine remain- 
ing, which conversion the Catholic 
church most fitly terms transubstantia- 
tion : LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall deny that Christ en- 
tire is contained in the venerable sacra- 
ment of the eucharist, under such spe- 
cies, and under every part of each spe- 
cies when they are separated : LET 
HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm, that the body 
and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are 
not present in the admirable eucharist, 
as soon as the consecration is perform- 
ed, but only as it is used and received, 
and neither before nor after ; and that 
the true body of our Lord does not re- 
main in the hosts or consecrated mor- 
sels which are reserved or left after 
communion ; LET HIM BE ACCUR- 
SED. 

Whoever shall affirm, that Christ the 
only begotten Son of God, is not to be 
adored in the holy eucharist with the 
external signs of that worship which is 
due to God ; and therefore that the eu- 
charist is not to be honored with extra- 
ordinary festive celebration, nor solemn- 
ly carried about in processions accord- 
ing to the laudable and universal rites 
and customs of holy church, nor pub- 
licly presented to the people for their 
adoration ; and that those who worship 
the same are idolators ; LET HIM BE 
ACCURSED. 

Enough has already been said in former portions of this work, 
relative to the monstrous absurdity of Transubstantiation pro- 
claimed in the preceding canons. Upon such an insult to common 
sense and reason, it cannot be necessary longer to enlarge. In this 
place, therefore, no further remark will be offered on this most con- 
contradictory and absurd of all the doctrines of Rome. 



Si quis dixerit, in sancto Eucharistiae 
Sacramento Christum unigenitum Dei 
Filium non esse cultu latriae, etiam ex- 
terno, adorandum ; atque ideo nee fes- 
tiva peculiari celebritate venerandum, 
neque in processionibus, secundum lau- 
dabilem et universalem Ecclesiae sanctae 
ritum et oonsuetudinem, solemniter cir- 
cumgestandum, vel non publice, ut 
adoretur, populo proponendum, et ejus 
adoratores esse kloltras ; ANATHE- 
MA SIT. 



514 



CHAPTER VI. 

ON PENANCE, AURICULAR CONFESSION, SATISFACTION, AND EXTREME 
UNCTION TO THE SECOND SUSPENSION IN APRIL, 1552. 

§ 29. — The fourteenth session of the council was held November 
25th, 1551, and issued its decrees on penance and extreme unction. 
The decree on penance contained nine explanatory chapters, and 
fifteen canons and curses. Penance is said to consist of three parts, 
contrition, confession, and satisfaction. The- following extracts 
from the canons will sufficiently explain the faith of Romanists on 
the subject of penance. 

Of penance in general. 



Si quis dixerit, in Catholica Ecclesia 
Pcenitentiam non esse vere et proprie 
Sacramentum pro fidelibus, quoties post 
baptismum in peccata labuntur ipsi Deo 
reconciliandis. a Christo Domino nostro 
institutum; ANATHEMA SIT. 

Si quis Sacramenta confundens, ip- 
sum Baptismum. Pcenitentiae Sacramen- 
tum esse dixerit. quasi haec duo Sacra- 
menta distincta non sint, atque ideo 
Pcenitentiam non recte secundum post 
naufragium tabulam appellari ■ AN- 
ATHEMA SIT. 

Si quis dixerit, verba Ola Domini Sal- 
vatoris : Accipite Spiritum sanctum : 
quorum remiseritis peccata. remittuntur 
eis : et quorum retinueritis. retenta sunt : 
non esse intelligenda de potestate re- 
mittendi et retinendi peccata in Sacra- 
mento Pcenitentiae, sicut Ecclesia Ca- 
tholica ab initio semper intellexit ; de- 
torserit autem, contra institutionem hu- 
jris Sacramenti, ad auctoritatem praedi- 
candi Evangelium ; ANATHEMA 
SIT. 



Si quis negaverit, ad integram et per- 
fectam peccatorum remissionem requiri 
tres actus in pcenitente. quasi materiam 
Sacramenti Pcenitentiag, videlicit, Con- 
tritionem, Confessionem, et Satisfac- 
tionem, quae tres Pcenitentiae partes di- 
cuntur ; aut dixerit, duas tantum esse 
Pcenitentiae partes, terrores scilicit in- 
cussos conscientiae, agnito peccato, et 
fidem conceptam ex Evangelio, vel ab- 



Whoever shall affirm that penance, 
as used in the Catholic church is not 
truly and properly a sacrament, insti- 
tuted by Christ our Lord, for the benefit 
of the faithful, to reconcile them to God. 
as often as thev shall fall into sin after 
baptism: LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever, confounding the sacraments, 
shall affirm that baptism itself is a pen- 
ance, as if those two sacraments were 
not distinct, and penance were not 
rightly called a " second plank after ship- 
wreck:" LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm that the w T ords 
of the Lord our Saviour, " Receive ye 
the Holy Ghost ; whose sins you shall 
forgive they are forgiven them, and 
whose sins you shall retain, they are 
retained ;" are not to be understood of 
the power of forgiving and retaining 
sins in the sacrament of penance, as 
the Catholic church has always from 
the very first understood them ; but 
shall restrict them to the authority of 
preaching the gospel, in opposition to 
the institution of this sacrament : LET 
HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall deny, that in order to 
the full and perfect forgiveness of sins, 
three acts are required of the penitent, 
constituting as it were the matter of the 
sacrament of penance, namely, contri- 
tion, confession, and satisfaction, which 
are called the three parts of penance ; 
or shall affirm that there are only two 
parts of penance, namely, terrors where- 
with the conscience is smitten by the 



CHAP. VI.] 



POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 



515 



Canons and curses upon Auricular Confession. 



solutione, qui credit quis sibi per Chris- 
tum remissa peccata : ANATHEMA 
SIT. 



sense of sin, and faith, produced by the 
gospel, or by absolution, whereby the 
person believes that his sins are forgiven 
him through Christ : LET HIM BE 
ACCURSED. 



Of secret or auricular confession to the priest. 



Si quis negaverit, Confessionem Sa- 
cramentalem vel institutam, vel ad sa- 
lutem necessariam esse jure divino, aut 
dixerit, modum secrete confitendi soli 
sacerdoti, quern Ecclesia Catholica ab 
initio semper observavit et observat, 
alienum esse ab institutione et mandate 
Christi, et inventum esse humanum ; 
ANATHEMA SIT. 



Si quis dixerit, in Sacramento Preni- 
tentiae ad remissionem peccatorum ne- 
cessarium non esse jure divino, confiteri 
omnia et singula peccata mortalia, quo- 
rum memoria cum debita et diligenti 
prsemeditatione habeatur, etiam occul- 
ta, &c. ; ANATHEMA SIT. 

Si quis dixerit, Confessionem omnium 
peccatorum qualem Ecclesia servat, 
esse impossibilem, et traditionem hu- 
manam, a piis abolendam ; aut ad earn 
non teneri omnes et singulos utriusque 
sexus Christi fideles, juxta magni Con- 
cilii Lateranensis constitutionem, semel 
in anno, et ob id suadendum esse Chris- 
ti fidelibus, et non confiteantur tempore 
Quadragesima? ; ANATHEMA SIT. 



Si quis dixerit Absolutionem sacra- 
mentalem sacerdotes non esse actum 
judicialem, sed nudum ministerium 
pronuntiandi et declarandi remissa esse 
peccata confitenti ; modo tantum credat 
se esse absolutum ; aut sacerdos non 
serio, sed joco absolvat ; aut dixerit non 
requiri Confessionem pcenitentis, ut 
sacerdos eum absolvere possit ; AN- 
ATHEMA SIT. 



Whoever shall deny that sacramental 
confession was instituted by divine com- 
mand, or that it is necessary to salvation ; 
or shall affirm that the practice of se- 
cretly confessing to the priest alone, as it 
has been ever observed from the begin- 
ning by the Catholic church, and is 
still observed, is foreign to the institu- 
tion and command of Christ, and is a 
human invention : LET HIM BE AC- 
CURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm, that in order to 
obtain forgiveness of sins in the sacra- 
ment of penance, it is not by divine 
command necessary to confess all and 
every mortal sin which occurs to the 
memory after due and diligent premedi- 
tation — including secret offences, &c. : 
LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm that the con- 
fession of every sin, according to the 
custom of the church, is impossible, 
and merely a human tradition, which 
the pious should reject ; or that all 
Christians, of both sexes, are not bound 
to observe the same once a year, accord- 
ing to the constitution of the great 
Council of Lateran ; and therefore, that 
the faithful in Christ are to be persuad- 
ed not to confess in Lent : LET HIM 
BE ACCURSED. 

Whoever shall affirm that the priest's 
sacramental absolution is not a judicial 
act, but only a ministry, to pronounce 
and declare that the sins of the party 
confessing are forgiven, so that he be- 
lieves himself to be absolved, even 
though the priest should not absolve 
seriously, but in jest ; or shall affirm 
that the confession of the penitent is 
not necessary in order to obtain absolu- 
tion from the priest: LET HIM BE. 
ACCURSED. 



§ 30. — Before quoting from the canons of satisfaction in the same 
decree, it is necessary to pause here, for the purpose of briefly 
showing the indecency, the bigotry, and tyranny of the above laws 
oi the Roman Catholic church relative to auricular confession. 

Let it be remembered that this decree enjoins upon all of " both 
sexes," the females as well as males, to confess in the ear of the 



616 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vii. 

Indecency of females secretly confessing to a priest. 

priest alone, closeted with him in the closest secresy, not only every 
sinful or unholy act, but every impure thought that has passed 
through the heart ; and that it is the duty of the priest to question 
and to cross- question their penitents in every variety of form, rela- 
tive to their violations in thought, word, or deed, of each of the 
commandments of the decalogue. The reason for this particularity 
in confession, is given in the fifth chapter of the decree in the fol- 
lowing words : — " For it is plain that the priests cannot sustain the 
office of judge, if the cause be unknown to them, nor inflict equita- 
ble punishments, if sins are only confessed in general, and not mi- 
nutely and individually described. For this reason it follows that 
penitents are bound to rehearse in confession all mortal sins, of 
which, after diligent examination of themselves, they are conscious, 
even though they be of the most secret kind," &c. 

In the various Romish books of devotion, such as the " Path to Para- 
dise," " Garden of the Soul," &c, there are directions to penitents 
how to prepare themselves before going to confession for this scru- 
tinizing examination. The following few questions, from the direc- 
tion for the examination of conscience, in the " Garden of the Soul," 
are cited at random, as characteristic specimens of the confessional 
enquiries on the subjects to which they refer. 

" Have you by word or deed denied your religion, or gone to the 
churches or meetings of heretics, so* as to join in any way, with them 
in their worship ? or to give scandal ? How often 1 Have you 
blasphemed God or his saints 1 How often ? Have you broke the 
days of abstinence commanded by the church, or eaten more than 
one meal on fasting days ? or been accessary to others so doing ? 
How often ? Have you neglected to confess your sins once a 
year ; or to receive the blessed sacraments at Easter ? Have you 
presumed to receive the blessed sacrament after having broken 
your fast ? Have you committed anything that you judged or 
doubted to be a mortal sin, though perhaps it was not so ? How 
often ? Or have you exposed yourself to the evident danger of 
mortal sin ? How often ? And of what sin ? Have you enter- 
tained with pleasure the thoughts of saying or doing anything 
which it would be a sin to say or do 1 How often 1 Have you had 
the desire or design of committing any sin ? Of what sin ? How 
often ?" 

§ 31. — The disgusting indecency of auricular confession, and its ne- . 
cessarily corrupting influence, both to priest and penitent, must be 
evident to all, when the nature of the subjects is considered upon 
which the priests are bound to examine their female penitents rela- 
tive to violations of the laws of chastity. I have now lying before 
me the edition of the "Garden of the Soul," printed in 1844, at 
New York, and as we are informed on the title page, " with the 
approbation of the Right Reverend Dr. Hughes, Bishop of New 
York." On pages 213 and 214 of that popular Roman Catholic 
book of devotion, I find the following questions in English, for the 



chap, vi.] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 517 

Questions ou the seventh commandment from the " Garden of the Soul," approved by Bishop Hughes 

examination of conscience on the sixth* commandment. They 
are transcribed verbatim et literatim, with the omission of por- 
tions of two of the queries, which are calculated to suggest 
modes of pollution and crime, that a pure minded person would 
never think of. I had thought at first, of translating these questions 
into Latin, and throwing them into a note ; but they are printed in 
plain English, in a popular book of devotion, issued under the 
auspices of the most celebrated Romish Bishop in America, and to 
be found in the hands of almost every Roman Catholic ; and it is 
nothing but right that Protestants, and especially those who send 
their daughters to Roman Catholic seminaries, should know the kind 
of queries that will be proposed by the priests, in the secret con- 
fessional, to their wives and their daughters, in case they should be 
induced to embrace the religion of Rome. I must be excused for 
omitting the most indecent portions of the two vilest questions in 
the filthy list. 1 dared not pollute my page with them. The work 
in which they are found, can be procured at any Roman Catholic 
book-store. The following are the questions : 

" Have you been guilty of fornication, or adultery, or incest, or 
any sin against nature, either with a person of the same sex, or with 
any other creature ? How often ? Or have you designed or at- 
tempted any such sin, or sought to induce others to it ? How 
often ? Have you been guilty of self-pollution ? Or of immodest 
touches of yourself? How often ? Have you touched others or 
permitted yourself to be touched by others immodestly ? Or given 
or taken wanton kisses or embraces, or any such liberties ? How 
often ? Have you looked at immodest objects with pleasure or 
danger ? Read immodest books or songs to yourselves or others ? 
Kept indecent pictures ? Willingly given ear to, or taken pleasure 
in hearing loose discourse, &c. ? Or sought to see or hear anything 
that was immodest ? How often ? Have you exposed yourself to 
wanton company ? Or played at any indecent play ? Or frequent- 
ed masquerades, balls, comedies, &c, with danger to your chastity ? 
How often ? Have you been guilty of any immodest discourses, 
wanton stories, jests, or songs, or words of double meaning ? How 
often ? And before how many ? And were the persons before 
whom you spoke or sung married or single ? For all this you are 
obliged to confess by reason of the evil thoughts these things are 
apt to create in the hearers. Have you abused the marriage bed 
by * * * * * * # * * * *. Or by any pollutions? 
Or been guilty of any irregularity, in order * * * * * * # 
# # # # t H ow often ? Have you without a just cause refused 
the marriage debt ? And what sin may have followed from it ? 
How often ? Have you debauched any person that was innocent 
before ? Have you forced any person, or deluded any one by de- 

*This is properly the seventh commandment, — " Thou shalt not commit adul- 
tery." It is called the sixth in the Garden of the Soul and other popish books, on 
account of their omission of the second, which forbids the worship of images or 
idols. They make up the number ten, by dividing the tenth into two. 



518 • HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vn. 

Auricular confession at Rome in the words of an eye-witness. Instance of assault to a young lady. 

ceitful promises, &c. ? Or designed or desired so to do ? How 
often ? You are obliged to make satisfaction for the injury you 
have done. Have you taught any one evil which he knew not be- 
fore ? Or carried any one to lewd houses, &c. ? How often V 

§ 32. — It will be a sufficient commentary on the above questions to 
cite two brief extracts from the work of the Rev. Dr. Giustiniani, 
who was recently himself a Romish priest in the city of Rome 
itself — the very " seat of the Beast" — and who is therefore perfectly 
acquainted with the practical operation of secret auricular con- 
fession. The first is in reference to a young lady of about seven- 
teen years old, in the family where the Doctor was boarding. 
" One day the mother told her daughter to prepare to go with her 
to-morrow to confess and to commune. The mother unfortunately, 
feeling unwell the next morning, the young lady had to go by her- 
self; when she returned, her eyes showed that she had wept, and 
her countenance indicated that something unusual had happened. 
The mother, as a matter of course, inquired the cause, but she wept 
bitterly, and said she was ashamed to tell it. Then the mother 
insisted ; so the daughter told her that the parish priest to whom 
she constantly confessed, asked her questions this time which she 
could not repeat without a blush. She, however, repeated some of 
them, which were of the most licentious and corrupting tendency, 
which were better suited to the lowest sink of debauchery than the 
confessional. Then he gave her some instructions, which decency 
forbids me to repeat ; gave her absolution, and told her before she 
communed, she must come into his house, which was contiguous to 
the church ; the unsuspecting young creature did as the father con- 
fessor told her. The rest, the reader can imagine. The parents 
furious, would immediately have gone to the archbishop, and laid 
before him the complaint ; but I advised them to let it be as it was, 
because they would injure the character of their daughter more 
than the priest. All the punishment he would ha^ve received, is a 
suspension for a month or two, and then be placed in another parish, 
or even remain where he is. With such brutal acts, the history of 
the confessional is full." (Papal Rome as it is, pp. 83, 84.) 

§ 33. — The other extract from the work of Dr. Giustiniani (p. 188), 
refers to the manner of confessing sick penitents in their bed-cham- 
bers, in the city of Rome, where he long resided. In that city, he 
says, " you will see the indisposed fair penitent remain in her bed, 
and the Franciscan friar leaving his sandals before the door of her 
bed-chamber, as an indication that he is performing some ecclesias- 
tical act, then none, not even the husband can enter the chamber of 
his wife, until the Franciscan friar has finished his business and 
leaves the chamber ; then the husband with reverence ready wait- 
ing at the door, kisses the hand of the father Franciscan for his 
kindness for having administered spiritual comfort to his wife, and 
very often he gives him a dollar to say a mass for his indisposed 
spouse." (See Engraving.) 

" But why," continues the doctor, " shall I speak of the moral cor 



chap, vi.] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 521 

The bigotry and tyranny of the popish laws on confession. Consequences of neglecting them at Rome 

ruption of Popery in Rome ? it is everywhere the same ; it appears 
differently, but never changes its character. In America, where 
female virtue is the characteristic of the nation, it is under the 
control of the papal priest. If a Roman Catholic lady, the wife of 
a free American, should choose to have the priest in her bed-room, 
she has only to pretend to be indisposed and asking for the spiritual 
father, the confessor, no other person, not even the husband, dare 
enter. In Rome it would be at the risk of his life ; in America at 
the risk of being excommunicated, and deprived of all spiritual pri- 
vileges of the church, and even excluded from heaven." 

§ 34. — The bigotry and tyranny of the popish canons of Trent rela- 
tive to confession are no less evident than their indecency. In one of 
the canons above cited, this sacramental confession to a priest is 
declared to be necessary to salvation, and a bitter curse is pro- 
nounced not only on him who neglects to confess, but on all who 
deny that this auricular confession is necessary to salvation. 

In protestant lands we can smile at the anathemas of an apostate 
church. We feel that they are but a breath of empty air, and we 
treat them with that contempt they deserve. Let those lands but once 
become popish, and be reduced to the situation of oppressed and 
priest-ridden Italy or Spain, and the people must obey these decrees, 
and treat them with the respect they challenge, or endure the conse- 
quences. What those consequences are at " Rome in the nineteenth 
century," we learn from a forcible and accurate writer. " If every 
true-born Italian, man, woman and child, within the Pope's domin- 
ions, does not confess and receive the communion at least once a 
year, before Easter, his name is posted up in the parish church ; if 
he still refrain, he is exhorted, entreated, and otherwise tormented ; 
and if he persist in his contumacy, he is excommunicated, which is 
a very good joke to us, but none at all to an Italian, since it involves 
the loss of civil rights, and perhaps of liberty and property. Every 
Italian must at this time confess and receive the communion." — "A 
friend of ours, who has lived a great deal in foreign countries, and 
there imbibed very heterodox notions, and who has never to us 
made any secret of his confirmed unbelief of Catholicism, went 
to-day to confession with the strongest repugnance. ' What can I 
do V he said. * If I neglect it, I am reprimanded by the parish 
priest ; if I delay it, my name is posted up in the parish church ; if 
I persist in my contumacy, the arm of the church will overtake me, 
and my rank and fortune only serve to make me more obnoxious to 
its power. If I choose to make myself a martyr to infidelity, as the 
saints of old did to religion, and to suffer the extremity of punish- 
ment in the loss of property and personal rights, what is to become 
of my wife and family? The same ruin would overtake them, 
though they are Catholics ; for I am obliged not only to conceal my 
true belief, and profess what I despise, but I must bring up my chil- 
dren in their abominable idolatries and superstition; or, if I teach 
them the truth, make them either hypocrites or beggars.' "* 

* Rome in the Nineteenth Century, vol. ii., p. 262; vol. iii., 160. 



522 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vn, 

Canons and curses on satisfaction. Men " redeeming themselves" from am. Corrupting the Scriptures 

§ 35. — Of Satisfaction. — On this third part of penance, it will be 
sufficient to quote the three following canons : — 

Si quis dixerit, totam pcenam simul Whoever shall affirm, that the entire 
cum culpa remitti semper a Deo., satis- punishment is always remitted by God. 
factionemque pcenitentium non esse ali- together with the fault, and therefore 
am quam fidem, qua apprehendunt Chris- that penitents need no other satisfaction 
turn pro eis satisfecisse ; ANATHEMA than faith, whereby they apprehend 
SIT. Christ, who has made satisfaction for 

them : LET HBI BE ACCURSED. 
Si quis dixerit pro peccatis. quoad Whoever shall affirm, that we can by 
pcenam temporalem, minime Deo per no means make satisfaction to Gcd for 
Christi merita satisfied pcenis ab eo in- our sins, through the merits of Christ, 
flictis. et patienter toleratis, vel a sacer- as far as the temporal penalty is con- 
dote injunctis. sed neque sponte suscep- cerned. either by punishments i nfl icted 
lis. ut jejuniis. orationibus. eleemosynis. on us by him. and patiently borne, or 
vel aliis etiam pietatis operibus, atque enjoined by the priest, though not un- 
ideo optimam pcenitentiam esse tantum dertaken of our own accord, such as 
novam vitam; ANATHEMA SIT. fastings, prayers, alms, or other works 

of piety : and therefore that the best 

penance is nothing more than a new 

life : LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Si quis dixerit, satisfactiones, quibus Whoever shall affirm, that the satis- 

poenitentes per Christum Jesum peccata factions by which penitents redeem them- 

redimunt, non esse cultus Dei. sed tra- sdves from sin through Christ Jesus, are 

ditiones hominum. doctrinam de gratia., no part of the service of God, but, on 

et verum Dei cultum, atque ipsum ben- the contrary, human traditions, which 

eficium mortis Christi obscurantes ; AX- obscure the doctrine of grace, and the 

ATHEMA SIT. true worship of God. and "the benefits of 

the death of Christ; LET HIM BE 
ACCURSED. 

Thus is it that the Romish anti-Christ fights against " the glorious 
gospel of the blessed God."'* and pronounces a curse upon all who 
trust entirely for salvation to Christ, and believe and rejoice in the 
most precious assurance of the word of God — " The blood of 
Jesl's Christ his Sox cleaxseth us feo3I all sixs.' ? 

§ 36. — The reader, acquainted chiefly with his bible, who has 
never become familiar with the pious frauds and crafty devioes of 
Popery, upon reading the foregoing decree upon penance, satisfac- 
tion. &&, naturally inquires. " How do they reconcile these unscrip- 
tural notions with the word of God ! I have read my bible from 
beginning to end. and have found nothing from Genesis to Revela- 
tions about doing penance — where do they get this doctrine P" 

In reply to this natural inquiry I answer — " They do it by falsify- 
ing and corrupting God's word, by substituting in their Rhemish or 
Dooay version, the words. " do penance" for " repent," in those pas- 
sages'where the original uses fiewantea, a word which every Greek 
scholar knows refers to an operation of the mind ("**) from which 
the word is derived, with the preposition p«*« denoting change. 
Two or three instances of this fraudulent translation will be sub- 
joined. Thus, Matt. hi.. 2: " Do penance, for the kingdom of hea- 
ven is at hand.*' Luke xvii. 3 : " If thy brother sin against thee, 
rebuke him ; and if he do penance, forgive him." Acts viii., 22. 



chap, vi.] POPERY AT TRENT—A D. 1545-1563. 523 

Doing penance. Flagrant falsification of God's Word, in the popish Bordeaux testament— (note.) 

Peter to Simon Magus : " Do penance therefore, from this thy wick- 
edness." 

In every one of these instances, it is scarcely necessary to say 
the Protestant version renders the term repent, as the meaning of 
the Greek word undoubtedly requires. They even carry this mis- 
translation into the Old Testament, for instance, Job xiii., 6. " There- 
fore I reprehend myself and do penance in dust and ashes." Pro- 
testant : " Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." 

Ezek. xviii., 21 : "If the wicked do penance for all the sins which 
he hath committed," &c. Protestant: "But if the wicked will 
turn," &c. # 

* The Bordeaux Testament. — The falsification of God's Holy Word, by substi- 
tuting " do penance" for " repent" is not the most flagrant instance of the cor- 
ruption of the Sacred Scriptures of which the votaries and advocates of Popery 
have been guilty. Soon after the expulsion of the Huguenots from France in 
1685, in consequence of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the papists, per- 
ceiving that they could not prevent the scriptures from being read, resolved to 
force the sacred volume itself into their service, by the most audacious corruptions 
and interpolations. An edition of the New Testament was published, so trans- 
lated, that a Roman Catholic might find in it explicit statements of the peculiar 
dogmas of his church. The book was printed at Bordeaux, in 1686. It was 
entitled, " The New Testament of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Translated from 
Latin into French, by the divines of Louvain :" and the attestation of the popish 
archbishop of Bordeaux was prefixed to it, assuring the reader that it was " care- 
fully revised and corrected." Two doctors in divinity of the university of the 
same place also recommended it as useful to all those, who, with permission of 
their superiors, might read it. A few quotations will show the manner in which 
the work was executed, and the object which the translators had in view. 

In the summary of the " contents" of Matthew xxvi,, Mark xiv., and Luke xxii., 
it is said that those chapters contain the account of the " institution of the mass !" 
Acts xiii., 2, (" as they ministered to the Lord and fasted") is thus rendered — " as 
they offered to the Lord the sacrifice of the mass, and fasted," &c. In Acts xi., 30, 
and other places, where our English version has the word " elders," this edition 
has "priests." 

A practice that has proved very productive of gain to the priesthood, is made 
scriptural in the following manner : " And his father and mother went every year 
in pilgrimage to Jerusalem," Luke ii., 41. "Beloved, thou actest as a true 
believer in all that thou doest towards the brethren, and towards the pilgrims." 
3 John, 5. 

Tradition is thus introduced : — " Ye keep my commandments, as I left them 
with you by tradition" 1 Cor. xi., 2. " The faith which has been once given to 
the saints by tradition." Jude 5. 

That the Roman Catholic might be able to prove that marriage is a sacrament, 
he was furnished with these renderings : — " To those who are joined together in 
the sacrament of marriage, I command," &c. 1 Cor. vii., 10. " Do not join your- 
selves in the sacrament of marriage with unbelievers." 2 Cor. vi., 14. 

1 Cor. ix., 5, is so directly opposed to the constrained celibacy of the clergy, that 
we can scarcely wonder at finding an addition to the text ; it stands thus — " Have 
we not power to lead about a sister, a woman to serve us in the gospel, and to 
remember us with her goods, as the other apostles," &c. 

In support of human merit, the translation of Heb. xiii., 16, may be quoted — 
" We obtain merit toward God by such sacrifices." 

Purgatory could not be introduced but by a direct interpolation : " He himself 
shall be saved, yet in all cases as by the fire of purgatory." 1 Cor. iii., 15. 

Many other passages might be noticed. " Him only slialt thou serve with 
lalria," i. e., willi the worship specially and solely due to God : this addition was 



504 HISTORY OF ROMAXLSM. >::z ~. 

:- :: zz ;-f- w 1 -rf in lMi' i i i li l i i i f . v 1 I i rr-r^—t 

The idea wn .. the summon people among P^ris-s entertain of 

I jrpt oc,is we ustrated by a reply mce made by an mtei- 

Bgenl S tiiard to a friend :: mine, a sleigyman : New folk. 
"Itme ins,* said be, •■ :o eat no breakfast — ?eiy little dinner — no 
not to lie in 1, bat on the floor, and suiting the action to the 
:i whif yourself! whif yourself whir, yourself! . "* 

Of E:::i .i T:;::; :. 

37. — rhia r.Iso is regarde J as ass zramenl by the Romish :. 
It consists m :he anointing, by the priest, of a person suppose t: 
be :.t :he point of death with the sacred :.i upon the eyes, the ears^ 
the nostrils, the month, aid the hands. The and t:t is ippfie 
all the parts above mentioned A: :-;.:'.-_ anointing the priest says. 
" Bi tku holy unction, and through his great mercy, mc Gt 
.::.'.=:-: thee whatever sbu then last cornmi::-: : : 5 sight" — "smell" — 
•'-.;.." .m :. This is sailed the "form" of the sacrament At 
this time the priest has the z iwer of absolving the dying person 
:::::. ?/.i sins, even front ir.-.se which in the seventh therte: :■:" the 
ir::ee on penance are reserved t: the lecision of the Snpreme 

evidently made to prevent the test being urged against tbe inTocation of the 
saints : Lake iv., 8. ~ Many of those who believed, came to confess and declare 
their sins." Acts six .. IS. "After a procession of se ten lays round it" Bel 
• Beware, lest being led away with others, by the error of the vrickedhere- 
L - efc ill., IT. - There is some sin which is not mortal, bat venial. 7 ' 
1 ':':.:. ".. 1". " A:: rzv.ni ::::.: tie tnrine there ~fre V'h>:"::: urines. ?.ni 
on the thrones twenty-foar priests seated, all clothed with albs." J - 
The alb. it will be recollected, is part of the official attire of a Roman Catholic 
pries: 

Bat the most flagrant interpolation occurs in 1 Tim. w. 1 — 3. •• Nov the Spirit 
speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some will separate themselves from the 
Roman faith, giving themselves up to spirits of error, and to doctrines taught by 
devils. Speaking felse things through hypocrisy, having also the conscience cau- 
terised. Condemning the sacrament of marriage, the ab sti ne n c e from meats, which 
(rod hath created for the faithful, and for those who have blown die truth, to 
receive them with thanksgrvrng." 

■ S •.::::." 517s Rev J M Cte.ilz. z:~ zrmiiz: :f tie Bi:::«t ::i.ere :n M:n- 
treal, to whom I am indebted for this important fact — K such was the Bordeaux 
New Testament. Whether it was actually translated by the divines of Loavain 
is doubtful. This is certain, however, that it was printed by the royal and univer- 
sity printer, and sanctioned by dignitaries of the Romish church. It is proper to 
add, that the Roman Catholi:; were ;:on convinced of the folly of their conduct, 
in thus tampering with the inspired volume. To avoid the just odium brought on 
their cause by this wicked measure, they have endeavored to destroy the whole 
edition. In consequence, the book is now excessively scarce." 

I am not aware that a single copy of the Bordeaux Testament is to be found in 

Vr.ited States. Four copies y however, are known to be in existence in Great 

Britain. One is in the library of the dean and chapter of Durham ; another is 

possessed by the Duke of De - rnshire ; a third is in tbe arcbiepiscopa! library at 

: - . ti:: iz- in :ne ;-: = ;e5f.;n :: t.te .:-"- D.:ie 

::' S:s5es. :j -:'r.;~ Pre-iient Cren.z " ; -"~.i re-mite: :: viiit r.i; vi .. s._ie i::re.rv. 

and to make the extracts from the Bordeaux Testament, cited in the above note. 

C '■.:"-._:•": H.r-z :;' :':-: C:n -.::." :f T'-: -.;. zige -f 7. i: : 

* See Defence of Protestant Scriptures. by the present author, page 52. 



chap, vl] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 525 

Popery puts the priest in the place of Christ. Canons and curses on Extreme Unction. 

Pontiff. However the man may have lived during life, let him on 
his dying bed confess to a priest, receive absolution and extreme 
unction, and he is sure of his passport to Heaven. Awful delu- 
sion ! thus to put the priest in the stead of Christ, and teach the 
poor dying sinner to trust in a few drops of oil from the fingers, 
and a few words of absolution from the lips of a miserable mortal, 
instead of directing him to Christ that " rock of ages," who is the 
only 4< sure foundation " of a sinner's hope, and bidding him trust 
alone in that Almighty Saviour, who is " able to save unto the ut- 
termost all that come unto God by him." " All will confess," says 
Mr. Cramp, " the vast importance of right views and feelings in 
the prospect of death. Perilous as is deception or delusion in 
things spiritual at any time, the danger is immeasurably increased 
when the last change is fast approaching, and the final destiny is 
about to be sealed for ever. It is then that the church of Rome 
" lays the flattering unction to the soul." The dying man sends for 
the priest, and makes confession ; absolution is promptly bestowed : 
the eucharist is administered; and lastly, the sacred chrism is ap- 
plied. These are the credentials of pardon, the passports to hea- 
ven. No attempt is made to investigate the state of the heart, de- 
tect false hopes, bring the character to the infallible standard : 
nothing is said of the atonement of Christ and the sanctifying in- 
fluences of the Spirit. Without repentance, without faith, without 
holiness, the departing soul feels happy and secure, and is not un- 
deceived till eternity discloses its dreadful realities — and then it is 
too late. It is not affirmed, indeed, that the descripton is univer- 
sally applicable ; but that, with regard to a large majority of in- 
stances, it is a fair statement of facts, cannot, alas, be questioned."* 
It will be sufficient to quote the following two canons with the 
curses upon all who cannot believe that these droDs of oil " confer 
grace" or " forgive sin," and who prefer, therefore, to trust for sal- 
vation solely to the infinite merits, the perfect righteousness, and 
the one-atoning sacrifice of the Son of God. 

Si quis dixerit, Extremam Unctionem Whoever shall affirm that extreme 

non esse vere et proprie Sacramentum unction is not truly and properly a 

a Christo Domino nostro institution, et sacrament, instituted by Christ our 

a beato Jacobo Apostolo promulgatum : Lord, and published by the blessed 

sed ritum tantum acceptum a Patribus, Apostle James, but only a ceremony re- 

aut figmentum humanum: ANATHE- ceived from the fathers, or a human in- 

MA SIT. vention : LET HIM 13E ACCURSED. 

Si quis dixerit, sacram infirmorum Whoever shall affirm, that the sacred 

Unctionem non conferre gratiam ; nee unction of the. sick dues not confer grace, 

remittere peccata, nee alleviare infir- nor forgive sin, nor relieve the sick : 

mos: sed jam cessasse, quasi olim tan- but that its power has ceased, as if the 

turn fuerit gratia curationum ; AN- gift of healing existed only in past 

ATHEMA SIT. ages: LET 1ILM BE ACCURSED. 

§38. — No doctrinal decrees were passed at the fifteenth and six- 
teenth sessions, the latter of which was held on the 28th of April 

* Cramp's council of Trent, p. 211. 
34 



526 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m 

Second suspension of the council in 1552. Re-opens, after a ten years interval, in 1562 

1552. On that day a hasty decree was passed, adjourning the council 
for two years, in consequence of the alarm excited by the successes 
of the protestant prince, duke Maurice of Saxony, who was at war 
with the emperor Charles, and moving with his victorious forces in 
the direction of Trent. No sooner was this decree passed for a 
second suspension, than the council-hall was quickly vacated, and 
the fathers hastened to the asylum of their homes. 



CHAPTER VII. 

FROM THE SEVENTEENTH TO THE TWENTY-FIFTH AND CLOSING SES- 
SION. DENIAL OF THE CUP TO THE LAITY. THE MASS. SACRA- 
MENTS OF ORDERS AND MATRIMONY. PURGATORY. INDULGENCES, 
RELICS, &C. 

§ 39. — Though the council had adjourned for but two years, 
nearly ten years elapsed, from various causes, before it was re- 
opened. During this interval, after the death of pope Julius III., 
which took place March 23d, 1555, three other pontiffs successively 
occupied the papal throne, Marcellus, cardinal of Santa Croce, one 
of the former legates at Trent, who died after the very brief reign 
of twenty-one days, Paul IV., a most bloody persecutor and pro- 
moter of the Inquisition, and Pius IV., who was chosen on Christ- 
mas day, 1559. 

At length the council was re-opened on Sunday, January 18th, 
1562, and the first session under pope Pius IV., or seventeenth from 
•the commencement, was held. After mass and a sermon, the bull 
of convocation was read. Four other bulls or briefs were also 
produced : the first contained the Pope's instructions to the legates ; 
in the second and third he gave them authority to grant licenses to the 
prelates and divines to read heretical books, and to receive pri- 
vately into communion with the Romish church any persons who 
mio-ht abjure their heresies ; by the fourth he regulated the order 
of precedence among the fathers, some childish disputes having al- 
ready arisen among them on that account. 

§ 40. — The eighteenth session was held February 26, when the 
principal subject of consideration was the subject of prohibited 
books. A brief from pope Pius was read, authorising the council 
to prepare a catalogue of prohibited books. This document ad- 
verted in a lugubrious strain to the wide dissemination of heretical 
books, and the importance of interfering to avert this evil. A com- 
mittee, or congregation was subsequently appointed to prepare this 



chap, vn.] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 527 

Prohibiting books The Holy Spirit in a travelling bag. Proposals for reform rejected. 

index prohibitorius,* the result of whose labors has already been 
mentioned, in connection with the doings of the fourth session of 
the council, and their restrictions upon the liberty of the press. 
The reason of the Pope sending directions relative to this subject 
was a fear lest it should appear that the council was superior to the 
Pope, by the proposed revision of an index prohibitorius previ- 
ously prepared by pope Paul IV. The doings of the council were 
in fact almost entirely under papal control, so much so that M. 
Lanssac, the French ambassador, in a letter written the day after 
his arrival to De Lisle, the French ambassador at Rome, expressed 
his fear that little advantage would be derived from the assembly, 
unless the Pope would suffer the deliberations and votes of the 
fathers to be entirely free, and no more " send the Holy Spirit in a 
travelling bag from Rome to Trent ?"f 

§ 41. — The nineteenth session was held, May 14th, and the twen- 
tieth, June 4th, but no doctrinal decree was passed at either. At 
these sessions the most determined opposition to all proposals of re- 
form was made by the papal legates, and the party under their in- 
fluence. A memorial was presented to the legates by the imperial 
ambassadors, containing the Emperor's wishes with regard to re- 
formation. It included among others the following demands : that 
the Pope should reform himself and his court, that no more scan- 
dalous dispensations should be given, that the ancient canons 
against simony should be renewed, that the number of human pre- 
cepts in things spiritual should be lessened, and prelatical con 
stitutions no longer placed on a level with the divine commands, 
that the breviaries and missals should be purified, that prayers, 
faithfully translated into the vernacular tongues, should be inter- 
spersed in the services of the church, that means should be devised 
for the restoration of the clergy and the monastic orders to primi- 
tive purity, and that it should be considered whether the clergy 
might not be permitted to marry, and the cup be granted to the 
laity. The legates were alarmed, and exasperated at this memo- 
rial ; they quickly perceived how dangerous it would be to suffer 
its introduction to the council, and persuaded the ambassadors to 
wait till they had negotiated with the Emperor. Delphino was at 
the imperial court : he assured Ferdinand, that if he persisted in 
requiring the memorial to be presented, a dissolution of the council 
would be the consequence. The Emperor yielded, and that im- 
portant document was suppressed. J 

§ 42. — Refusing the cup to the laity. — Discussions ensued upon 
the question of withholding the cup in the sacrament from the 
laity. The denial of the cup had been predetermined at Rome, 
and, of course, all the influence of the legates and. their party, and 
especially of Lainez,|| the second general of the Jesuits, who was 

* Father Paul Sarpi, lib. vi., c. 5. Pallavicini, lib. xv., s. 19. 
f Le Plat, vol. v., p. 169. Cramp, 250. 

Father Paul, lib. vi., sect. 28 ; Pallavicini, lib. xvii., cap. 1. 

Lairiez. This famous successor of Loyala, the founder of the Jesuits, was 



528 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vd. 

Canons and curses on denying the cup to the laity. And on the sacrifice of the Mass 

a member of the council, was employed to effect this object. They 
alleged that should this point be conceded to the laity they would 
lose all their reverence for the holy sacraments, and that the dif- 
ference between the laity and the holy clergy would be so nar- 
rowed down, as to be almost destroyed. On the other hand, the 
ambassadors of the Emperor and of France, and the envoy from 
Bavaria, contended strongly for conceding the cup to the laity. 
The imperial ambassadors presented a memorial on the state of 
Bohemia, alleging that ever since the council of Constance the 
practice of communion in both kinds had been maintained with 
great tenacity by the Bohemians, and that a refusal on the part of 
the council to concede this point, would probably cause them to 
take refuge with the Lutherans. But all was of no avail. A de- 
cree was prepared, and on the 16th of July, 1562, it was passed 
in the twenty-first session. The following two canons embody the 
substance of the decree. 

Si quis dixerit, sanctam Ecclesiam Whoever shall affirm, that the holy 

Catholicam non justis causis et rationi- Catholic church had not just grounds 

bus adductam fuisse, ut Laicos, atque and reasons for restricting the laity and 

etiam Clericos, non conficientes, sub non-officiating clergy to communion in 

panis tantummodo specie communicaret, the species of bread only, or that she 

aut in eo errasse ; ANATHEMA SIT. hath erred therein : LET HIM BE 

ACCURSED. 

Si quis negaverit, totum, et integrum Whoever shall deny that Christ, 

Christum omnium gratiarum fontem et whole and entire, the fountain and au- 

auctorem sub una panis specie sumi, thor of every grace, is received under 

quia ut quidam falso asserunt, non se- the one species of bread ; because, as 

cundum ipsius Christi institutionem sub some falsely affirm, he is not then re- 

utraque specie sumatur; ANATHE- ceived according to his own institution, 

MA SIT. in both kinds: LET HIM BE AC- 
CURSED. 

§ 43. — Of the sacrifice of the Mass. — The decree on this subject 
was- passed at the twenty-second session, held September 17th, 
1562: It consisted of eight chapters and nine canons, and taught 
that in the eucharist, a true propitiatory sacrifice was offered up 
for sin, in the same way as when Christ offered up himself as a 
sacrifice on the cross. Five of the canons were as follows : — 

Si quis dixerit, in Missa non offerri Whoever shall affirm, that a true and 

Deo verum et proprium sacrificium, aut proper sacrifice is not offered to God in 

quod offerri non sit aliud, quam nobis the mass ; or that the offering is nothing 

Christum ad manducandum dari ; AN- else than giving Christ to us, to eat : 

ATHEMA SIT. LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Si quis dixerit, illis verbis, Hoc facite Whoever shall affirm, that by those 

in meam commemorationem, Christum words, " Do this for a commemoration 

non instituisse Apostolos sacerdotes ; of me," Christ did not appoint his apos- 

a prominent member of the council, and distinguished himself by his advocacy of 
all the measures calculated to establish and enlarge the authority of the Holy 
See. He delivered a celebrated speech on the sovereign jurisdiction of the Pope, 
which is reported at some length by Father Paul, and copied by Dr. Campbell in 
his Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, Lect. xx. 



chap, viil] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 529 

The Mass to be performed in Latin. Awful perversion of Christ's sacrifice in the Romish Mass. 

aut non ordinasse, ut ipsi, aJiique sacer- ties priests, or did not ordain that they 
dotes ofterrent corpus et sanguinem and other priests should offer his body 
suum ; ANATHEMA SIT. and blood : LET HIM BE ACCURS- 

ED. 
Si quis dixerit, MissaB sacrificium tan- Whoever shall affirm, that the sacri- 
tura esse laudis et gratiarum actionis, flee of the mass is only a service of 
aut nudarat commemorationem sacri- praise and thanksgiving, or a bare com- 
iicii in Cruce peracti non autem pro- memoration of the sacrifice made on 
pitiatorium; vel soli prodesse sumenti ; the cross, and not a propitiatory offering ; 
neque pro vivis et defunctis, pro pecca- or that it only benefits him who receives 
tis, poems, satisfactionibus et aliis ne- it, and ought not to be offered for the 
cessitatibus offerri debere ; ANATHE- living and the dead, for sins, punish- 
MA SIT. merits, satisfactions, and other necessi- 

ties : LET HIM BE ACCURSED. 
Si quis dixerit, blasphemiam irrogari Whoever shall affirm, that the most 
sanctissimo Christi sacrificio in Cruce holy sacrifice of Christ, made on the 
peracto, per MissaB sacrificium, aut illi cross, is blasphemed by the sacrifice of 
per hoc derogari ; ANATHEMA SIT. the mass ; or that the latter derogates 

from the glory of the former: LET 
HIM BE ACCURSED. 
Si quis dixerit, imposturam esse, Whoever shall affirm, that to cele- 
Missa celebrare in honorem sanctorum, brate masses in honor of the saints, and 
et pro illorum intercessione apud Deum in order to obtain their intercession with 
obtinenda, sicut Ecclesia intendit; AN- God, according to the intention of;the 
ATHEMA SIT. church is an imposture: LET HIM 

BE ACCURSED. 

§ 44. — By the same decree they enjoined the performance of the 
Mass in the Latin language, and pronounced a curse upon all who 
should " declare that it should be celebrated in the vernacular lan- 
guage only." How contrary all this to the declaration of St. Paul, 
** In the church I had rather speak five words with my understand- 
ing, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand 
words in an unknown tongue." (1 Cor. xiv., 19.) 

What an awful perversion of the glorious sacrifice of Christ 
on the cross is presented in these canons on the Mass ! At the cost 
of incurring the impotent curse pronounced in the fourth of them, 
I assert that by this doctrine the holy sacrifice of Christ is 
blasphemed, and the cross of Christ made of none effect. How 
utterly opposed is this doctrine of Christ being offered up as often 
as the sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated, to the whole tenor of the 
New Testament, and especially to the Epistle to the Hebrews. 
Doubtless the omniscient and Holy Spirit foresaw this feature of 
the Romish Apostasy, and (as it would appear with the special de- 
sign of meeting this exigency), inspired the apostle Paul to write as 
follows : — " For Christ is not entered into the holy places made 
with hands, which are the figures of the true ; but into heaven itself, 
now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he 
should offer HIMSELF often, as the high priest entereth into the 
holy place every year with the blood of others ; for then must he 
often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now 
once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by 
the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men* once to 
die, and after that the judgment; so Christ was once offered to 



530 HIS 7 : J J.jMAMSM. 

bear the sins of many F:: bj :ni ctfkukg be haA per- 
fected foi ever them that are sanctified"." Heb. is .. 24-28 : x.. 14.) 
Is if amy w n aer that ;: : f is b priests are so bitterly envenomed 
against the circulation of God's holy word without note or com- 
ment, s ince its plain and uneq.:: : : ieclaratioDS ire k fiametii- 
cally opposed to their doctrLa ss — C hrist is not offered up in sacri- 
fice, sc irften as the ancient Jew;:-;. high priests jflered the sacrifice 
aaaer :he :erer.a •:■::: :za: is. :a:e every year." says dae ecrsde 
Paul, writing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit K There 
you are wrong. Paul," reply the priests of Rome ; " for we have 
the power given unto us ::" ' : re a ting our Creator; and offering 
him up for the sins of the world : and instead of not being offered 
up so often as once every year, be is zered up hundreds of times 
every m : nth, whenever the sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated : and 
whoever shall affirm (whether Paul or any one else) that Christ is 
n:-: :zered ar ?.s :':-:. :.s dais, even evfr; :aaae the Mass is cele- 
bra:ei. LET HIM BE ACCURSED. Tdas dees apcstate H 
in consist en : with her true character, maintain throughout all her 
distinctive doctrines her title to the name of A3m-CmtisT. 

§ 45. — The twenty-third session was held on the 15th of July, 
1563. and the subject of the decree passed was the sacrament of 
orders. The doctrine of Rome on this subject is too 
known to render it nece 55 ary bo transcribe the decree. It taught 
that the peculiar excellence and glory of the priesthood was the 
power given to consecrate, offer, and minister Christ's body and 
blood, and also to remit and to retain sins f that there are ■■ seven 
orders of ministers. z.. * priests, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes. 
exorcists, 1 : a s and porters ;" that u orders is one of the se ve 
sacraments of the holy church f that in ordination, " grace is con- 
ierrea :'' that bishees have "succeeded:: da-: ' e.:e . : " :..e .iccsties" 
and u hold a listinguishe 1 rank in this hierarehal order ; ? " that " they 
are placed there by the Holy Spirit to rule the church of God;" 
th it : :ey are " superior to presbyters," " ordain the ministers of the 
church," <fce., and that all who "presumptuously undertake and 
assume the offices of the ministry' by any other auth : lhan that 
of these popish bishops ~ are not to be accounted ministers of the 
daureh. bat thieves am atizzzs."* Tiae ae:rae consists :•: dec 



chap, vn.] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 531 



Twenty-fourth session of the council. Decrees on matrimony with the canons and curses. 

chapters, from which the above sentences are quoted, and closes 
with eight canons, embodying the same doctrine and pronouncing 
upon all who refuse implicitly to receive the dicta of Rome, the 
usual awful malediction— ANATHEMA SIT— LET HIM BE 
ACCURSED. 

§46. — The twenty-fourth session was held on the 11th of No- 
vember, 1563, and the subject of the decree was, the sacrament of 
matrimony. After an allusion to the " ravings" of the " impious 
men" of those times (evidently referring to Luther, Calvin, and 
their associates) the decree proceeds as follows : — 

Therefore this holy and universal council, desiring to prevent such rashness, 
hath determined to destroy the infamous heresies and errors of the before-named 
schismatics, lest many more should be affected by their destructive contagion ; for 
which cause the following anathemas are decreed against these heretics and their 
errors. 

Then follow twelve canons, with the usual curses annexed on 
this subject, of which it will be sufficient to transcribe four : — 

Si quis dixerit, eos tantum consan- Whoever shall affirm, that only those 

guinitatis et affmitatis gradus, qui Levi- degrees of consanguinity or affinity 

tico exprimuntur, posse impedire matri- which are mentioned in the book of Levi- 

monium contrahendum, et dirimere con- ticus can hinder or annul the marriage 

tractum ; nee posse Ecclesiam in non- contract ; and that the church has no 

nullis illorum dispensare, aut constituere power to dispense with some of them, or 

ut plures impediant, et dirimant ; ANA- to constitute additional hindrances or 

THEMA SIT. reasons for annulling the contract : LET 

HIM BE ACCURSED. 

Si quis dixerit, matrimonium ratum, Whoever shall affirm, that a marriage 

non consummatum, per solemnem reli- solemnized but not consummated is not 

gionis professionem alterius conjugum annulled if one of the parlies enters into 

nondirimi; ANATHEMA SIT. a religious order: LET HIM BE AC- 
CURSED. 

Si quis dixerit, Clericos in sacris Or- Whoever shall affirm, that persons in 

dinibus constitutes, vel Regulares, eas- holy orders, or regulars, who may have 

titatem solemniter professos, posse mat- made a solemn profession of chastity, 

rimonium contrahere, contractumque may contract marriage, and that the 

validum esse, non obstante lege ecclesi- contract is valid, notwithstanding any 

astica ; vel voto ; et oppositum nil aliud ecclesiastical law or vow ; and that to 

esse, quam damnare matrimonium, pos- maintain the contrary is nothing less 

seque omnes contrahere matrimonium, than to condemn marriage ; and that all 

qui non sentiunt se castitatis, etiam si persons may marry who feel that though 

earn voverint, habere donum ; ANA- they should make a vow of chastity, 

THEMA SIT : cum Deus id recte pe- they have not the gift thereof; LET 

tion. Our clergy say that you are not ordained, and have no right to preach. I 
should be glad to know what you think about it" " Suppose," replied Dr. 
Beecher, " you had in the neighborhood a blacksmith who said he could prove that 
he belonged to a regular line of blacksmiths which had come down all the way 
from St. Peter, but he made scythes that would not cut ; and you had another 
blacksmith, who said he could not see what descent from Peter had to do with 
making scythes that would cut. Where would you go to get your scythes ?" 
"Why to the man who made scythes to cut, certainly," replied the farmer. 
"Well," said Dr. Beecher, "that ministry which cuts, is the ministry which Christ 
has authorized to preach." In a recent conversation on the same subject, Dr. 
Beecher gave his opinions by relating this circumstance. 



532 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vn. 

News arrives of pope Pius's sickness. The council hastens to the last session. Article on Purgatory. 

tentibus non deneget, nee patiatur non HIM BE ACCURSED — for God does 
deneget, nee patiatur nos supra id quod not deny his gifts to those who ask 
possumus, tentari. aright, neither does he suffer us to be 

tempted above that we are able. 
Si quis dixerit, statum conjugalem Whoever shall affirm, that the conju- 
anteponendum esse statui virginitatis, gal state is to be preferred to a life of 
vel caelibatus, et non esse melius ac virginity or celibacy, and that it is not 
beatius manere in virginitate aut ca^li- better and more conducive to happiness 
batu, quam jungi matrimonio ; ANA- to remain in virginity or celibacy than 
THEMA SIT. to be married, LET HIM BE AC- 

CURSED. 

By the first of these canons, Popery makes good its claim to 
the character of anti-Christ by claiming the power to abrogate the 
laws of God ; by the second, it encourages persons to break the most 
inviolable of all obligations and contracts upon condition (by enter- 
ing a monastery or nunnery) of becoming one of the slaves of 
Rome ; by the third, it forbids marriage to the clergy, and thus 
makes good its claim to another mark of anti-Christ, " forbidding 
to marry ;" and by the fourth it places an undeserved stigma upon 
that state which God himself established, which Jesus honored by 
his presence and a wonderful miracle, and which St. Paul, under 
the guidance of the Holy Spirit pronounced " honorable in all." 

§ 47. — The council had resolved on the 9th of December for the 
twenty-fifth session, intending, if possible, to make it the closing 
session. All parties, legates and prelates, the ambassadors and the 
Pope, were now anxious to bring the council to a close. The sub- 
jects of Purgatory, Indulgences, Feasts, Saints, Images, and Relics 
remained yet to be discussed, and it was resolved, that instead of 
lengthy decrees, with all the formality of chapters and canons, brief 
statements only of the doctrine of the church should be published 
on these subjects. While discussing these matters on the night of 
the first of December, news arrived that pope Pius was alarmingly 
ill, and that his life was considered to be in danger. The fathers 
were hastily convened, and a resolution passed to celebrate the 
closing session of the council, as soon as the necessary documents 
could be prepared, instead of waiting for the ninth instant, the day 
originally appointed. Accordingly, on December 3, 1563, and the 
following day (for there was too much business to be dispatched at 
one sitting) the twenty-fifth and last session was held. Purgatory, 
the invocation of saints, and the use of images w r ere the subjects of 
the first day's decision. On the second day, indulgences, the choice 
of meats and drinks, and the observance of feasts were the subjects 
of consideration. The following extracts from the statements 
promulgated by the council on these subjects, will be sufficient to 
show the doctrine of Popery on the topics to which they relate : — 

On Purgatory. — " Since the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Spirit, 
through the sacred writing and the ancient tradition of the fathers, hath taught in 
holy councils, and lastly in this oecumenical council, that there is a purgatory and 
that the souls detained there are assisted by the suffrages of the faithful, but especially 
by the acceptable sacrifice of the mass ; this holy council commands all bishops 



ckap. vii.] POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 533 

Doctrinal statements of the council on Indulgences, Fasts, Invocation of Saints, and Relics. 

diligently to endeavor that the wholesome doctrine of purgatory, delivered to us 
by venerable fathers and holy councils, be believed and held by Christ's faithful, 

and everywhere taught and preached Let the bishops take care that 

the suffrages of the living faithful, masses, prayers, alms, and other works of 
piety, which the faithful have been accustomed to perform for departed believers, 
be piously and religiously rendered, according to the institutes of the church; 
and whatever services are due to the dead, through the endowments of deceased per- 
sons, or in any other way, let them not be performed slightly, but diligently and 
carefully, by the priests and ministers of the churcn, and all others to whom the 
duty belongs." 

On Indulgences, — " Since the power of granting indulgences has been bestowed 
by Christ upon his church, and this power, divinely given, has been used from the 
earliest antiquity, the holy council teaches and enjoins that the use of indulgences, so 
salutary to Christian people, and approved by the authority of venerable councils, 
be retained by the church ; and it anathematizes those who assert that they are 
useless, or deny that the church has the power of granting them," &c. 

On choice of Meats and Drinks, Fasts and Feast-days. — " Moreover, the holy 
council exhorts all pastors, and beseeches them by the most holy coming of our 
Lord and Saviour, that as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, they assiduously recom- 
mend to all the faithful the observance of all the institutions of the holy Roman 
church, the mother and mistress of all churches, and of the decrees of this and 
other oecumenical councils ; and that they use all diligence to promote obedience 
to all their commands, and especially to those which relate to the mortification of 
the flesh, as the choice of meats and fasts ; as also to those which tend to the in- 
crease of piety, and the devout and religious celebration of feast-days ; admonish- 
ing the people to obey those who are set over them — for they who hear them, shall 
hear God, the rewarder — but they who despise them, shall feel that God is the 
avenger." 

On the Invocation of Saints. — " The holy council commands all bishops, and 
others who have the care and charge of teaching, that according to the practice 
of the Catholic and apostolic church, received from the first beginning of the 
Christian religion, the consent of venerable fathers, and the decrees of holy coun- 
cils, they labor with diligent assiduity to instruct the faithful concerning the invo- 
cation and intercession of the saints, the honor due to relics, and the lawful use of 
images ; teaching them that the saints, who reign together with Christ, offer their 
prayers to God for men — that it is a good and useful thing suppliantly to invoke 
them, and to flee to their prayers, help, and assistance, because of the benefits be- 
stowed by God through his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is our only Re- 
deemer and Saviour ; and that those are men of impious sentiments who deny that 
the saints, who enjoy eternal happiness in heaven, are to be invoked — or who af- 
firm that they do not pray for men, or to beseech them to pray for us is idolatry, 
or that it is contrary to the word of God, and opposed to the honor of Jesus Christ, 
the one Mediator between God and man, or that it is foolish to supplicate, verbally 
or mentally, those who reign in heaven." 

On ihe reverence due to the Relics of ike Saints. — " Let them teach also, that the 
holy bodies of the holy martyrs and others living with Christ, whose bodies were 
living members of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit, and will be by him 
raised to eternal life and glorified, are to be venerated by the faithful, since by 
them God bestows many benefits upon men. So that they are to be wholly con- 
demned, as the church has long before condemned them, and now repeats the sen- 
tence, who affirm that veneration and honor are not due to the relics of the saints, 
or that it is a useless thing that the faithful should honor these and other sacred 
monuments, and that the memorials of the saints are in vain frequented, to obtain 
their help and assistance." 



534 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [boos vn. 

Woiship of imaaes. Pa;i^ n i popish idolaters. The curse upon all who dare to tAink differently. 

On the reverence due to Images of Christ, the Virgin, and other Saints. — " More- 
over, let them teach that the images of Christ, of the Virgin, mother of God, and 
of other saints, are to be had and retained, especially in churches, and due honor 
and veneration rendered to them. Not that it is believed that any divinity or power 
resides in them, on account of which they are to be worshipped, or that any bene- 
fit is to be sought from them, or any confidence placed in images, as was formerly 
by the Gentiles, who fixed their hope in idols. But the honor with which they are 
regarded is referred to those who are represented by them ; so that we adore 
Christ, and venerate the saints, whose likenesses these images bear, when we lass 
(hem, and uncover our heads in their presence, and prostrate aursehes. All 
which has been sanctioned by the decrees of councils, against the impugners of 
images, especially the second council of Nice." 

In reference to this last article it is worthy of remark, that the 
worshippers of Brahma, Vishnu. Gaudama, and other heathen idola- 
ters, make precisely the same defence as the Romanists, when ac- 
cused of worshipping images, viz : that they do not worship the 
images when they kiss them and prostrate themselves before them, 
but the divinities, " whose likenesses these images bear." The 
divine command is, u Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
image, thou shalt not bow dowx thyself to them nor serve them/' 
(Exod. xx.. 4, 5). and the Romanist who in the words of the above 
decree, "prostrates" himself before an image (let him say what he 
will) is just as much an idolator as the Burman worshipper of Gau- 
dama, or the Hindoo worshipper of Juggernaut. On this subject I 
have an interesting letter from a distinguished missionary from Bur- 
mah, which I shall present in a future chapter. 

After thus establishing the doctrine of Rome, on these gross per- 
versions of the word of God, the council proceeds to add, in its 
usual style of bitter malediction against all who shall dare to think 
for themselves, 

Si quis autem his decretis contraria Whoever shall tfizh c: -.in 1 : in cp- 
docuit. aut senserit ; ANATHEMA position to these decrees ; LET HBI 
SIT. BE ACCURSED. 



535 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CONCLUSION OP THE COUNCIL. ACCLAMATIONS OF THE FATHERS, AND 

POPE PIUS'S CREED. 

§ 48. — Decree of Confirmation. — After the foregoing decrees had 
been enacted, the council passed the following decree of confirma- 
tion, in which it will be seen that, in accordance with the invariable 
policy of the Romish church, in countries where they have suf- 
ficient influence, the council invokes the secular arm, and exhorts 
all princes to enforce these decrees. Such is the unrepealed doc- 
trine of Rome, in this decree of her last general council on the duty 
of the civil magistrate to enforce upon the people the dogmas of 
Popery. 

" So great has been the calamity of these times, and the inveterate malice of the 
heretics, that no explanations of our faith have been given, however clear, nor any 
decrees passed, however express, which, influenced by the enemy of mankind, 
they have not defiled by some error. For which cause the holy council has taken 
'particular care to condemn and anathematize the principal errors of the heretics of 
our age, and to deliver and teach the true and Catholic doctrine ; this has been 
done — the council has condemned, anathematized, and defined. But since so many 
bishops, called from different provinces of the Christian world, could be no longer 
absent from their churches without great loss and universal peril to the flock 
— and no hope remained that the heretics would come hither any more, after hav- 
ing been so often invited and so long waited for, and having received the pledge 
of safety, according to their desire ; and therefore it was necessary to put an end 
to this holy council ; it now remains that all princes be exhorted in the Lord, as 
they now are, not to permit its decrees to be corrupted or violated by the heretics, but 
to ensure their devout reception and faithful observance, by them and all others. But 
if any difficulty should arise in regard to their reception, or any circumstances oc- 
cur, which indeed are not to be feared, that should render necessary any further 
explanation or definition ; the holy council trusts, that in addition to the remedies 
already appointed, the blessed Roman pontiff will provide for the exigency, either 
by summoning certain individuals from those provinces in which the difficulty shall 
arise, to whom the management of the business may be confided, or by the cele- 
bration of a general council, if it be judged necessary, or by some fitter method, 
adapted to the necessities of the provinces, and calculated to promote the glory of 
God, and the good of the church." 

§ 49. — Acclamations of the fathers. — Before separating, a kind of 
closing recitative service was held, conducted by the cardinal of 
Lorraine, to express the assent and solemn confirmation of the 
fathers, of all that had been done. At this service a responsive 
dialogue or declaration was uttered, called the acclamations of the 
fathers, • acclamationes patrum,' and as it is of itself a curious per- 
formance, and a most striking illustration of the spirit of Popery, 
it is here subjoined. 

Domine Deus, Sanctissimum Patrem O Lord God ! long preserve the most 

diutissime Ecclesiae tuaj conserva, mul- Holy Father of thy church for many 

tos annos. years. 

Cardinal. Beatissimorum Summoriun Cardinal. To the souls of the blessed 



536 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



[book VII. 



Acclamations of the fathers at the close of the council. 



The last words were curses 



Pontificum animabus Pauli III. et Julii 
III. quorum auctoritate hoc sacrum 
generate Concilium inchoatum est, pax 
a Domino, et aeterna gloria, atque felici- 
tas in luce sanctorum. 

Responsio patram. Memoria in bene- 
dictione sit. 

Card. Caroli V. Imperatoris et Sere- 
nissimorum Regum, qui hoc universale 
Concilium promoverunt et protexerunt, 
memoria in benedictione sit. 

Resp. Amen, Amen. 



pontiffs Paul III. and Julius III., by 
whose authority this holy general coun- 
cil was begun, peace from the Lord, 
eternal glory and felicity in the light of 
the saints. 

Answer of the fathers. May their me- 
mory be blessed. 

Card. May the memory be blessed 
of the emperor Charles V., and the most 
serene kings who have promoted and 
protected this universal council. 

Ans. Amen, Amen. 



After similar acclamations, in praise of the emperor Ferdinand, 
the Pope, legates, reverend cardinals, illustrious orators, &c. the 
Cardinal proceeded as follows : — 



Card. Sacro-sancta oecumenica Tri- 
dentina Synodus : ejus fidem confitea- 
mur, ejus decreta semper servemus. 

Resp. Semper confiteamur, semper 
servemus. 

Card. Omnes ita credimus : omnes 
id ipsum sentimus : omnes consentien- 
tes et amplectentes subscribimus. Haec 
est fides beati Petri, et Apostolorum : 
heec est fides Patrum : h-sec est fides 
Orthodoxorum. 

Resp. Ita credimus ; ita sentimus ; 
ita subscribimus. 

Card. His decretis inhaerentes, digni 
reddamur misericordiis et gratia primi, 
et magni supremi Sacerdotis Jesu Chris- 
ti, Dei intercedente simul inviolata Do- 
mina nostra sancta Deipara, et omnibus 
Sanctis. 

Resp. Fiat, fiat, Amen, Amen. 

Card. Anathema cunctis h^ereticis. 

Resp. ANATHEMA, ANATHEMA. 



Card. The most holy and oecumeni- 
cal council of Trent — may we ever 
confess its faith, ever observe its de- 
crees. 

Ans. Ever may we confess, ever ob- 
serve them. 

C. Thus we all believe : we are 
all of the same mind ; with hearty 
assent we all subscribe. This is the 
faith of the blessed Peter and the Apos- 
tles ; this is the faith of the fathers ; this 
is the faith of the orthodox. 

Ans. Thus we believe; thus we 
think ; thus we subscribe. 

C. Abiding by these decrees, may we 
be found worthy of the mercy of the 
chief and great high priest, Jesus Christ 
our God. by the intercession of our holy 
Lady, the Mother of God, ever a virgin, 
and all the saints. 

Ans. Be it so, be it so : Amen, Amen. 

C. Accursed be all heretics. 

Ans. ACCURSED, ACCURSED. 



Thus this famous council closed, with a bitter curse upon its 
lips, solemnly repeated in full chorus, in the most emphatic form, 
against all who should dare to think for themselves, or refuse im- 
plicitly to receive their dogmas. And be it remembered, this is 

THE LAST GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE ROMISH CHURCH, and that aL 

its acts and decrees are just as binding now upon every papist as 
they were at the moment when they were proclaimed to the world 
Again did this popish council, at the moment of its separation in 
its very last words vindicate the claim of Popery to the character 
of anti-Christ, for Christ has said, " Love your enemies, bless and 
curse not ;" but anti-Christ savs, " Accursed be all heretics, anathe- 
ma, anathema ! ACCURSED ! ! ACCURSED ! ! !" 



CHAP. VIII.] 



POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 



537 



Summary of the doctrines of Trent in pope Pius's creed. 



§ 50. — Pope Pius's creed. — On January 26th, 1564, pope Pius 
IV. published the bull of confirmation of the acts and decrees of 
the council, enjoining the prelates of the church, whenever neces- 
sary and practicable, to call in the aid of the secular arm to enforce 
the decisions of the council upon all. In December of the same 
year, the Pope issued a brief summary of the doctrinal decisions 
of the council, in the form of a creed, usually called, after him,self, 
" Pope Pius's Creed." It was immediately received throughout 
the universal church : and since that time, has ever been considered 
in every part of the world, as an accurate and explicit summary 
of the Roman Catholic faith. Non-catholics, on their admission 
into the Catholic church, publicly repeat and testify their assent to 
it, without restriction or qualification. On account of the authority 
and importance of this creed of pope Pius, it will be given in the 
original and a translation. It is expressed in the following terms : 



Ego N. firma fide credo et profiteor 
omnia et singula, quae continentur in 
symbolo fidei, quo S. Romana ecclesia 
utitur, viz. : — 

1 . Credo in unum Deum Patrem omni- 
potentem, factorem cceli et terrae, visibi- 
lium omnium, et invisibilium ; et in 
unum Dominum Jesum Christum, filium 
Dei unigenitum, et ex Patre natum ante 
omnia seecula ; Deum de Deo, lu- 
men de lumine ; Deum verum de 
Deo vero ; genitum, non factum ; con- 
substantialem Patri, per quern omnia 
facta sunt ; qui propter nos homines, et 
propter nostram salutem descendit de 
ccefis, et incarnatus et de Spiritu Sancto 
ex Maria virgine, et homo factus est ; 
crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio 
Pilato, passus, et sepultus est ; et resur- 
rexit tertia die secundum scripturas : et 
ascendit in ccclum, sedet ad dexteram 
Patris ; et iterum venturus est cum glo- 
ria judicare vivos, et mortuos ; cujus 
regni non erit finis : et in Spiritum 
Sanctum Dominum, et vivificantem, qui 
ex Patre Filioque procedit; qui cum 
Patre et Filio simul adoratur, et conglo- 
rificatur, qui locutus est per prophetas : 
et unam sanctam Catholicam, et apos- 
tolicam ecclesiam. Confiteor unum 
baptisma in remissionem pcccatorum, et 
expecto resurrectionern mortuorum, et 
vitam venturi sceculi. Amen. 



I, N., believe and profess, with a firm 
faith, all and every one of the things 
which are contained in the symbol of 
faith, which is used in the holy Roman 
church, viz. : — 

I believe in one God, the Father Al- 
mighty, maker of heaven and earth, and 
of all things visible and invisible ; and 
in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only be- 
gotten Son of God ; born of the Father 
before all worlds ; God of God ; Light 
of Light ; true God of true God ; be- 
gotten, not made ; consubstantial to the 
Father, by whom all things were made ; 
who, for us men, and for our salvation, 
came down from heaven, and was incar- 
nate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin 
Mary, aud was made man ; was cruci- 
fied also for us under Pontius Pilate, 
suffered and was buried, and rose again 
the third day, according to the scrip- 
tures, and ascended into heaven ; sits at 
the right hand of the Father, and will 
come again with glory to judge the liv- 
ing and the dead, of whose kingdom 
there will be no end ; and in the Holy 
Ghost, the Lord and Life-giver, who pro- 
ceeds from the Father and the Son ; who, 
together with the Father and the Son, 
is adored and glorified, who spoke by the 
prophets: and one holy catholic and 
apostolic church. I confess one baptism 
for the remission of sins; and I expect 
the resurrection " of the dead " and the 
life of the world. Amen. 



2. Apostolicas et ecclesiasticas tradi- 
tiones, reliquasque ejusdem ecclesia; ob- 
servationes et constitutiones firmissirre 
admitto, et amplector. 



I most firmly admit and embrace apos- 
tolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and 
all other constitutions and observances 
of the same church. 



538 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



[book vn, 



Creed of pope Pius IV., continued. 



3. Item sacram scripturam juxta eum 
sensum, quem tenuit et tenet sancta ma- 
ter eccJesia, cujus est judicare de vero 
sensu et interpretatione sacrarum scrip- 
turarum, admitto ; nee earn unquam, 
nisi juxta unaninem consensum patrum 
accipiam, et interpretabor. 

4. Profiteor quoque septem esse vere et 
proprie sacramenta novas legis, a Jesu 
Christo Domino nostro instituta, atque 
ad salutem humani generis, licet 
non omnia singulis necessaria, scilicet 
baptismum, confirmationem, eucharis- 
tiam, paenitentiam, extremam unetionem, 
ordinem et matrimonium ; illaque gra- 
tiam conferre ; et ex his baptismum, 
conflrmationem et ordinem, sine sacrile- 
gio reiterari non posse. 

5. Receptos quoque et approbates ec- 
clesiae catholicae ritus, in supra-dictorum 
omnium sacramentorum solemni admin- 
istratione recipio, et admitto. 

6. Omnia et singula, qua de peccato ori- 
ginali, et de justificatione in sacro-sancta 
Tridentina Synodo definita et declarata 
fuerunt, amplector et recipio. 

7. Profiteor pariter in Missa offerri Deo 
verum, proprium et propitiatorium sa- 
crificium pro vivis, et defunctis ; atque 
in sanctissimo Eucharistiae sacramento 
esse vere, realiter et substantialiter cor- 
pus et sanguinem, una cum anima et di- 
vinitate Domini nostri Jesu Christi ; 
fierique conversionem totius substantias 
panis in corpus, et totius substantias vini 
in sanguinem : quam conversionem ca- 
tholica ecclesia transubstantiationem ap- 
pellat. 

8. Fateoretiam sub altera tantum spe- 
cie totum atque integrum Christum, ve- 
rumque sacramentum sumi. 

9. Constanter teneo purgatorium esse, 
animasque ibi detentas fidelium suffragiis 
juvari. 

10. Similiter et sanctos una cum Chris- 
to regnantes, venerandos atque invocan- 
dos esse, eosque orationes Deo pro nobis 
offerre, atque eorum reliquias esse ven- 
erandas. 

11. Firmissime assero, imagines Chris- 
ti, ac Deiparas semper virginis,necnon ali- 
orum sanctorum, habendas et retinendas 
esse, atque eis debitum honorem ac ven- 
erationem impertiendam. 

12. Indulgentiarum etiam potestatem a 



I also admit the sacred scriptures ac* 
cording to the sense which the holy mo* 
ther church has held, and does hold, tc 
whom it belongs to judge of the true 
sense and interpretation of the holy 
scriptures ; nor will I ever take or in- 
terpret them otherwise, than according 
to the unanimous consent of the fathers. 

I profess also, that there are truly and 
properly seven sacraments of the new 
law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, 
and for the salvation of mankind, though 
all are not necessary for every one : viz., 
baptism, confirmation, eucharist, pen- 
ance, extreme unction, order, and matri- 
mony, and that they confer grace ; and 
of these, baptism, confirmation, and or- 
der, cannot be reiterated without sacri- 
lege. 

I also receive and admit the ceremo- 
nies of the Catholic church, received 
and approved in the solemn administra- 
tion of all the above said sacraments. 

I receive and embrace all and every 
one of the things which have been de- 
fined and declared in the holy council 
of Trent, concerning original sin and 
justification. 

I profess, likewise, that in the mass is 
offered to God a true, proper, and propi- 
tiatory sacrifice for the living and the 
dead ; and that in the most holy sacrifice 
of the eucharist there is truly, really, 
and substantially the body and blood, to- 
gether with the soul and divinity of our 
Lord Jesus Christ; and that there is 
made a conversion of the whole sub- 
stance of the bread into the body, and of 
the whole substance of the wine into the 
blood, which conversion the Catholic 
church calls transubstantiation. 

I confess also, that under either kind 
alone, whole and entire Christ, and a 
true sacrament is received. 

I constantly hold that there is a pur- 
gatory, and that the souls detained 
therein are helped by the suffrages of 
the faithful. 

Likewise, that the saints reigning to- 
gether with Christ, are to be honored 
and invocated, that they offer prayers to 
God for us, and that their relics are to 
be venerated. 

I most firmly assert, that the images of 
Christ and of the mother of God, ever 
virgin, and also of the other saints, are 
to be had and retained ; and that due 
honor and veneration are to be given 
them. 

I also affirm, that the power of induU 



CHAP. VIII.] 



POPERY AT TRENT— A. D. 1545-1563. 



539 



This creed binding upon all. 



According to it, Leighton, Baxter, Payson, &c, are now all in Hell. 



Christo in ecclesia relictam fuisse ; il- 
larumque usum Christiano populo max- 
ime salutarem esse affirmo. 

1 3. Sanctam Catholicam et apostolicam 
Romanam ecclesiam, omnium ecclesi- 
arum matrem et magistram agnosco ; 
Romanoque Pontifici, beati Petri, Apos- 
tolorum Principis, successori, ac Jesu 
Christi vicario veram obedientiam spon- 
deo, ac juro. 

14. Caetera item omnia a sacris canoni- 
bus, et cecumenicis conciliis, ac praecipue 
a sacro-sancta Tridentina Synodo tradita, 
definita, et declarata, indubitanter recipio 
atque profiteor ; simulque contraria om- 
nia, atque haereses qr.ascumque ab ec- 
clesia damnatas, rejectas, et anathema- 
tizatas, ego pariter damno, rejicio, et an- 
athematizos. 

15. Hanc veram Catholicam fidem, ex- 
tra quam nemo salvus esse potest, quam 
in pr33senti sponte profiteor, et veraciter 
teneo, eandem integram et inviolatam, 
usque ad extremum vitae spiritum con- 
stantissime (Deo adjuvante) retinere et 
confiteri, atque a meis subditis, vel illis 
quorum cura ad me in munere meo spec- 
tabit, teneri, doceri, et praedicari, quan- 
tum in me erit, curaturum, ego idem N. 
spondeo, voveo, ac juro. Sic me Deus 
adjuvet, et haec sancta Dei evangelia." 



gences was left by Christ in the church, 
and that the use of them is most whole- 
some to Christian people. 

I acknowledge the holy catholic and 
apostolical Roman church, the mother 
and mistress of all churches ; and I 
promise and swear true obedience to the 
Roman bishop, the successor of St. Pe- 
ter, the prince of the apostles, and vicar 
of Jesus Christ. 

I also profess and undoubtedly re- 
ceive all other things delivered, denned, 
and declared by the sacred canons, and 
general councils, and particularly by 
the holy council of Trent ; and like- 
wise I also condemn, reject, and anathe- 
matize all things contrary thereto, and 
all heresies whatsoever, condemned, 
rejected, and anathematized by the 
church. 

This true catholic faith, out of which 
none can be saved, which I now freely 
profess, and truly hold, I, N. promise, 
vow and swear most constantly to hold 
and profess the same whole and entire, 
with God's assistance, to the end of my 
life : and to procure, as far as lies in my 
power, that the same shall be held, 
taught, and preached by all who are un- 
der me, or are entrusted to my care, by 
virtue of my office. So help me God, 
and these holy gospels of God. 



§ 51. — The above creed is binding at the present day upon every 
Romanist, whether priest or layman, and to it, every Romish priest 
now living has solemnly expressed his adherence. By this creed, it is 
expressly declared that out of the Romish church none can be saved, 
and that of course all who have died out of it are now suffering 
the torments of hell ! The seraphic Leighton, the godly Baxter, 
with Howe, and Hooker, and Charnock, and Flavel, and Owen, and 
the long list of worthies, their compeers of the olden time, in Eng- 
land and on the continent of Europe ; the angelic Payson, the heaven- 
ly minded Nevins, and the holy and truly catholic Milnor,* the self- 
sacrificing missionaries, Carey, and Ward, and Morrison, and 
Boardman, and Henry Martin, and Ann Judson, and Harriet New- 
ell — all, all of them, according to the solemnly professed creed of 
the Romanist, are even now suffering in the fires of Hell ! Is it 
possible for anti-Christian bigotry to go beyond this ? 

Besides this, be it remembered that he who professes this creed, 



* Since page 68 was stereotyped, on which the name of this estimable clergy- 
man and devoted Christian was before mentioned, he has been called to enter into 
his rest. He departed this life, and exchanged, without doubt, the toils and sorrows 
of earth for the joys and the rest of Heaven, on the 8th of April, 1815. For 
many years previous to his death he had been the honored, revered, and successful 
Rector of St. George's Episcopal Church, New York. 



540 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vn 

The doctrines of Popery became permanently fixed at the council of Trent 

solemnly declares that he receives " all things delivered, defined 
and declared by the general councils." This, of course, includes 
the decrees of the third and fourth council of Lateran on the duty 
of extirpating heretics* and all the rest of the unscriptural and anti- 
Christian decrees of these councils, which have been related in the 
present work. Then let it be remembered that this is the present 
faith of every intelligent Romanist, and solemnly sworn to by every 
Komish priest. 

With the history and decrees of the council of Trent we might 
appropriately close our labors, as this was the last general council 
of the Romish church, and from that time to the present, Popery has 
undergone but little change. In this council her doctrines became 
permanently fixed, and in its decrees all her anti-scriptural inventions 
were embodied. Since then her influence has been gradually declin- 
ing, with occasional fitful efforts to regain her long-lost power. 
Wherever she could secure the aid of the secular arm, she has not 
failed to harass, and imprison, and burn the heretics who have 
opposed her ; and she has still reeled on in succeeding centuries, 
" drunk with the blood of the saints." A few sketches of the most 
famous of the persecutions of Popery, and a brief summary of the 
most important events in the history of the popedom since the 
Trentine period, will bring our labors to a close. 

* For these decrees, see above, pp. 302, 320. 



BOOK VIM. 

POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD 
OF THE SAINTS. 



PERSECUTIONS OF POPERY TO THE REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES, A. D. 

1685. 



fiyvvvvvwv vv wwvvvv^ 



CHAPTER I. 

PERSECUTION PROVED FROM DECREES OF GENERAL COUNCILS AND WRIT- 
INGS OF CELEBRATED DIVINES TO BE AN ESSENTIAL DOCTRINE OF 
POPERY. 

§ 1. — Among the scriptural marks of the predicted Romish Apos- 
tasy, the Babylonish Harlot of the Apocalypse, is the following : — 
" And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, 
and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus (Rev. xvii., 6). The 
whole history of Popery is a commentary upon the truthfulness of 
this description. That history is written in lines of blood. Com- 
pared with the butcheries of holy men and women by the papal anti- 
Christ, the persecutions of the pagan emperors of the first three 
centuries sink into comparative insignificance. For not a tithe of 
the blood of martyrs was shed by Paganism, that has been poured 
forth by Popery ; and the persecutors of pagan Rome, never 
dreamed of the thousand ingenious contrivances of torture, which, 
the malignity of popish inquisitors succeeded in inventing, when 
in the language of Pollock, they 

******* sat an( j p] anne( ] 
Deliberately, and with most musing pains, 
How, to extremest thrill of agony, 
The flesh, and blood, and souls of holy men, 
Her victims might be wrought. 

From the birth of Popery in GOO, to the present time, it is esti- 
mated by careful and credible historians, that more than Fifty Mil- 
lions of the human family, have been slaughtered for the crime of 
heresy by popish persecutors, an average of more than forty thou- 
35 



542 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vm, 

Immense numbers of the martyred victims of popish bigotry and cruelty. 

sand religious murders for every year of the existence of Popery. 
Of course the average number of victims yearly, was vastly greater, 
during those gloomy ages when Popery was in her glory and reign- 
ed Despot of the World ; and it has been much less since the pow- 
er of the popes has diminished to tyrannize over the nations, and to 
compel the princes of the earth, by the terrors of excommunication, 
interdiction, and deposition, to butcher their heretical subjects.* 

The reader of the foregoing pages need not again be told, that 
the right to persecute heretics, and to put them to death for the sake 
of their opinions, has been claimed and exercised for centuries by 
the Romish church. " The duty of putting heretics to death," says 
Professor Gaussen, of Geneva, "is among the infallible and irre- 
vocable decrees of its general councils, like those of the Mass and 
Purgatory ; and when Luther dared to say, ' that it was against the 
will of the Holy Spirit, to burn with fire men convicted of error/ 
the court of Rome, in its bull Exsurge, placed this opinion among 
the number of the forty-one propositions for which it condemned 
Luther, and ordered, under severe penalties, that he should be 
seized and sent to the Pope."f 

§ 2. — According to the faith of Romanists, there can be no higher 
legislative authority than a pope and general council, and what- 
ever is decreed by such a council, with the concurrence of the 
Pope, becomes a legitimate doctrine and article of faith. Accord- 
ingly, as we have seen, every priest, in the words of the creed of 
pop-e Pius, solemnly swears, on the holy evangelists, to hold and 
teach all that the sacred canons, and general councils have delivered, 
declared, and denned. Of course they are bound to receive all the 
laws enacted by the general councils of Lateran, Basil, Constance, 
&c, enjoining the extermination of heretics. 

Innumerable provincial and national councils have issued the 
most cruel and bloody laws of outlawry and extermination against 
the Waldenses and other heretics ; such as the councils of Oxford, 
Toledo, Avignon, Tours, Lavaur, Albi, Narbonne, Beziers, Tolosa, 
&c.J But as papists will assert that these possess no authority to 
establish a doctrine of the church (though they must be admitted to 

* " No computation can reach the numbers who have been put to death, in dif- 
ferent ways, on account of their maintaining the profession of the Gospel, and op- 
posing the corruptions of the Church of Rome. A bullion of poor Waldenses 
perished in France ; nine hundred thousand orthodox Christians were slain in 
less than thirty years after the institution of the order of the Jesuits. The Duke 
of Alva boasted of having put to death in the Netherlands, thirty-six thousand 
by the hand of the common executioner during the space of a few years. The 
Inquisition destroyed, by various tortures, one hundred and fifty thousand 
within thirty years. These are a few specimens, and but a few, of those which 
history has recorded ; but the total amount will never be known till the earth shall 
disclose her blood, and no more cover her slain" (Scott's Church History). 

f See an able discourse of Professor Gaussen, of Geneva, to the Theological 
students at the opening of the course in October, 1843, entitled " Popery an argu- 
ment for the Truth, by its fulfilment of Scripture Prophecies." 

\ See Edgar, 218, 219, with citations of original authorities. 



chap, i.] POPERY DRUNK WITH BLOOD OF SAINTS. 543 

General councils which have enjoined the slaughter and extirpation of heretics. 

be illustrations of its spirit), I shall pass over these, and simply re- 
mind the reader, once more, of the general councils that have sanc- 
tioned by their decrees the punishment of death for heresy. Six 
at least of these highest judicial assemblies of the Romish church, 
with the Pope at their head, have authoritatively and solemnly en- 
joined the persecution and extermination of heretics. 

These comprehended (1) the second general council of Lateran, 
who in the year 11 39, in the twenty-third canon, excommunicated and 
condemned the heretics, commanded the civil powers to suppress, 
them, and included their protectors and defenders in the same curse 
with themselves.* 

(2.) The third general council of Lateran, in 1179, under pope 
Alexander III., issued a still fiercer manifesto against the heretics. An 
extract from this bloody decree has already been given in English 
on page 302. It will be sufficient, in this place, to throw into a 
note a corresponding extract from the original Latin of the same 
decree.f 

(3.) The fourth general council of Lateran in 1215, under the 
inhuman pope Innocent III., exceeded in ferocity all that had pre- 
ceded it. A copious extract from the decree of this council, both 
in the original and in English, has already been given on pages 
332, 333. 

(4.) The sixteenth general council held at Constance in 1414, 
we have already seen carrying these bloody principles into execu- 
tion in the inhuman religious murder of Huss and Jerome. Not 
content with this act of horrible treachery and barbarity, the Pope 
and the council proceeded, previous to its dissolution in 1418, to a 
solemn sanction of the inhuman decrees of Lateran. The holy 
and infallible assembly, in its forty-fifth session, presented a shock- 
ing scene of blasphemy and barbarity. Pope Martin, presiding in 
the sacred synod and clothed with all its authority, addressed the 
bishops and inquisitors of heretical pravity, on whom he bestowed 
his apostolic benediction. The eradication of error and the es- 
tablishment of Catholicism, Martin represented as the chief care 
of himself and the council. His Holiness in his pontifical polite- 
ness, characterized WicklifF, Huss, and Jerome, as pestilent and de- 
ceitful hierarchs, who, excited with truculent rage, infested the 
Christian fold, and made the sheep putrify with the filth of false- 
hood. The partisans of heresy through Bohemia, Moravia, and 
other kingdoms, he described as actuated with the pride of Lucifer, 
the fury of wolves, and the deceitfulness of demons. The Pontiff 

* Eos qui religiositatis speciem simulantes, tanquam hacreticos ab ecclesia Dei 
pellimus, et damnamus, et per potestates exteras coerceri praDcipimus. Defensores 
quoque ipsorum ejusdem damnationis vinculo innodamus. (Bin. 8, 596.) 

t Eos et defensores eorum et receptores anatnemati decernimus subjacere. Sub 
anathemate pro'hibemus, ne quis eos in domibus, vel in terra sua tenere vel fovere, 
vel negotiationem cum eis exercere praesumat. Confiscentur eorum bona et 
liberum sit principibus hujusmodi homines subjicere servituti. (Labb. 13, 630. 
Bin. 8, 662.) 



544 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vm. 



Sanctioning murder in Ike name of the God of mercy. Plenary indulgence for the murderers, 

then, supported by the council, proceeded, for the glory of God, 
the stability of Ror^anism, and the preservation of Christianity, to 
excommunicate these advocates of error, with their pestilent pa- 
trons and protectors, and to consign them to the secular arm and the 
severest vengeance. He commanded kings to punish them according 
to the Lateran council. The above mentioned inhuman enactments 
of the Lateran, therefore, were to be brought into requisition 
against the Bohemians and Moravians, and they were to be de- 
spoiled of all property, Christian burial, and even of the consola- 
tions of humanity.* 

(5.) The council of Sienna, in 1423, which was afterward con- 
tinued at Basil, published persecuting enactments of a similar kind. 
The holy synod assembled in the Holy Ghost, and representing the 
universal church, acknowledged the spread of heresy in different 
parts of the world through the remissness of the inquisitors, and to 
the offence of God, the injury of Catholicism, and the perdition of 
souls. The sacred convention then commanded the inquisitors, in 
every place, to extirpate every heresy, especially those of WicklifT, 
Huss, and Jerome. Princes were admonished by the mercy of 
God to exterminate error, if they would escape divine vengeance. 
The holy fathers and the viceroy of heaven conspired, in this man- 
ner, to sanction murder in the name of the God of mercy : and 
granted plenary indulgences to all who should banish those sons of 
heterodoxy or provide arms for their destruction. f These enact- 
ments were published every sabbath, while the bells were rung and 
the candles lighted and extinguished. 

(6.) The fifth general council of the Lateran, in 1514, enacted 
laws, marked, if possible, with augmented barbarity. Dissembling 
Christians of every kind and nation, heretics polluted with any con- 
tamination of error were, by this infallible gang of ruffians, dis- 
missed from the assembly of the faithful, and consigned to the in- 
quisition, that the convicted might undergo due punishment, and 
the relapsed suffer without any hope of pardon.J 

* Haeresiarcbae, Luciferina superbia et rabie lupina evecti, daernonum fraudibus 
illusi. Oves Christi Catbolicas haeresiarchae ipsi successive infecerunt, et in ster- 
core mendaciorum fecerimt putrescere. Credentes et adhaerentes eisdem, tan- 
quam hcereticos indicetis et velut haereticos seculari Curias relinquatis. (Bin. 8, 
1120.) Secundum tenorem Lateranensis Concilii expellant, nee eosdem domicilia 
tenere, contractus inire, negotiationes exercere, aut bumanitatis solatia cum 
Christi fidelibus habere permittant. {Bin. 8, 1121. Crab. 2, 1166.) 

f Volens haec sancta synodus remedium adhibere, statuit et mandat omnibus et 
singulis inquisitoribus haereticae pravitatis, ut solicite intendant inquisitioni et ex- 
tirpationi haeresium quarumcumque. Omnes Christianas religionis principes ac 
dominos tarn ecclesiasticos quam saeculares hortatur, invitat, et monet per viscera 
misericordiae Dei, ad extirpationem tanti per ecclesiam praedamnati erroris omni 
celeritate, si Divinam ultionem et pcenas juris evitare voluerunt. (Labb. 17, 97, 
98. Bray. 4, 72.) It is proper here to remark, that some Romish authors deny 
the claim of the council of Sienna and Basil to be a general council. Others, 
however, admit it. 

\ Omnes ficti Christiani, ac de fide male sentientes, cujuscumque generis aut 
nationis fuerint, necnon haeretici seu aliqua haeresis labe polluti, a Christi fide* 



chap, l] POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 545 

Persecution of heretics advocated by popish divines. St. Aquinas, Cardinal Bellarmine 

" The principle of persecution, therefore," justly remarks the 
learned Edgar, " being sanctioned, not only by theologians, popes. 
and provincial synods, but also by general councils, is a neces- 
saky and integral part of Romanism. The Romish communion 
has, by its representatives, declared its right to compel men to re- 
nounce heterodoxy and embrace Catholicism, and to consign the 
obstinate to the civil power to be banished, tortured, or killed."* 

§ 3. — The same persecuting principles have been advocated by 
individual Romish divines in various ages. It will be sufficient to 
quote proofs of this remark from Saint Aquinas in the thirteenth 
century, Bellarmine of the sixteenth, and Peter Dens who wrote 
in the eighteenth, but is studied and followed by popish colleges 
and seminaries of the nineteenth. 

The persecuting doctrine is frequently avowed in the writings 
of St. Aquinas, the angelic doctor, as he is called by Romanists. 
" Heretics," says he, " are to be compelled by corporeal punish- 
ments, that they may adhere to the faith."f In other places, St. 
Aquinas unequivocally asserts, that " heretics may not only be ex- 
communicated, but justly killed" and that " the church consigns 
such to the secular judges to be exterminated from the world by 
death"% But the most remarkable illustration of the spirit of 
Popery on this subject, is the labored argument of a celebrated 
Cardinal, enforcing the duty of thus putting heretics to death. 

Cardinal Bellarmine§ is the great champion of Romanism, and 
expounder of its doctrines. He was the nephew of pope Mareellus, 
and is acknowledged to be a standard writer with Romanists. In 
the 21st and 22d chapters of the third book of his work, entitled 
*' De Laicis " (concerning the laity), he enters into a regular argu- 
ment to prove that the church has the right, and should exercise it, 
of punishing heretics with death. The following extracts are so 
conclusive as to the faith of Romanists on this point, that we give 
them in the original, as well as in the translation. The titles of the 
chapters are Bellarmine's as well as what follows. 

Hum coetu penitus eliminentur, et quocumque loco expellantur, ac debita ani- 
madversione puniantur, statuimus. {Crabb. 3, 646. Bin. 2, 112. Labb. 19,844.) 

* See Edgar, chapter vi., passim. 

f Haeretici sunt etiam oorporaliter compeliandi. {Aquinas 2, 42.) And again, 
Haeretici sunt compeliandi ut (idem teneant. (Aquin. 2, 10.) 

| Haeretici possunt non solum cxcommunicari sedet juste occidi Eccle- 

sia relinquit eum judici sasculari mundo exterminandum per mortem. (Aquinas 
2,11; 3,48.) 

§ Cardinal Bellarmine. — This celebrated popish casuist and divine was born in 
Tuscany, in 1542. He was raised to the dignity of Cardinal in 1599, as a re- 
ward for his writings and services on behalf of Popery ; and from 1605 to the 
year of his death, 1621, he resided at Rome, in constant attendance upon the per- 
son of the popes, and under their patronage, industriously employing his pen for 
the defence of the Roman Catholic faith. Alter his death, on account of the 
valuable services he had rendered the Romish church by his writings, he was very 
near being placed in the calendar of saints. Out of seventeen cardinals, we are- 
informed by a Romish historian, that ten voted for his canonization. (Dnmn, 
cent, xvii., book 5.) 



546 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



[book vm. 



Bellannine's argument proving that the church has a right to punish Heretics with death. 

Chapter XXL That heretics, condemned by the church, may be 
punished with temporal penalties and even with death. ' Posse hcere- 
ticos ab ecclesia damnatos temporalibus poenis etiam morte mulctari, 9 



Nos igitur breviter ostendemus haereti- 
cos incorrigibiles ac praesertim relapsos, 
posse ac debere ab ecclesia rejici, et a 
secularibus potestatibus temporalibus 
pcenis atque ipsa etiam morte mulctari. 

Primo probatur scripturis. Probatur 
secundo sententiis et legibus imperato- 
rum, quas ecclesia semper probavit. 
Probatur tertio legibus ecclesiaB. Pro- 
batur quarto testimoniis Patrum. Pro- 
batur ultimo ration e naturali. Primo 
haeretici excommunicari jure possunt, ut 
omnes fatentur, ergo et occidi. Probatur 
consequentia quia excommunicatio est 
major poena, quam mors temporalis. 



Secundo experientia docet non esse 
aliud remedium, nam ecclesia paulatim 
progressa est et omnia remedia experta ; 
primo solum excommunicabat deinde ad- 
didit mulctam pecuniariam ; tam exili- 
um, ultimo coacta est ad mortem venire : 
mittere illos in locum suum. 

Tertio, falsarii omnium judicio meren- 
tur mortem ; at haeretici falsarii sunt 
verbi Dei. 

Quarto, gravius est non servare fidem 
hominem Deo, quam feminam viro ; sed 
hoc morte punitur, cur non illud. 



Quinto, tres causae sunt propter quas 
ratio docet homines occidendos esse ; 
prima causa est ne mali bonis noceant ; 
secunda est, ut paucorum supplicio 
multi corrigantur. Multi enim quos 
impunitas faciebat torpentes supplicia 
proposita excitant ; et nos quotidie idem 
videmus fieri in locis ubi viget Inquisi- 
tio. 

Denique hasreticis obstinatis benefi- 
cium est quod de hac vita tollantur; 
nam quo diutius vivunt eo plures er- 
rores excogitant, plures pervertunt, et 
majorem sibi damnationem acquirunt. 



"We will briefly show that the 
church has the power and ought to cast 
off incorrigible heretics, especially those 
who have relapsed, and that the secular 
power ought to inflict on such, tempo- 
ral punishments, and even death itself. 

1st. This may be proved from the 
Scripture. 2d. It is proved from the 
opinions and laws of the Emperors, 
which the church has always approved. 
3d. It is proved by the laws of the church. 
4th. It is proved by the testimony of the 
lathers. Lastly. It is proved from 
natural reason. For first: It is owned 
by all, that heretics may of right be ex- 
communicated — of course they may be 
put to death. This consequence is 
proved because excommunication is a 
greater punishment than temporal death. 

Secondly. Experience proves that 
there is no other remedy ; for the church 
has step by step tried all remedies — 
first, — excommunication alone ; then pe- 
cuniary penalties ; afterward banish- 
ment ; and lastly has been forced to put 
them to death ; to send them to their own 
place. 

Thirdly. All allow that forgery de- 
serves death ; but heretics are guilty of 
forgery of the word of God. 

Fourthly. A breach of faith by man 
toward God, is a greater sin, than of a 
wife with her husband. But a woman's 
unfaithfulness is punished with death ; 
why not a heretic's ? 

Fifthly. There are three grounds on 
which reason shows that heretics should 
be put to death : the 1st is, lest the 
wicked should injure the righteous — 
2d, that by the punishment of a few, 
many may be reformed. For many who 

WERE MADE TORPID BY IMPUNITY, ARE 
ROUSED BY THE FEAR OF PUNISHMENT , 
AND THIS WE DAILY SEE IS THE RESULT 
"WHERE THE INQUISITION FLOURISHES. 

Finally, It is a benefit to obstinate 
heretics to remove them from this life ; 
for the longer they live the more errors 
they invent, the more persons they mis- 
lead : and the greater damnation do 
they treasure up to themselves. 



In the next chapter Bellarmine proceeds to reply to the objections 
of Luther and others, against the burning of heretics. We tran- 



chap. r.J POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 547 



Cardinal Bellarmine's answers to objections against the punishment of heretics by death. 



scribe the replies of the popish casuist to the first, second, thirteenth 
and eighteenth arguments against the burning of heretics.* The 
chapter is entitled as follows : 

Chapter XXIL Objections answered, * Sohuntur objectiones. 9 



Superest argumenta Lutheri atque 
aliorum hagreticorum diluere. Argu- 
mentum, primum, ab experientia totius 
ecclcsiae : i Ecclesia,'' inquit Lutherus, ' ab 
initio sui usque hue nullum combussit 
hcereticum^ ergo non videtur esse volun- 
tas Spiritus ut comburantur. 5 

Respondeo, argumentum hoc optime, 
probat, non sententiam, sed imperitiam, 
vel impudentiam Lutheri : nam cum 
infiniti propemodum, vel combusti, vel 
aliter necati fuerint, aut id ignoravit 
Lutherus, et tunc imperitus est, aut non 
ignoravit, et impudens, ac mendax esse 
convincitur : nam quod haeretici sint 
saepe ab ecclesia combusti, ostendi po- 
test, si adducamus puaca exempla de 
multis. 

Argumentum secundum; experientia 
testatur non profici terroribus. Respon- 
deo, experientia est in contrarium ; nam 
Donatistae, Manichaei, et Albigenses 
armis profligati, etextincti sunt. 

Argumentum decimum lerlium : Do- 
minus attribuit eeclesiae gladium spiri- 
tus, quod est verbum dei non autem 
gladium ferri ; immo Petro volenti 
gladio ferreo ipsum defendere, ait : 
' Mitte gladium tuum in vaginam,' Joan 
18. Respondeo ecclesia sicut habet 
Principes Ecclesiasticos, et seculares, 
qui sunt quasi duo eeclesiae brachia, ita 
quos habet gladios, spiritualem, et ma- 
terialem, et ideo, quando manus dextera 
gladio spiritual! non potuit haereticum 
convertere, invocat auxilium brachii sin- 



" It remains to answer the objections 
of Luther and other heretics. Argument 
1st. From the history of the church at 
large. ' The church,'' says Luther, ' from 
the beginning, even to this time, has never 
burned a heretic.^ Therefore it does 
not seem to be the mind of the Holy 
Spirit, that they should be burned !' 

I reply that this argument proves not 
the sentiment, but the ignorance, or im- 
pudence of Luther ; for as almost an 

INFINITE NUMBER WERE EITHER BURNED 
OR OTHERWISE PUT TO DEATH, Luther 

either did not know it, and was there- 
fore ignorant; or if he knew it, he is 
convicted of impudence and falsehood — 
for that heretics were often burned by 
the church may be proved by adducing 
a few from mamj examples. 

Argument 2d. ' Experience shows that 
terror is not useful.' I reply, experience 

PROVES THE CONTRARY FOR THE Do- 

NATISTS, MANICHEANS, AND ALBIGENSES 
WERE ROUTED, AND ANNIHILATED BY 
ARMS. 

Argument 13th. ' The Lord attributes 
to the church "• the sword of the Spi- 
rit, which is the word of God ;" but not 
the material sword, nay, He said to Pe- 
ter, who wished to defend him with a 
material sword, " put up thy sword into 
the scabbard."' John 18th. I answer ; 
As the church has ecclesiastical and 
secular princes, who are her two arms ; 
so she has two swords, the spiritual and 
material ; and therefore when her right 
hand is unable to convert a heretic with 
the sword of the Spirit, she invokes the 



* The whole of this labored argument of the great popish divine, to prove the 
lawfulness and expediency of the burning of heretics, is well worthy of examina- 
tion and study, by all who would understand what genuine Popery is. In the edi- 
tion of Bellarmine's works (Six vols., fol. 1610), which I have consulted in the cele- 
brated Van Ess library of the New York Theological Seminary, it occupied ten 
folio columns of Vol. II., p. 555, &c, besides the 20th chapter, of four columns, 
proving that the books of heretics ought to be destroyed. 

f If Luther ever made this assertion ascribed to him bv Bellarmine, his meaning 
must have been that the true church of God had never burned a heretic, not that 
the anti-Christian Popes, councils, and secular powers of the Romish church had 
not burned heretics, for in the sense of the Romish church, all history testifies to 
the truth of Bellarmine's remark, that "an infinite number" of heretics were 
" either burned, or otherwise put to death," and that too (in the words of Bel- 
larmine), " BY THE CHURCH." 



548 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book via 

Popery is unchangable. The doctrine of Bellarmine taught by papists in the nineteenth century. 

istri, ut gladio ferreo haereticos coerceat. aid of the left hand, and coerces heretics 

with the material sword. 

Argumentum decimum ociavum: Argument 18th. " The Apostles never 

Nunquam Apostoli brachium seculare invoked the secular arm against here- 

contra haereticos invocaverunt. Re- tics." Answer (according to St. Augus- 

spondet S. Augustinus in epist. 50. et tine, in letter 50 and elsewhere). " The 

alibi, Apostolos id non fecisse, quia nul- Apostles did it not, because there was no 

lus tunc erat Christianas Princeps, quern Christian Prince whom they could call 

invocarent. At postquam tempore Con- on for aid. But afterwards in Constan- 

stantini Ecclesia tine's time the church called 

auxilium secukris brachii imploravit. in the aid of the secular arm." 

Now if, as Romanists in protestant countries sometimes assert, the 
Romish is not a persecuting church ; could it be possible that one 
of the very highest dignitaries of that church, a Cardinal, the 
nephew of one pope, and the special favorite and confidant of others, 
could have penned, without rebuke, such an infamous and labored 
argument in support of the burning of heretics, as that from which 
the foregoing extracts are made. 

§ 4. — Some people suppose that, with the lapse of ages, the 
character of persecuting Rome has changed. No such thing. 
Popery is unchangeable, and so her ablest advocates declare. Says 
Charles Butler, in the work he wrote in reply to Southey's book of 
the church, — " It is most true that the Roman Catholics believe the 
doctrines of their church to be unchangeable ; and that it is a tenet 
of their creed, that what their faith ever has been, such it was from 
the beginning, such it is now and such it ever will be."* 

But supposing Romanists admitted a possibility of change in 
their doctrines, still there is abundant evidence in point of fact, from 
the writings of recent popish divines, that their doctrine remains the 
same, relative to the duty, whenever, and wherever they possess the 
power of extirpating heretics by death. It would be easy to cite a 
multitude of proofs of this assertion from various writers, but a 
single author will be sufficient. It is from the theology of Peter 
Dens, the celebrated doctor of Louvain. It was written, or rather 
the first volume was printed in 1758, and was adopted by the popish 
clergy in Dublin, in the year 1808, "who unanimously agreed that 
this book was the best work, and the safest guide in Theology for 
the Irish clergy."f A single extract will be sufficient. After stating 
that heretics are deservedly visited with the penalties of exile, im- 
prisonment, &c, the popish Doctor inquires, 

An haeretici recte puniuntur morte ? Are heretics rightly punished with 

Respondet S. Thomas affirmative : quia Death ? St. Thomas answers in the 

falsarii pecuniae vel alii rempublicam affirmative. Because forgers of mo 

turbantes juste morte puniuntur : ergo ney or other disturbers of the state are 

etiam haeretici qui sunt falsarii fidei et justly punished with death ; therefore 

ut experientia docet rempublicam gravi- also heretics, who are forgers of the 

ter perturbant. . . . Confirmatur ex faith, and as experience shows, greatly 

eo quod Deus in veteri lege jusserit oc- disturb the state. . . . This is con- 

* Butler's Book of the Roman Catholic Church. 
+ Edgar's Variations, p. 243. 



chap, n.] POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 549 



The persecuting doctrine taught in the Rhemish Testament, &c. Bloody queen Mary 

cidi falsos Prophetas. . . . Idem firmed by the command of God under 
probatur ex condemnatione articulii 14, the old law, that the false prophets 
Joan. Huss in Concilio Constantiensi. should be killed. . . . The same is 
(Dens, 2, 88, 89.) proved by the condemnation — by the 

fourteenth article — of John Huss in the 
council of Constance. 

The same horrid doctrine is taught in the Extravagants or 
Constitutions and other authorized writings of a large number of 
the popes, the Directorium Inquisitor mm, or Directory for Inquisi- 
tors, the notes to the Rhemish Testament,* &c, &c, but the point 
is already established upon sufficient authority, and further testi- 
mony is unnecessary. Without undertaking to give a complete 
account of the persecutions of Popery, we shall present a few 
additional sketches of the manner in which the persecuting princi- 
ples of Rome have in various ages been carried out in the tortures, 
massacres, burnings, and other barbarities inflicted upon those whom 
she chose to stigmatize with the name of heretics. 



CHAPTER II. 

SUFFERINGS OF THE ENGLISH PROTESTANTS UNDER BLOODY QUEEN 
MARY. THE BURNING OF LATIMER, RIDLEY, CRANMER, &C. 

§ 5. — It would be improper entirely to omit, and yet it is not 
necessary minutely to describe the well known cruel burnings of 
the English protestants, during the reign of the bigoted and hard- 
hearted woman, whose name has been appropriately handed down 
to posterity as bloody Queen Mary.| And it seems proper to 

* In the Rhemish translation of the New Testament for the English Romanists, 
the following note is appended to the words of our Lord — Luke ix.', 55 — when he 
rebuked two of his disciples for their desire to destroy those who refused to receive 
him : " Not justice, nor all rigorous punishment of sinners, is here forbidden ; nor 
Elias's fact reprehended ; nor the Church, nor Christian princes, blamed for put- 
ting heretics to death ; but that none of these should be done for desiVe of our 
particular revenge, or without discretion, and in regard of their amendment and 
example to others. Therefore, St. Peter used his power upon Ananias and Sap- 
pliira, when he struck them both down to death for defrauding the Church .'" He- 
brews x., 29, is, in like manner, applied to all whom the Church of Rome calls 
heretics. 

f Full information on these persecutions may be obtained from that well known 
and authentic work, "Fox's Book of Martyrs," "Southey's Hook of the Church," 
&c. I would especially recommend the valuable abridgment of Fox's work, 
accompanied with remarks in her own beautiful and Impressive style, by Mrs. Tonna, 
better known as Charlotte Elizabeth, a lady, who, by her genius, piety, and genuine 
Protestantism, as exhibited in the numerous productions of her pen, has laid tin- 



550 HISTORY Off ROMANISM. [book vm. 



Number of martyrs of the Marian persecution. The venerable Latimer and Ridley. 

commence these few sketches of persecutions of Popery, with the 
recital of the sufferings of the Marian martyrs, as they all occurred 
during the interval that elapsed between the second adjournment 
and resumption of the council of Trent already described. 

During her brief reign of five years, according to the lowest 
calculations, two hundred and eighty-eight persons were burned 
alive, by her order, for the crime of heresy, and among them were 
the wealthy and the poor, the priest and the layman, the merchant 
and the farmer, the blind and the lame, the helpless female and the 
new-born babe. The persecutions did not commence in the first 
year of her reign. She was proclaimed Queen on the 17th of 
July, 1553, and it was not till the commencement of 1555 that the 
venerable John Rogers, the proto-martyr of the Marian persecu- 
tion, sealed the truth with his blood by being burnt alive at Smith- 
field. He suffered on the 4th of February, 1555. The number of 
heretics burnt alive in England, in 1555, was seventy-one ; in 1556, 
eighty-nine ; in 1557, eighty-eight; and in 1558, forty. The num- 
ber of the victims would have been largely swelled, had not death 
relieved the world of the presence and tyranny of this popish mon- 
ster in the shape of a woman, on the 17th of November, 1558. 

The names of Rogers, and Saunders, and Hooper ; of Taylor, 
and Bradford, and Philpot ; of Latimer, and Ridley, and Cranmer ; 
and of their martyred associates, have become familiar as house- 
hold words to their protestant descendants of England and Ameri- 
ca; and the oft-repeated story of their painful but triumphant 
deaths, amidst the torturing fires of martyrdom, continues to preach 
loudly and eloquently of the cruelty and bigotry of Rome. Our 
limits will allow but a brief sketch of the martyrdom of the three 
last-mentioned of the nine worthies whose names have been cited 
above. 

§ 6. — Bishops Latimer and Ridley were two of the ablest as 
well as holiest of the martyrs whose blood was offered as a sacri- 
fice upon the altar of popish bigotry during the reign of Mary. 

Hugh Latimer was born about 1472, and was now, therefore, 
upwards of fourscore years old. He had been a prominent man, 
in the reign of the licentious Henry YIIL, the father of queen 
Mary, and was appointed by him to the bishopric of Worcester. 
Tt is related of Latimer, as an instance of his faithfulness, that on 
new year's day, when, according to the prevailing custom, the emi- 
nent men of the land presented the King with a new year's gift, 
his gift consisted of a copy of the New Testament, with the pas- 
sage marked, and the leaf turned down to the words, " Whoremon- 
gers and adulterers God will judge." Those acquainted with 
the history of the adulterous Henry VIII. need not be told how 
applicable was the reproof to his character. 

der deep obligation the whole protestant world. I know of no uninspired writer, 
either of the past or present time, who so happily combines entertainment with 
instruction as this gifted lady. Her "English Martyrology" and "Siege of 
Derry " ought to be read by every protestant youth in the world. 



chap, il] POPERY D^UNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 551 

Degradation of Ridley from the prftBtly office. Reasons of this ceremony. 

When this faithful and venerable man was apprehended by order 
of the bloody Mary, he said to the officer, " My friend, you are 
a welcome messenger to me ;" and in passing through Smithfield, 
where so many of the martyrs of Jesus had been burned alive, he 
remarked, " Smithfield hath long groaned for me." He suffered a 
long and cruel imprisonment in the Tower previous to his martyr- 
dom. One day, when suffering from the severe frost and denied 
the comfort of a fire, the aged sufferer pleasantly remarked to his 
keeper, that if he were not taken better care of, he should certainly 
escape out of his enemies' hands, meaning that he should perish 
with cold and hardship, and thus escape the burning intended for 
him by his enemies. 

Nicholas Ridley was born in the year 1500, had been chaplain 
to the pious youth, king Edward VI, the predecessor of Mary, and 
had been appointed by him bishop of London. Upon the accession 
of Mary, he was soon seized and committed to the Tower, where 
he and Latimer continued during the winter of 1553 and 1554, and 
were afterwards removed to Oxford, and lodged in a common 
prison. In the year 1555, a commission was issued to several 
popish bishops to proceed against these two holy men. Full ac- 
counts are given by Fox of the various disputations they held with 
the martyrs. It is sufficient here to remark, that neither threats nor 
promises could shake their constancy, and that in every interview 
they came off triumphant over all the arguments of their popish 
opponents, by whom they were condemned to be degraded, and 
delivered up to the secular power. 

§ 7. — The reason why the church of Rome always performed 
this ceremony of degradation upon ecclesiastics before delivering 
them up to the secular arm to be burnt, was because she was too 
watchful over the immunities of the privileged order of priests, to 
deliver them up to temporal jurisdiction, till stripped of the sacer- 
dotal character, and degraded to the situation of laymen. Brooks, 
bishop of Gloucester, performed this ceremony on Ridley on the 
15th of October. Brooks repeated on this occasion his fruitless 
attempts to shake the constancy of the martyr, and to induce him to 
acknowledge the authority of the Pope ; but Ridley only renewed 
his faithful testimony concerning " the usurped authority of the 
Romish anti-Christ ;" and declared, " the Lord being my helper, 1 
will maintain so long as my tongue shall wag, and breath is within 
my body, and in confirmation thereof seal the same with my blood." 
Ridley continued so faithfully to reason upon the true character of 
the Pope, that the Bishop threatened to employ the gag, a weapon 
of frequent use in those days, when the faithful testimony of the 
martyrs could be in no other way prevented. 

The bishop of Gloucester then remarked, that seeing he would 
not receive the Queen's mercy, they must go on to degrade him from 
the dignity of priesthood ; saying moreover, " we take you for no 
bishop, and therefore we will the sooner have done with you, com- 
mitting you to the secular power ; you know what doth follow" 



552 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book viil 



Ridley's courage under mockery and abuse. Latimer and Ridley at the stake 

" Do with me as it shall please God to suffer you," was the reply ; 
" I am well content to abide the same with all my heart." Brooks 
desired him to put off his cap and put upon him the surplice : he 
answered, " I will not." " But you must." " I will not." " You 
must ; therefore make no more ado, but put this surplice upon you." 
" Truly, if it come upon me, it shall be against my will." " Will 
you not put it upon you ?" " No, that I will not." " It shall be put 
upon you by some one or other." " Do therein as it shall please 
you ; I am well contented with that, and more than that ; the ser- 
vant is not above his Master. If they dealt so cruelly with our Sa- 
viour Christ, as the Scripture maketh mention, and he suffered the 
same patiently, how much more doth it become us, his servants ?" 

The surplice was then forcibly put on him, with all the trinkets 
appertaining to the mass : during which he vehemently inveighed 
against the Romish bishop, calling him anti-Christ, and the apparel 
foolish and abominable. This made Dr. Brooks very angry : he 
bade him hold his peace, for that he did but rail. The Christian 
martyr replied, so long as his tongue and breath would suffer him, 
he would speak against their abominable doings whatsoever hap- 
pened unto him for it. When they came to the place where he 
should hold the chalice and wafer-cake, they bade him take them 
into his hands : he replied, " They shall not come into my hands ; 
and if they do, they shall fall to the ground for me." An attendant 
was obliged to hold them fast in his hands while Brooks read a cer- 
tain thing in Latin, appertaining to that part of the performance. 
Next they placed a book in his hand, while Brooks recited the 
passage, " We do take from you the office of preaching the gospel," 
&c. At these words Dr. Ridley gave a great sigh, and looking up 
toward heaven, said, " O Lord God, forgive them this their wick- 
edness !" The massing garments being taken off one by one, till 
the surplice only was left, they proceeded to the last step of the de- 
gradation, by deposing him from the lowest office of the priesthood." 
(See Engraving.) 

§ 8. — On the following day, October 10th, 1555, Latimer and 
Ridley were brought to the stake, which was prepared in a hollow, 
near Baliol college, on the north side of the city of Oxford. The 
venerable Latimer being stripped for the stake, appeared in a shroud 
prepared for the occasion ; and now, says Fox, " a remarkable 
change was observed in his appearance ; for whereas he had hith- 
erto seemed a withered, decrepit, and even a deformed old man, he 
now stood perfectly upright, a straight and comely person. Ridley 
was disposed to remain in his trousers ; but on his brother observ- 
ing that it would occasion him more pain, and that the article of 
dress would do some poor man good, he yielded to the latter plea, 
and saying, " Be it, in the name of God," delivered it to his brother. 
Then, being stripped to his shirt, he stood upon a stone by the stake, 
and holding up his hand, said, " O heavenly Father, I give unto thee 
most hearty thanks, for that thou hast called me to be a professor of 
thee, even unto death : I beseech thee, Lord God, take mercy upon 




Ceremony of the Degradation of a Priest previous to Martyrdom. 




JHirning of Latimer and 1! 



chap, n.] POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 555 

Dying remark of the venerable Latimer. Ridley's horrible and protracted torment by his slow burning 

this realm of England, and deliver the same from all her enemies." 
The smith now brought a chain, and passed it round the bodies of 
the two martyrs, as they quietly stood on either side of the stake : 
while he was hammering the staple into the wood, Ridley took the 
chain in his hand, and shaking it, said, " Good fellow, knock it in 
hard, for the flesh will have its course." This being done, Shipside 
brought him some gunpowder in a bag to tie round his neck ; which 
he received as sent of God, to be a means of shortening his tor- 
ment ; at the same time inquiring whether he had any for his bro- 
ther, meaning Latimer, and hastening him to give it immediately, 
lest it might come too late ; which was done. A lighted faggot was 
then brought, and laid down at his feet, on which Latimer turned 
and addressed him in those memorable and prophetic words, " Be 
of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man : " we shall this 

DAY LIGHT SUCH A CANDLE, BY God's GRACE, IN ENGLAND, AS, I TRUST, 
SHALL NEVER BE PUT OUT." 

The flames rose ; and Ridley in a wonderfully loud voice ex- 
claimed in Latin, " Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit," 
often repeating in English, " Lord, receive my spirit !" Latimer on 
the other side as vehemently crying out, " O Father of heaven, 
receive my soul !" and welcoming, as it were, the flame, he embraced 
it, bathed his hands in it, stroked his venerable face with them, and 
soon died, seemingly with little pain, or none. So ended this old 
and blessed servant of God, his laborious works, and fruitful life, by 
an easy and quiet death in the midst of the fire, into which he cheer- 
fully entered for Christ's sake. But it pleased the Lord to glorify 
himself otherwise in Ridley : his torments were terrible, and pro- 
tracted to an extent that it sickens the heart to contemplate. The 
fire had been made so ill, by heaping a great quantity of heavy fag- 
gots very high about him, above the lighter combustibles, that the 
solid wood kept down the flame, causing it to rage intensely be- 
neath, without ascending. The martyr finding his lower extremi 
ties only burning, requested those about him, for Christ's sake, to leo 
the fire come to him ; which his poor brother Shipside hearing, and 
in the anguish of his spirit not rightly understanding, he heaped 
more faggots on the pile, hoping so to hasten the conflagration, 
which of course was further repressed by it, and became more ve- 
hement beneath, burning to a cinder all the nether parts of the suf- 
ferer, without approaching the vitals. In this horrible state, he 
continued to leap up and down under the wood, praying them to let 
the fire come, and repeatedly exclaiming, " I cannot burn," writhing 
in the torture, as he turned from side to side, the bystanders saw 
even his shirt unconsumed, clean, and unscorched by the flame, 
while his legs were totally burnt off. In such extremity his heart 
was still fixed, trusting in his God, and ejaculating frequently, 
"Lord, have mercy upon me!" intermingling it with entreaties, 
" Let the fire come unto me — I cannot burn." At last one of the 
bill-men with his weapon mercifully pulled away the faggots from 
above, so giving the flame power to rise ; which the sufferer no 



ODD 



HISTORY 7 ROMANISM. Yxi^ 



sooner saw than with in eager ::::: be wrenched bis mutilated 
body:: thai sir.:: raeef the welcome feliverance, I:.e dame 
uow touched the gunpc sseenfc stir ao more ; but 

nrnmg awnile >n the ::aer side, he fell ove: the sfaain a; the 

feet :: Latimer's : :>rpse. 

Such are thv tenier rr.fr;:e=. :vtiz: Rene! 



W 



5 9. — Let the Christian reader now Iraw nigh and 
plate this pamfol scene — the venerable form of the holy Latimer, 
with his snowy locks whitened ry the :::s:s :: e:_ a - 
iers, iressed in his shrood, aae::a:a bis eyes upward to heaven far 
strenr th as the ::::/: ing flames gathei and wra themselves around 
his aged and |mvering limbs, and yet amidst his tortures praying 
::: bis tormentors — the stalely and noble form of his companion 
R idle v. chained to the same stake, with bis feel and legs : ::ually 
burning :: a cinder, till they fall from as tortured body ; before 
death, the welcome deliverer, has done his work — then let him con- 
template the cowled priest :: Rome, with :a:ss in hand, insulting 
the d ying ag Hiies :: the martyrs, and rejoicing in their protracted 
and excruciating torments — and remember thai tins, stripped of dis- 
guise or concealment — this is Popeey — "re: a :;- aaa elood 

OF TEZ 5AIHT9 AHB OF THE MAETYBS OF JeSYS." 

Wefl a as that gifted authoress, Mrs. Tonna, exclaim, after 
_ lesc a :ion of the horrible tortures inflicted upon these 

two holy men, "Wo unto as. aa with these examples before us. we 
shrink not from touching, even the outermost fringe of that bar] 5 
:a:s '. There :s :aa: a::a r : ■ ■■/.. a:e :as: :a Oxherd 
which rise up in the judgment, a terrible witness against those 

. while 'trampling on the ashes of the mar all dare to sug- 

gest any, even the slightest measure of approximation to the apos- 
tate church — any recog a: . :/ her. oth-: mse than :.;• aaa iizjly 
accobsei aaz::a : e Cmusi ami his = a a;."* 

10. — Thomas a : .-a ikks was born in 1489, and had been ap- 
pointed by Henry VJJ1 archbishop of _a During the 
brief reign of the youthful Edwarc VL, Cranmer (though not entirely 
free from the contamination of the doctrine of Rome, the right to 
persecute for 5 ace sake) was ae of the principal agents in 
ftcing the reformation in England. Upon the accession of 
bloody Mary, soon marked out as : : aspieuous victim for 
papal fury. His closing iays are clouded, as were those 

woe, by his signature to a written recantation, obtained 
his enemies, by the means of the prospect they held 
him >flife and : a: a : aearly th: ars 

aaa rigorous imprisonment: yet, like the Bohemian reformer, he 

* English Maityrdogy, bj- Charlotte Elizabeth, rol. ii . . p 55. 



chap, n.] POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 557 

Cranmer in St. Mary's church. His mournful demeanor and copious tears. 

bitterly repented this act of natural weakness, and showed the sin- 
cerity of that repentance, by his extraordinary courage and con- 
stancy, amidst the fires of martyrdom. After Cranmer had signed 
this document, he soon found reason to suspect that his popish ene- 
mies would still not be satisfied without his blood ; and in the esti- 
mation of some, this circumstance may, perhaps, tend to cast a 
shade of doubt over his dying protestations. No one, however, 
who will carefully consider the circumstances of the last few hours 
of his life (which we shall now proceed to narrate), can reasonably 
doubt that his penitence for this act of pardonable weakness was 
sincere, and that the same Jesus who cast a look of love, and 
melted the heart of Peter, who had denied him, sustained the dying 
Cranmer by his presence and his smiles, and welcomed the ran- 
somed spirit of the departed martyr to the abodes of the blessed. 

§ 11. — It is generally thought that Cranmer was not informed of 
the determination to put him to death, till the morning when he 
was to suffer. About nine A. M., of the 21st of March, 1556, he 
was taken to St. Mary's church, Oxford, to listen to a sermon by 
Doctor Cole, preached at the church instead of at the place of exe- 
cution, on account of its being a very rainy day. 

A Romanist who was present, and who expressed the opinion 
" that the former life and wretched end of Cranmer deserved a 
greater misery, if greater had been possible," was yet, in spite of 
his heart-hardening opinions, touched with compassion at beholding 
him in a bare and ragged gown, and ill-favoredly clothed with an 
old square cap, exposed to the contempt of all men. " I think," 
said he, " there was none that pitied not his case, and bewailed not 
his fortune, and feared not his own chance, to see so noble a prelate, 
so grave a counsellor, of so long-continued honor, after so many 
dignities, in his old years to be deprived of his estate, adjudged to 
die, and in so painful a death to end his life." When he had as- 
cended the stage, he knelt and prayed, weeping so profusely, that 
many, even of the papists, were moved to tears. 

While Cole was preaching the sermon, in which he endeavored 
to make the best apology possible for the act of the Queen in con- 
signing Cranmer to the flames, the venerable martyr himself seemed 
overwhelmed with the weight of sorrow and penitence. " With 
what great grief of mind he stood hearing this sermon," says good 
John Fox, in his own simple and beautiful style, " the outward 
shows of his body and countenance did better express, than any 
man can declare : one while lifting up his hands and eyes unto hea- 
ven, and then again for shame letting them down to the earth. A 
man might have seen the very image and shape of perfect sorrow 
lively in him expressed. More than twenty several times the tears 
gushed out abundantly, dropping down from his fatherly face. Those 
which were present testify that they never saw, in any child, more 
tears than burst out from him at that time. It is marvellous what 
commiseration and pity moved all men's hearts that beheld so 
heavy a countenance, and such abundance of tears, in an old man 
36 



558 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vht. 

His courageous and unexpected dying testimony to the truth. Renounces his extorted recantation 

of so reverend dignity." Withal he ever retained " a quiet and 
grave behavior." In this hour of utter humiliation and severe re- 
pentance, he possessed his soul in patience. Never had his mind 
been more clear and collected, never had his heart been so strong. 
After the sermon, Cole exhorted Cranmer to testify before the peo- 
ple the sincerity of his conversion and repentance, that all men 
might understand he was " a Catholic indeed." 

§ 12. — "I will do it," replied Cranmer, "and that with a good 
will." He then rose from his knees, and, putting off his cap, said, 
" Good Christian people, my dearly-beloved brethren and sisters in 
Christ, I beseech you most heartily to pray for me to Almighty 
God, that he will forgive me my sins and offences, which be many 
without number, and great above measure. But among all the 
rest, there is one which grieveth my conscience most of all, whereof 
you shall hear more in its proper place." He then knelt down, and 
offered up a touching and fervent prayer, speaking of himself as 
" a most wretched caitiff and miserable sinner." Rising from his 
knees, he proceeded to address the assembled multitude, giving 
them many pious and godly exhortations, before touching upon the 
point which all were anxiously expecting to hear — whether he was 
about to die in the Romish or the protestant faith. 

At length he said : " And now, forasmuch as I am come to the 
last end of my life, whereupon hangeth all my life past, and all my 
life to come, either to live with my Master Christ for ever in joy, or 
else to be in pain for ever with wicked devils in hell (and I see be- 
fore mine eyes presently either heaven ready to receive me, or else 
hell ready to swaliow me up) ; I shall therefore declare unto you 
my very faith, how I believe, without any color of dissimulation ; 
for now is no time to dissemble, whatsoever I have said or written 
in times past." He then repeated the Apostles' creed, and declared 
his belief in every article of the true Catholic faith, every word 
and sentence taught by our Saviour, his Apostles, and prophets, and 
in the New and Old Testament. " And now," he continued, " I 
come to the great thing which troubleth my conscience more than 
anything that ever I said or did in my whole life, and that is, the 
setting abroad of writings contrary to the truth ; which now here 
I rexounce and refuse as things written with my hand, contrary 
to the truth which I thought in my heart." Hitherto, with con- 
summate skill, the martyr had avoided a single word which could 
indicate to his popish persecutors the unexpected blow they were 
about to receive. Up to this time, probably, the multitude of 
Romanists had expected him to confirm his recantation, and sup- 
posed that the writings to which he had just referred and which he 
now renounced were those which he had published in opposition to 
the doctrines of Rome. This illusion was dissipated, when, in the 
next sentence, he spoke of those writings as — " written for fear of 
death, and to save my life, if it might be : and that is, all such bills 
and papers as I have written or signed with my hand since my de- 
gradation, wherein I have written many things untrue. 




Cranmer's Renunciation of his Recantation in St. Mary's Church, Oxford. 




mmi 





Martyrdom of Crnnmcr.— " TIio hand that hath Binned) that hand shall first Buffer.' 



chap, n.] POPERY DRUNK WITH BLOOD OF SAINTS. 561 

Rage of the papists at Cranmer's noble confession. His unflinching constancy in the flames. 

" And," proceeded Cranmer, " forasmuch as my hand offended, 
writing contrary to my heart, my hand shall first be punished there- 
fore ; for may I come to the fire, it shall be first burnt !" He had 
time to add, " As for the Pope, I refuse him as anti-Christ ; and as 
for the Sacrament, I believe as I have taught in my book against 
the bishop of Winchester, the which my book teacheth so true a 
doctrine of the Sacrament, that it shall stand at the last day before 
the judgment of God, when the papistical doctrine, contrary thereto, 
shall be ashamed to show her face." 

§ 13.- — At this unexpected and noble confession, Cole and the 
rest of the popish priests, monks and laymen, were too much as- 
tonished to interrupt him, or he would not have been suffered to 
proceed so far. At length, an uproar was raised which prevented 
him from proceeding ; Cole foaming with rage, cried from the pul- 
pit — " Stop the heretic's mouth, and take him away," and the priests 
and friars rushed upon him, and tore him from the stage, on which 
he was standing. (See Engraving.) 

Cranmer was quickly hurried to the stake, prepared on the spot 
where Latimer and Ridley had suffered five months before. The 
venerable martyr had now overcome the weakness of his nature; 
and, after a short prayer, put off his clothes with a cheerful coun- 
tenance and willing mind, and stood upright in. his shirt, which 
came down to his feet. His feet were bare ; his head, when both 
his caps were off, appeared perfectly bald, but his beard was long 
and thick, and his countenance so venerable, that it moved even 
his enemies to compassion. Two Spanish friars, who had been 
chiefly instrumental in obtaining his recantation, continued to ex- 
hort him ; till, perceiving that their efforts were vain, one of them 
said, * Let us leave him, for the devil is with him !' Ely, who was 
afterward president of St. John's, still continued urging him to re- 
pentance. Cranmer replied, he repented his recantation ; and in 
the spirit of charity offered his hand to Ely, as to others, when he 
bade him farewell ; but the obdurate bigot drew back, and reproved 
those who had accepted such a farewell, telling them it was not 
lawful to act thus with one who had relapsed into heresy. Once 
more he called upon him to stand to his recantation. Cranmer 
stretched forth his right arm, and replied, " This is the hand that 

WROTE IT, AND THEREFORE IT SHALL SUFFER PUNISHMENT FIRST." 

True to this purpose, as soon as the flame arose, he held his hand 
out to meet it, and retained it there steadfastly, so that all the peo- 
ple saw it sensibly burning before the fire reached any other part 
of his body ; and often he repeated with a loud and firm voice, 
" This hand hath offended ! this unworthy right hand." (See 
Engraving.) 

Never did martyr endure the fire with more invincible resolu- 
tion ; no cry was heard from him, save the exclamation of the 
protomartyr Stephen, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit !" He stood 
immoveable as the stake to which lie was bound, his countenance 
raised, looking to heaven, and anticipating that rest into which he 



562 HISTORY OF ROMAXISZvl. [book vm. 

" First perish this unworthv hand." Cranmer' s martyrdom, injurious to the cause of Rome 

was about to enter : and thus. " in the greatness of the flame," he 
yielded up his spirit. The fire did its work soon. . . . and his heart 
was found unconsumed amid the ashes. 

The pile is lit — the flames ascend ; 

Yet peace is in the martyr's face ; 
And unseen visitants attend 

That chief of England's priestly race ; 
Mightier in peril's darkest hour. 
Than when enthroned in rank and power 

Steadfast he stood in that fierce flame. 

As standing in his own high hall : 
He said, as sadness o'er him came. 

Remembrance of his mournful fall — 
Stretching it to the burning brand — 
"First perish this uhwwrthy ka^'d ! ;: 

Thy foul and cruel deed, O Rome ! 

Was vain ; that blazing funeral pyre 
Where Cranmer died, did soon become 

To England as a beacon fire ; 
And he hath left a glorious name. 
Victorious over Rome and flame. 

" Of all the martyrdoms during this great persecution," says 
Dr. Southey, " this was in all its circumstances the most injurious to 
the Romish cause. It was a manifestation of inveterate and deadly 
malice toward one who had borne his elevation with almost unex- 
ampled meekness. It effectually disproved the argument on which 
the Romanists rested, that the constancy of our martyrs proceeded 
not from confidence in their faith, and the strength which they de- 
rived therefrom ; but from vainglory, the pride of consistency, and 
the shame of retracting what they had so long professed. * Such 
deceitful reasoning could have no place here: Cranmer had re- 
tracted ; and the sincerity of his contrition for that sin was too 
plain to be denied, too public to be concealed, too memorable ever 
to be forgotten. The agony of his repentance had been seen by 
thousands ; and tens of thousands had witnessed how. when that 
agony was past, he stood calm and immoveable amid the flames .; 
a patient and willing holocaust ; triumphant, not over his persecu- 
tors alone, but over himself, over the mind as well as the body, 
over fear and weakness, as well as death.'*" 

§ 14. — For upwards of two years and a half from the martyr- 
dom of Cranmer, a mysterious providence permitted the papists of 
England to glut their bigot rage in the slaughter of the lambs and 
the sheep of Christ's fold who refused to subscribe to the doctrines 
of Rome. At length the time of deliverance approached. The 
last of these bloody sacrifices to the popish Moloch was made on 
the 10th of November, only one week previous to the death of 
queen Mary, in the burning alive of three men and two women at 

* Southey 's Book of the Church, chap. xiv. 



chap, n.] POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 563 

The last burning in the reign of bloody Mary. Joy of the people at her death. Elizabeth and the Pope. 

Canterbury, for denying transubstantiation and the worship of 
images. The names of this last company of victims who brought 
up " the noble army of martyrs " of the Marian persecution, were 
John Corneford, John Hurst, Christopher Brown, Alice Snoth, and 
Catharine Tinley. The last was an aged and helpless woman, 
whose years and debility, one would have thought, might awaken 
pity even in the breast of a savage. But popish bigotry knows no 
pity ; and the feeble and withered body of the aged saint was con- 
sumed to ashes in the torturing flames. 

From the burning pile of this last company of martyrs, the 
prayer arose from the lips of the sufferers that their blood might be 
the last that should be thus shed, in England, for the truth ; and God 
heard that prayer. One week after, on the 17th of November, the 
merciless bigot-queen was called before a higher tribunal to give an 
account of the innocent blood that she had poured out like water 
during her brief but terrible reign. Mary died in the morning. 
Before night the bells of all the churches in London were rung for 
the accession of Elizabeth, and amidst the lamentations of popish 
bigots that some of their victims had escaped, a shout of rapture 
went up from the hearts of the people that the work of blood was 
done ; and bonfires and illuminations testified the general joy that 
the reign of terror and of Rome was over. 

§ 15. — Great was the sorrow and disappointment of that bloody 
persecutor and promoter of the Inquisition, pope Paul IV., at hear- 
ing of the death of his " faithful daughter," Mary, and the accession 
of her protestant sister Elizabeth to the throne of England. In 
answer to the ambassador sent to the court of Rome, in common 
with the other European courts, the Pope replied in a haughty 
style, " That England was held in fee of the apostolic See. . . . 
that it was great boldness in her to assume the crown without his 
consent ; for which, in reason, she deserved no favor at his hands ; 
yet, if she would renounce her pretensions, and refer herself wholly 
to him, he would show a fatherly affection towards her, and do every- 
thing for her that he could consistently with the dignity of the 
apostolic See !"* 

Elizabeth treated these kind proposals of hisJHoliness with just 
the attention they merited, and a few years afterward was excom- 
municated and deposed by pope Pius V., and her subjects absolved 
from their allegiance and forbidden to obey her, under penalty of 
the same anathema!! This important instrument of papal ven- 
geance renews all the obsolete pretensions of Hildebrand and Boni- 
iace, and is especially valuable as an exhibition of the feelings of ap- 
probation and regard on the part of the anti-Christian popes of Rome 
toward that bloody persecutor of God's saints, queen Mary ; and 
their bitter hatred toward her sister Elizabeth, who had put an end 
to those scenes of horror and of blood. 

The original bull, in Latin, may be found in the collection of 

* Burnet's Hist, of the Reformation, vol. ii., p. 580. 



564 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [boos vm. 

Cops of the ball of pope Pius, excommiiiiic:: ng and He po s in g :. en EBabedL 

records at the end of Burnet's History of the Reformation. The 
following is a translation of the most important part : 

Excommunication and deposition of queen Elizabeth of England. 
u Pius. occ, for a future memorial of the matter. He that reign- 
eth on high, to whom is given ail power in Heaven and on Earth, 
committed one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, out of which 
there is no salvation, to one alone upon earth, to Peter the Prince of 
the Apostles, and to Peters successor the Bishop of Rome, to be 
governed in fullness of power. Him aloxe he made prince over 
all people, and all kingdoms, to pluck up, destroy, scatter, con- 
sume, plant and build, occ. . . . But the number of the ungodly 
hath gotten such power, that there is now no place left in the whole 
world, which they have not essayed to corrupt with their most 
wicked doctrines. Amongst others, Elizabeth, the pretended Queen 
of England, a slave of wickedness, lending thereunto her helping- 
hand, with whom, as in a sanctuary, the most pernicious of all men 
have found a refuge : this very woman having seized on the king- 
dom, and monstrously usurping the place of the Supreme Head of 
the church in all England, and the chief authority and jurisdiction 
thereof, hath again brought back the same kingdom into miserable 
iction, which was then newly reduced to the faith, and to good 
order. For having by strong hand, inhibited the exercise of the 

TRUE RELIGION. WHICH MARY THE LAWFUL QuEEX, OF FAMOUS MEMORV, 

had, by the help of this See. restored, after it had been formerly 
overthrown by King Henry Till., a revolter therefrom, and follow- 
ing and embracing the errors of heretics, she hath removed the 
royal council, consisting of the English nobility, and filled it with 
obscure men. being heretics ; hath oppressed the embracers of the 
Roman faith, hath placed impious preachers, ministers of iniquity, 
and abolished the sacrifice of the mass, prayers, fastings, distinction 
oi meats, a single life, and the rites and ceremonies ; hath com- 
manded books to be read in the whole realm, containing manifest 
heresy, &c. . . . She hath not only contemned the godly re- 
quests and admonitions of princes, concerning her healing, and con- 
version, but also hath not so much as permitted the Nuncios of this 
See to cross the seas into England, &c. . . . "We do, there- 
fore, out of the fulness of our A stolic power, declare the afore- 
said Elizabeth, being a heretic, and a favorer of heretics, and her 
adherence in the matter aforesaid, to have incurred the sentence of 
anathema, and to be cut off from the unity of the body of Christ. 
And, moreover, we do declare her to be deprived of her pretended 
title to the kingdom aforesaid, and of all dominion, dignity, and 
privilege whatsoever: and also the nobility, subjects, and people of 
the said kingdom, and all others which have in any sort sworn unto 
her, to be for ever absolved from any such oath, and all manner of 
duty, oi dominion, allegiance, and obedience : as we also do. by the 
authority of these presents, absolve them, axd do deprive the same 
Elizabeth of her pretexded title to the kingdom, and all other 
tilings aforesaid. And we do command and interdict all and every 



chap, in.] POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 567 

Original of the bull excommunicating Elizabeth— note. The Holy Inquisition 

one of the noblemen, subjects, people, and others aforesaid, that they 
'presume not to obey her, or her admonitions, mandates, and laws ; 
and those who shall do the contrary, we do innodate with the like 
sentence of ANATHEMA.* 

" Given at St. Peter's at Rome, in the year 1569, and the 5th of 
our pontificate." 



CHAPTER III. 

THE rNdUISITION. SEIZURE OF THE VICTIMS. MODES OF TORTURE, 

AND CELEBRATION OF THE AUTO DA FE. 

§16 . — Of all the inventions of popish cruelty the Holy Inquisi- 
tion is the masterpiece. We have already referred to its establish- 
ment by Saint Dominic, in the thirteenth century. For the history 
of this destructive engine of papal cruelty, we must refer to any, 
or all of the authentic works of Llorente, Puigblanch, Limborch, 
Stockdale, Geddes, Dellon, and other historians of the Inquisi- 
tion. All that we shall undertake will be a brief description of 
the treatment, tortures, and burnings of the unfortunate beings 
who writhed under its iron rod of oppression. The adjoining 
engraving represents an exterior view of one of the gloomy 
prisons of the Inquisition in that country, which, more than any 
other, has been oppressed and crushed by this horrid tribunal, un- 
happy Spain. It is copied from a drawing taken on the spot by 
David Roberts, Esq. (See Engraving.) 

It was impossible for even Satan himself to conceive a more 
horrible contrivance of torture and blood, than this so called Holy 

* The following is the original of the closing extract of this bull, deposing Eli- 
zabeth from her throne. We should hardly have believed that the mad pretensions 
of Hildebrand were thus revived by the Pope near the end of the sixteenth century, 
and half a century subsequent to the glorious reformation, were not the original 
documents at hand, and the fact beyond the shadow of a doubt : — " Declaramus 
de Apostolicae potestatis plenitudine, proedictam Elizabetham Hacreticam, et Haere- 
ticorum fautriccm, eique adhcrentes in pracdictis, anathematis sententiam incurrisse, 
esseque a Christi Corporis unitate praecisos : Quin etiam ipsam pnutenso Regni 
praedicti jure, necnon omni et quorumque Dominio, dignitate, privilegioque priva- 
tam ; Et item proceres, subditos et populos dicti Regni, ac cacteros omnes, qui illi 
quomodocunque juraverunta Juramento hujusmodi, acomni prorsus dominii, fide- 
litatis, et obsequii dcbito, perpetuo absolutos, prout nos illos prsBsentium authori- 
tate absolvimus, et privamus eandem Elizabethan! praetenso jure Regni, aliiisque 
omnibus supradictis. Prsecipimusque et, interdicimus [Jniversis et singulis Proce- 
ribus, Suhditis, Populis et aliis prrudietis ; ne illi, ejusve monitis, mandutis, etlem- 
bus audeaut obedire : Qui secus cgerint, eos simili Anathematis scntentia innoda- 
mus." — Burnet's Reformation, vol. iv., p. 99. 



568 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book m 

Pollock's poetical description of the Inquisition. Mode of apprehending the victims. 

Inquisition. There it was (in the words of Pollock), that the 
Babylonish harlot of the Apocalypse, 

*****" With horrid relish drank the blood 
Of God's peculiar children — and was drunk ; 
And in her drunkenness dreamed of doing good. 
The supplicating hand of innocence, 
That made the tiger mild, and in his wrath 
The lion pause — the groans of suffering most 
Severe were naught to her : she laughed at groans ; 
No music pleased her more ; and no repast 
So sweet to her as blood of men redeemed 
By blood of Christ. Ambition's self, though mad 
And nursed on human gore, with her compared 
Was merciful. Nor did she always rage ; 
She had some hours of meditation, set 
Apart, wherein she to her study went ; 
The Inquisition model most complete 
Of perfect wickedness, where deeds were done, 
Deeds ! let them ne'er be named, — and sat and planned 
Deliberately, and with most musing pains, 
How, to extremest thrill of agony, 
The flesh, and blood, and souls of holy men, 
Her victims might be wrought ; and when she saw 
New tortures of her laboring fancy born, 
She leaped for joy, and made great haste to try 
Their force, — well pleased to hear a deeper groan." 

§ 17. — The victims of the Inquisition were generally apprehended 
by the officers of the tribunal called familiars, who were dispersed in 
large numbers over Spain, and other lands where the " Holy office" 
was established. In the dead of the night, perhaps, a carriage 
drives up, and a knock is heard at the door. An inquiry is made 
from the window, by some member of the family rising from his 
bed ; ' who is there V The reply is the terrible words, ' The Holy 
Inquisition.' Perhaps the inquirer has an only child, a beloved and 
cherished daughter ; and almost frozen with terror, he hears the 
words, ' Deliver up your daughter to the Holy Inquisition' — or it 
may be — Deliver up your wife, your father, your brother, your 
son. No matter who is demanded, not a question must be asked. 
Not a murmur must escape his lips, on pain of a like terrible fate 
with the destined victim. The trembling prisoner is led out, per- 
haps totally ignorant of his crime or accuser, and immured within 
those horrid walls, through which no sigh of agony or shriek of an- 
guish can reach the ear of tender and sympathizing friends. 

The next day the family go in mourning ; they bewail the lost 
one as dead ; consigned not to a peaceful sepulchre, but to a living 
tomb ; and strive to conceal even the tears which natural affection 
prompts, lest the next terrible summons should be for them. In the 
gloomy cell to which the victim is consigned, the most awful and 
mysterious silence must be preserved. Lest any of its internal 
secrets might be disclosed, no sounds were permitted to be heard 
throughout the dismal apartments of the Inquisition. The poor 



chap, in.] POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 569 

A poor heretic whipped to death for coughing in the Inquisition. Torture of pulley and ropea. 

prisoner was not allowed to bewail his fate, or, in an audible voice, 
to offer up his prayers to Him who is the refuge of the oppressed ; 
nay, even to cough was to be guilty of a crime, which was imme- 
diately punished. Limborch tells us of a poor afflicted victim who 
was, on one occasion, heard to cough ; the jailors of the Inquisition 
instantly repaired to his cell and warned him to forbear, as the 
slightest noise was not tolerated in that house. The prisoner replied 
that it was not in his power to forbear ; a second time they admo- 
nished him to desist ; and when again, the poor man, unable to re- 
frain from coughing, had repeated the offence, they stripped him 
naked, and cruelly beat him. This increased his cough, for which 
they beat him so often, that at last he died through the pain and an- 
guish of the stripes which he had received. 

§ 18. — The commonest modes of torture to force the victims to 
confess or to accuse themselves, were, dislocation, by means of pul- 
ley, rope and weights ; roasting the soles of the feet ; and suffoca- 
tion by water, with the torment of tightened ropes. These tor- 
tures were inflicted in a sad and gloomy apartment called the " Hall 
of Torture," generally situated far underground in order that the 
shrieks of anguish generally forced from the miserable sufferers, 
might not interrupt the death-like silence that reigned through the 
rest of the building. 

(1.) Dislocation by the pulley, ropes, and weights. In this kind of 
torture, according to Puigblanch,* a pulley was fixed to the roof of 
the Hall, and a strong cord passed through it. The culprit, whether 
male or female, was then seized and stripped, his arms forced be- 
hind his back, a cord fastened first above his elbows, then above his 
wrists, shackles put on his feet, and weights, generally of one hun- 
dred pounds, attached to his ancles. The poor victim, entirely 
naked, with the exception' of a cloth around the loins, was then 
raised by the cord and pulley, and in this position was coolly admo- 
nished by the cruel inquisitors to reveal all he knew. If his replies 
were unsatisfactory, sometimes stripes would be inflicted upon his, 
or her naked body, while in this dreadfully painful situation — the 
arms bent behind and upwards, and the weight of the body, with 
the heavy irons attached, wrenching the very bones from their 
sockets. If the confessions were still unsatisfactory, the rope was* 
suddenly loosened and the victim let fall to within a foot or two of 
the ground ; thus most fearfully dislocating the arms and shoulders, 
and causing the most indescribable agony. This dreadful process 
was sometimes repeated again and again, till (oh horrible !) the 
poor mangled victim, with his dislocated bones, dangling on the 
ropes, as it were by his loose flesh, fainting from excessive pain, 
was hurried to his miserable dungeon, and thrown upon the cold 
damp ground, where the surgeon was permitted to attend him, to set 

* See " Inquisition Unmasked, a historical and philosophical account of that tre- 
mendous tribunal, byD. Antonio Puigblanch." Translated from the Spanish. 2 
vols. ; London, 1816. 



570 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vm 

Torture of roasting the soles of the feet, the tightened ropes, &c. Horrid torture of a young Jady 

his dislocated bones and patch up his poor tortured frame, only to 
prepare him for a renewal of these horrors, unless in the interval 
he should choose to avoid them either by renouncing his faith, or by 
accusing himself of what he might be entirely innocent. 

(2.) Roasting the soles of the feet. — In this torture the prisoner, 
whether male or female, stripped as before, was placed in the stocks ; 
the soles of the feet were well greased with lard, and a blazing fire 
of coals in a chafing dish placed close to them, by the heat of which 
the soles of the sufferer's feet became perfectly roasted. When the 
violence of the anguish forced the poor tortured victim to shriek 
with agony, an attendant was commanded to interpose a board be- 
tween the victim's feet and the fire, and he was commanded to con- 
fess or to recant ; but if he refused to obey the command of the 
inquisitor, the board was again removed and the cruel torture re- 
peated till the soles of the sufferer's feet were actually burnt away 
to the bone, and the poor victim, if he ever escaped from these hor- 
rid dungeons of torture and misery, was perhaps made a cripple for 
life. The two forms of torture above described are represented in 
the adjoining illustration. (See Engraving.) 

(3.) The torture of tightened ropes and suffocation by water was 
performed in the following manner. The victim, frequently a female, 
was tied to a wooden horse, or hollow bench, so tightly by cords 
that they sometimes cut through the flesh of the arms, thighs and 
legs to the very bone. In this situation, she was obliged to swallow 
seven pints of water slowly dropped into her mouth on a piece of 
silk or linen, which was thus sometimes forced down her throat, 
and produced all the horrid sensations of drowning. Thus se- 
cured, vain are all her fearful struggles to escape from the cords that 
bind her — every motion only forces the cords further and further 
through the quivering and bleeding flesh. 

Heretics who were supposed incapable of surviving the inflic- 
tion of the horrid tortures above described, were subjected to other 
contrivances for inflicting pain, with less danger of life. Among 
these lesser tortures was one called the torture of the canes. A 
hard piece of cane was inserted between each of the fingers, which 
were then bound together with a cord, and subjected to the action 
of a screw. Another of t&ese was the torture of the die, in which 
the prisoner was extended on the ground, and two pieces of iron, 
shaped like a die, but concave on one side, were placed on the heel 
of his right foot, then bound on fast with a rope which was pulled 
tight with a screw. Both of these kinds of torture occasioned the 
sufferer the most intolerable pain, but with little or no danger of 
life. 

§ 19. — Not unfrequently death ensued from the severe tortures 
of the holy office. "A young lady, who was incarcerated in the 
dungeon of the Inquisition at the same time with the celebrated 
Donna Jane Bohorques, will supply an instance of this kind. This 
victim of inquisitorial brutality endured the torture till all the mem- 
bers of her body were rent asunder by the infernal machinery of 




Tortures of the Inquisition.— Pulley, and Roasting the Feet 




Lady after Torture, brought before the Tribunal of the Holy Office. 



chap, in.] POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 573 

A young lady tortured to death. Reflections on such an act of Inquisitorial cruelty 

the holy office. An interval of some days succeeded, till she began, 
notwithstanding such inhumanity, to recover. She was then taken 
back to the infliction of similar barbarity. Small cords were twisted 
round her naked arms, legs and thighs, till they cut through the 
flesh to the bone ; and blood, in copious torrents, streamed from the 
lacerated veins. Eight days after, she died of her w r ounds, and was 
translated from the dungeons of the Inquisition to the glory of hea- 
ven."* 

Ah, who can conceive the tale of unutterable anguish that is in- 
cluded in a single instance of inquisitorial malignity and cruelty — 
such, perhaps, as that just related ! A lady — a young lady — per- 
haps the only daughter of doating parents, as dear to them, reader, 
as your daughter to you, or mine to me — brought up, perhaps, in 
the lap of luxury and refinement — living amid the smiles and ca- 
resses of doating friends, and dreaming of no danger nigh. In an 
unguarded moment a sentence has escaped her, disrespectful to the 
idolatry of Rome. Perhaps she has dared to say, she trusts for 
salvation, not in Mary and the saints, but in Christ alone. That 
sentence has been heard by a spy of the Holy office. She retires 
to sleep at night ; at the midnight hour the carriage of the Inquisi- 
tion stops before the door, and the lovely, the tender, the delicate 
female, upon whom the wind has never before been suffered to blow 
roughly, is dragged away to the damp and gloomy cell of the hor- 
rible Inquisition. 

Look at her, as she kneels prostrate in her gloomy dungeon, 
and implores succor from on high ! See that tear of natural an- 
guish that trickles down her cheeks, as she thinks of the agony of a 
doating father, of a tender mother, perhaps of a frantic betrothed 
one, who yet dare not give utterance to their anguish for fear of a 
similar fate. She is summoned before the tribunal of the men of 
blood. She is darkly told of suspicions, of informations, but she 
knows neither their author nor their subject. She is commanded to 
'confess, without knowing her accusation, and is silent. The rough 
and hardened popish executioners are summoned, and her maiden 
modesty is outraged by her clothes being rudely torn from her per- 
son by cruel and bloody men. The command is given, the horrid 
torture is applied. The piercing cords are bound around her tender 
limbs, till they cut through the quivering flesh, and, fainting, she is 
borne back to her gloomy dungeon. No father's hand is there in 
that gloomy dungeon to wipe away those tears, no mother's hand to 
stanch and to bind up those bleeding wounds. She flies to the throne 
of grace for help (where else can she?) and she feels that Jesus is 
with her. In a few days, she is carried, all pale, enfeebled and ema- 
ciated, before her iron-hearted judges. (See Engraving.) 

She is again examined, and the horrible process of outrage 
and torture is repeated. She is carried back to her dungeon, to 
breathe her sighs to the cold stone walls, to linger alone, and suffer- 

* Moreri, 6, 7. Limborch, 323. Edgar, 230. 
37 



574 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vm. 

The Auto da fe. Description of the dresses of the victims. The San benito— Coroza, &c. 

.ng for a few days, and then her ransomed spirit quits the tortured 
body, and wings its way to Heaven. Her mourning friends know 
jnot of her death, for no news is suffered to transpire beyond those 
gloomy walls. But there is ONE who knows, ONE who sees, and 
in his book are recorded all the groans and sighs of that poor suf- 
ferer, to be brought forth in fearful reckoning against her murderers 
in another day. 

When the mind has formed an accurate and vivid conception 
of a single case like this, then let it be remembered that it is but one 
of thousands and tens of thousands of equally barbarous instances 
of popish persecution, cruelty and torture ; and that for ages, in 
lands that groaned under the iron rod of Popery, these horrors 
were of daily occurrence. 

O merciful and compassionate God ! what deeds of cruelty and 
blood have been perpetrated upon thy suffering children, in the 
name of HIM w r hose very heart is tenderness, and whose very 
name is LOVE ! 

§ 20. — The next scene in this melancholy tragedy is the auto da 
fe. This horrid and tremendous spectacle is always represented 
on the Sabbath day. The term auto da fe (act of faith) is applied 
to the great burning of heretics, when large numbers of these tor- 
tured and lacerated beings are led forth from their gloomy cells, 
and marched in procession to the place of burning, dressed accord- 
ing to the fate that awaits them on that terrible day. The victims 
who walk in the procession wear the san benito, the coroza, the 
rope around the neck, and carry in their hand a yellow wax candle. 
The san benito is a penitential garment or tunic of yellow cloth 
reaching down to the knees, and on it is painted the picture of the 
person who wears it, burning in the flames, with figures of dragons 
and devils in the act of fanning the flames. This costume indicates 
that the wearer is to be burnt alive as an incorrigible heretic. If 
the person is only to do penance, then the san benito has on it a 
cross, and no paintings or flames. If an impenitent is converted 
just before being led out, then the san benito is painted with the 
flames downward ; this is called " fuego repolto," and it indicates 
that the wearer is not to be burnt alive, but to have the favor of 
being strangled before the fire is applied to the pile. Formerly 
these garments were hung up in the churches as eternal monuments 
of disgrace to their wearers, and as the trophies of the Inquisition. 
The coroza is a pasteboard cap, three feet high, and ending in a 
point. On it are likewise painted crosses, flames, and devils. In 
Spanish America it was customary to add long twisted tails to the 
corozas. Some of the victims have gags in their mouths, of which 
a number is kept in reserve in case the victims, as they march along 
in public, should become outrageous, insult the tribunal, or attempt 
to reveal any secrets. 

The prisoners who are to be roasted alive have a Jesuit on each 
side continually preaching to them to abjure their heresies, and if 
any one attempts to offer one word in defence of the doctrines for 



chap, in.] POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 575 

Gagging of heretics. Outrageous hypocrisy of the Inquisition, in their pretence of mercy. 

which he is going to suffer death, his mouth is instantly gagged. 
" This I saw done to a prisoner, says Dr. Geddes, in his account 
of the Inquisition in Portugal, " presently after he came out of the 
gates of the Inquisition, upon his having looked up to the sun, 
which he had not seen before in several years, and cried out in a 
rapture, - How is it possible for people that behold that glorious 
body to worship any being but Him that created it.' " 

§ 21. — When the procession arrives at the place where a large 
scaffolding has been erected for their reception, prayers are offered 
up, strange to tell, at a throne of mercy, and a sermon is preached, 
consisting of'impious praises of the Inquisition, and bitter invectives 
against all heretics ; after which a priest ascends a desk, and re- 
cites the final sentence. This is done in the following words, 
wherein the reader will find nothing but a shocking mixture of 
blasphemy, ferociousness, and hypocrisy. 

" We, the inquisitors of heretical pravity, having, with the con- 
currence of the most illustrious N , lord archbishop of Lisbon, 

or of his deputy, N , calling on the name of the Lord Jesus 

Christ, and of his glorious mother, the Virgin Mary, and sitting on 
our tribunal, and judging with the holy gospels lying before us, so 
that our judgment may be in the sight of God, and our eyes may 
behold what is just in all matters, &c. &c. 

" We do therefore, by this our sentence put in writing, define, 
pronounce, declare, and sentence thee (the prisoner), of the city of 
Lisbon, to be a convicted, confessing, affirmative, and professed 
heretic ; and to be delivered and left by us as such to the secular 
arm ; and we, by this our sentence, do cast thee out of the eccle- 
siastical court as a convicted, confessing, affirmative, and professed 
heretic ; and we do leave and deliver thee to the secular arm, and 
to the power of the secular court, but at the same time do most 
earnestly beseech that court so to moderate its sentence as not to 
touch thy blood, nor to put thy life in any sort of danger." 

Well may Dr. Geddes inquire, in reference to this hypocritical 
mockery of God and man, " Is there in all history an instance of so 
gross and confident a mockery of God, and the world, as this of the 
inquisitors beseeching the civil magistrate not to put the heretics they 
have condemned and delivered to them, to death ? For were they 
in earnest when they made this solemn petition to the secular 
magistrates, why do they bring their prisoners out of the Inquisition, 
and deliver them to those magistrates in coats painted over with 
flames ? Why do they teach that heretics, above all other male- 
factors, ought to be punished with death ? And why do they never 
resent the secular magistrates having so little regard to their earnest 
and joint petition as never to fail to burn all the heretics that are 
delivered to them by the Inquisition, within an hour or two after 
they have them in their hands ? And why in Rome, where the su- 
preme civil, as well as ecclesiastical authority are lodged in the 



576 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book viii. 

Joy of papists at the auto da fe. Kings and queens witnessing and aiding in the bloody scene. 

same person, is this petition of the Inquisition, which is made there 
as well as in other places, never granted ?" # 

§ 22. — If the prisoner, on being asked, says that he will die in the 
Catholic faith, he has the privilege of being strangled first, and then 
burnt ; but if in the Protestant or any other faith different from the 
Catholic, he must be roasted alive ; and, at parting with him, his 
ghostly comforters, the Jesuits, tell him, " that they leave him to the 
devil, who is standing at his elbow to receive his soul and carry it 
to the flames of hell, as soon as the spirit leaves his body." When 
all is ready, fire is applied to the immense pile, and the suffering 
martyrs, who have been securely fastened to their stakes, are roasted 
alive ; the living flesh of the lower extremities being often burnt and 
crisped by the action of the flames, driven hither and thither by the 
wind before the vital parts are touched ; and while the poor sufferers 
are writhing in inconceivable agony, the joy of the vast multitude, 
inflamed by popish bigotry and cruelty, causes the air to resound 
with shouts of exultation and delight. Says Dr. Geddes, in a de- 
scription of one of these auto da fes, of which he was a horrified 
spectator : " The victims were chained to stakes, at the height of 
about four feet from the ground. A quantity of furze that lay round 
the bottom of the stakes was set on fire ; by a current of wind it 
was in some cases prevented from reaching above the lowest ex- 
tremities of the body. Some were thus kept in torture for an hour 
or two, and were actually roasted, not burnt to death. " This spec- 
tacle," says he, " is beheld by people of both sexes, and all ages, with 
such transports of joy and satisfaction, as are not on any other occa- 
sion to be met with. And that the reader may not think that this 
inhuman joy is the effect of a natural cruelty that is in this people's 
disposition, and not the spirit of their religion, he may rest assured, 
that all public malefactors, except heretics, have their violent death 
nowhere more tenderly lamented, than amongst the same people, 
and even when there is nothing in the manner of their death that 
appears inhuman or cruel."f (See Engraving.) 

It was not uncommon for the popish kings and queens of Spain 
to witness these wholesale burnings of heretics from a magnificent 
stage and canopy erected for the purpose, and it was represented 
by the Jesuit priests as an act highly meritorious in the king to sup- 
ply a faggot for the pile upon which the heretics were to be con- 
sumed. Among other instances of this kind, king Charles II., in an 
auto da fe, supplied a faggot, the sticks cf which were gilded, 
adorned by flowers, and tied up with ribands, and was honored by 
being the first faggot placed upon the pile of burning. In 1559, king 
Philip, the popish husband of bloody queen Mary of England, was 
witnessing one of these cruel scenes, when a protestant nobleman 
named Don Carlos de Seso, while he was being conducted to the 

* Geddes' tracts on Popery. View of tne court of Inquisition in Portugal, 
p. 446. Limborch, vol. ii., p. 289. 
f Cited in Limborch, vol. ii., p. 301 



chap. iv.J POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 579 

The Waldenses. Their increase, in spite of persecution. Cruel outrage in the valley of Pragela. 

stake, called out to the King for mercy in these words : " And canst 
thou, oh king, witness the torments of thy subjects ? Save us from 
this cruel death ; we do not deserve it." " No," replied the iron- 
hearted bigoted monarch, " I would myself carry wood to burn my 
own son, were he such a wretch as thou." Thus is it that popish 
bigotry can stifle the strongest and tenderest instincts of our nature, 
turn human beings into monsters, and inspire joy and delight at wit- 
nessing the writhing agonies and hearing the piercing shrieks of 
even tender and delicate women, as their living bodies are being 
roasted amidst the fires of the auto dafe. 



CHAPTER IV. 

INHUMAN PERSECUTIONS OF THE WALDENSES. 

§ 23. — We have already given an account of the popish crusade 
against the Waldenses of the south of France, and the horrible cru- 
elties and massacres inflicted on them by the bloody Montfort and 
the Pope's legate, at the commencement of the thirteenth century. 
(Book v., chap. 7, 8.) Nothing more than a very brief sketch can 
now be added of the barbarities of a similar kind, which at various 
intervals were endured by this pious and interesting people during 
the five centuries which followed from the commencement of the 
crusade of pope Innocent. 

In spite of all the efforts of the popes and their bigoted adherents 
to extirpate from the earth these pious people, they continued to 
increase in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in various coun- 
tries of Europe, but especially in the valleys of Piedmont, where, 
shut in by the lofty and snow-capped mountains around them, they 
were in some degree sheltered from their popish persecutors. 

About the year 1400, a violent outrage was committed upon the 
Waldenses who inhabited the valley of Pragela, in Piedmont, by 
the Catholic party resident in that neighborhood. The attack, 
which seems to have been of the most furious kind, was made 
toward the end of the month of December, when the mountains are 
covered with snow, and thereby rendered so difficult of access, that 
the peaceable inhabitants of the valleys were wholly unapprised that 
any such attempt was meditated ; and the persecutors were in ac- 
tual possession of their caves, ere the former seem to have been 
apprised of any hostile designs against them. In this pitiable plight 
they had recourse to the only alternative which remained for saving 
their lives — they fled to one of the highest mountains of the Alps, 
with their wives and children, the unhappy mothers carrying the 
cradle in one hand, and in the other leading such of their offspring 



550 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [boos vul 

Mothers and infanta perish in the mountains. H ':::':--.: : m :: : : - -i 

ire able to walk. Their inhuman invaders, whose feel were 
:.ed blood, pursued them in their flight, un~ night came 
on, and slew great numbers of them, before they :::..: reach the 
mountains. Those thai escaped, w: expe- 

::-::. t ... .: : nviable. Overtaken by the shades of night, 
they -■ • up and down the moiTntains, sovered with snow, des- 

titate of the means : sheltef from the inclemc ether, 

support!^ g themselves andei it by any of the comforts which 
ience has destined foi that purpose: benumbed with cold, 
fell an easy prey to the severity : the :.:::;. and when the 
night had passed away, there were found in their c: 
upon the snow, ft info .:;. :'-: :'...: if life, ma., 

the mothers alsc Lying :". :-: y their sides, and others just upon the 
\ ; int >f expiring. 

4. — Nearly a century later, in consequence of the fei : : : w bull 
of :pe Innoeeat VIII.. already sited ":~_: 425 . :. atos: 
persecution was carried m against the -"V - in the valle; 

Loyse and Frassiniere. Albert n >f Cre- 

mona, was appointed legate of the P: : : tc :::.y his . ill 
cution. and was nc bc mer vested with his commission, than calling 
t: his aid the lieutenant of the province :: Daupl . 
troops, they marched at once to the villages inhabited by the I 
tics. The inhabitants, apprised of their approach, fled int : the< 
at the tors of the mountains, carrying with them their children, and 
■ ■: valuables they had. as well as what was thought neces- 
sary for their support and nourishment. The lieutenant hndir, the 
inhabitants all fled, and that not an individual appeared with whom 
he : al J : averse, at length dis : : Fere J their retreats, and causing 
quantities :: lobe placed at their entrances, ordered it I 

fire. Tat sonsequen fch I -" '. .. ired :'. Idrenwere 

or in the arms : their dead mothers, 

while multitudes, t< lying by suffocation, or being burnt to 

death, precipitated themselves headlong from their caverns upon the 

re sks . slow, where they lashed in pieces ; or if any escaped 

death by the fall, they v :•: : immediately slaught the brutal 

soldiery. -It is held as onquestionably true," says Perrin, " amongst 

the V."-. IweUmg in the adjacent valleys, that more than 1 

:.nd persons, men and w :'_; iging t : the valley of L 

ted on this occasion. And, indeed. I : wholly extermi- 

::: thai valley was ::::: led with new inhabitants, 

mily ::' the V og subs I in it ; 

which proves b eyond dispute, that all the inhabitants, and :: both 

:-i at that time."* 

| 25. — In the year 1545, a large tract ::' country :.: the south of 

je, inhabited chiefly by the Waldenses, was overrun and most 

cruelly desolated by the | >pish barbarians, under the t nnmand :: a 

vi . I snl big . named baron Oppede. A cop:: oi this per- 

• Perrin's History of the Waldenses, book ii., chap. 3. 



chap, iv.] POPERY DRUNK WITH BLOOD OF SAINTS. 581 

A barn full of women burnt to death. Dreadful persecution of the Waldenses in Calabria. 

secution is given by a candid Romish contemporary historian, Thu- 
anus, in the history of his own times. As a specimen of the cruel- 
ties perpetrated upon the heretics at this time, we can only extract 
the description of the taking of a single town, Cabrieres. " They 
had surrendered to the papists, upon a promise of having their lives 
spared ; but when the garrison was admitted they were all seized, 
they who lay hid in the dungeon of the castle, or thought themselves 
secured by the sacredness of the church ; and being dragged out 
from thence into a hollow meadow were put to death, without re- 
gard to age or the assurances given : the number of the slain, within 
and without the town, amounted to eight hundred : the women, by 
the command of Oppede, were thrust into a barn filled with straw, 
and fire being set to it, when they endeavored to leap out of the win- 
dow, they were pushed back by poles and pikes, and were thus mise- 
rably suffocated and consumed in the flames"* 

§ 26. — About the year 1560, during the suspension of the council 
of Trent, a most violent and bloody persecution was carried on 
against the Waldenses of Calabria at the south of Italy, by direc- 
tion of that brutal tyrant, pope Pius IV. Two monks were sent 
from Rome, armed with power to reduce the Calabrian heretics to 
obedience to the Holy See. Upon their arrival, at once to bring 
matters to the test, they caused a bell to be immediately tolled for 
mass, commanding the people to attend. Instead of complying, 
however, the Waldenses forsook their houses, and as many as were 
able fled to the woods with their wives and children. Two com- 
panies were instantly ordered out to pursue them, who hunted them 
like wild beasts, crying, " Amazzi ! Amazzi !" that is, " murder 
them ! murder them !" and numbers were put to death. 

Seventy of the heretics were seized and conducted in chains to 
Montalto. They were put to the torture by the orders of the 
inquisitor Panza, to induce them not only to renounce their faith but 
also to accuse themselves and their brethren of having committed 
odious crimes in their religious assemblies. To wring a confession 
of this from him, Stefano was tortured until his bowels gushed out. 
Another prisoner, named Verminel, having, in the extremity of 
pain, promised to go to mass, the inquisitor flattered himself that, 
by increasing the violence of the torture, he could extort a confes- 
sion of the charge which he was so anxious to fasten on the Pro- 
testants. The manner in which persons of the tender sex were 
treated by this brutal inquisitor, is too disgusting to be related here. 
Suffice it to say, that he put sixty females to the torture, the greater 
part of whom died in prison in consequence of their wounds re- 
maining undressed. On his return to Naples, he delivered a great 
number of Protestants to the secular arm at St. Agata, where he 
inspired the inhabitants with the utmost terror ; for if any indivi- 

* Thuani Historia sui temporis, Lib. vi. The same horrible cruelties, with 
some additional particulars, are related by Sleidan, in his History of the Reforma- 
tion, book xvi. 



582 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vm 

Horrible barbarities at Montalto. Eighty-eight throats of the Waldenses cut in cold blood 

dual came forward to intercede for the prisoners, he was immedi- 
ately put to the torture as a favorer of heresy.* 

Of the almost incredible barbarities of the papists at Montalto 
in the month of June, 1560, the best and most unexceptionable 
account is that furnished in the words of a letter of a Roman 
Catholic spectator of the horrid scene, writing to Ascanio Carac- 
cioli. This letter was published in Italy with other narrations of 
the bloody transactions. It commences as follows : — " Most illus- 
trious sir — Having written you from time to time what has been 
done here in the affair of heresy, I have now to inform you of the 
dreadful justice which began to be executed on these Lutherans 
early this morning, being the 11th of June. And, to tell you the 
truth, I can compare it to nothing but the slaughter of so many 
sheep. They were all shut up in one house as in a sheepfold. 
The executioner went, and, bringing out one of them, covered his 
face with a napkin, or benda, as we call it, led him out to a field 
near the house, and, causing him to kneel down, cut his throat with 
a knife. Then, taking off the bloody napkin, he went and brought 
out another, whom he put to death after the same manner. In 
this way, the whole number, amounting to eighty-eight men, were 
butchered. I leave you to figure to yourself the lamentable spec- 
tacle, for I can scarcely refrain from tears while I write ; nor was 
there any person who, after witnessing the execution of one, could 
stand to look on a second. The meekness and patience with which 
they went to martyrdom and death are incredible. Some of them 
at their death professed themselves of the same faith with us, but 
the greater part died in their cursed obstinacy. All the old men 
met their death with cheerfulness, but the young exhibited symp- 
toms of fear. I still shudder while I think of the executioner with 
the bloody knife in his teeth, the dripping napkin in his hand, and 
his arms besmeared with gore, going to the house and taking out 
one victim after another, just as the butcher does the sheep which 
he means to kill." 

Lest the reader should be inclined to doubt the truth of such 
horrid atrocities, the following summary account of them, by a 
Neapolitan historian of that age, may be added. After giving 
some account of the Calabrian heretics, he says — " Some had their 
throats cut, others were sawn through the middle, and others 
thrown from the top of a high cliff: all were cruelly but deservedly 
put to death. It was strange to hear of their obstinacy ; for while 
the father saw his son put to death, and the son his father, they not 
only exhibited no symptoms of grief, but said joyfully that they 
would be angels of God : so much had the devil, to whom they had 
given themselves up as a prey, deceived them."f 

* Perrin's Waldenses, pp. 202—206. Leger, &c. 

f Tommaso Costo, Seconda Parte del Compendio dell' Istoria di Napoli, p. 257. 
See that valuable work, which has recently been honored by a notice in the Pope's 
bull against the Christian Alliance, M'Crie's Reformation in Italy, chap. v. The 
Reformation in Spain, by the same writer, is equally valuable. 




Cruelties of the Popish Piedmontese soldiery to the Waldenses. 




Children forcibly taken from their Parents, to bo brought up as Papists. 



chap, iv.j POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 585 

Barbarities in Piedmont. " Mother with infant down the rocks." The poet Milton and Oliver Cromwell. 

§ 27. — About the middle of the following century, the barbarity 
and wholesale slaughter of the poor oppressed Waldenses, in the 
valleys of Piedmont, by their popish persecutors, was such as to 
excite a general feeling of indignation and remonstrance in all the 
protestant states of Europe. The bigoted and cruel soldiery, at- 
tended by the still more bigoted monks, had been let loose upon the 
inoffensive inhabitants of the valleys. Thousands of families had 
been compelled to abandon their homes in the very depths of win- 
ter, and to wander over mountains covered with ice and snow, des- 
titute and starving, to seek a refuge from their relentless persecu- 
tors ; and multitudes of them perished on the way, overwhelmed 
by tempests of drifted snow. Children had been torn from their 
agonized parents to be brought up as Roman Catholics, and carried 
off where those parents, even if they should linger out a miserable 
existence themselves, might never more expect to behold these ob- 
jects of their tenderness and affection. Many were hurled from 
precipitous rocks, and dashed to pieces by the fall. Sir Samuel 
Morland, who was appointed ambassador by Oliver Cromwell to 
bear the remonstrances of protestant England against these popish 
cruelties, published, on his return, a minute account of the sufferings 
of the Waldenses, in which he relates that in one instance " a 
mother was hurled down a mighty rock, with a little infant in her 
arms ; and three days after was found dead, with the little child 
alive, but fast clasped between the arms of the dead mother, which 
were cold and stiff, insomuch that those who found them had much 
ado to get the young child out."* (See Engraving.) 

The great poet Milton was, at this time, Latin secretary to 
Oliver Cromwell, and wrote the eloquent expostulations on the 
persecutions of the Waldenses, addressed to the duke of Savoy, 
with which Morland was entrusted, and the letters to the various 
protestant sovereigns of Europe on the same subject, f The im- 
mortal author of the Paradise Lost also invoked his poetic muse to 
excite sympathy for these " slaughtered saints," in the following 
sonnet, in which there is an allusion to the touching incident of the 
mother and her babe, just cited from Sir Samuel Morland. 

ON THE LATE MASSACRE IN PIEDMONT. 

Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones 

Lie seatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold ; 

Ev'n them who kept thy truth so pure of old, 

When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones 
Forget not : in thy book record their groans 

Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold 

Slain by the bloody Piedmonlese that rolVd . 

Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans 

* Sir Samuel Morland's history of the Valleys of Piedmont, p. 363. Folio. 
London, 1658. 

f For a full translation of these able and interesting documents from the pen 
of Milton, see Jones' History of the Church, Cone's edition, vol. ii., pp. 326-366. 
This valuable work is very full on the subject of the Waldenses. It was origi- 



586 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [eook vm, 

Milton's sonnet on the sufferings of the Waldenses in Piedmont. Farther persecutions and cruelties. 

The vales redoubled to the hills, and thev 

To heaven. Their martyr'd blood and" ashes sow 
O'er all tir Italian fields, where still doth sway 

The tripled tyrant ; that from these may grow 
A hundred" fold, who having learned thy way 
Early may fly the Babylonian wo. 

§ 2S. — The interposition ol the powerful Protector of England was 
not to be resisted. The persecutions of the Waldenses were 
abated, and the protestant Christians of Piedmont enjoyed for a 
few years a season of comparative repose, till the persecutions 
arising from the revocation of the edict of Xantes in France, when 
the popish duke of Savoy, imitating king Louis of France, com- 
menced another most cruel and bloody persecution of the Wal- 
denses. hardly exceeded in severity by any of the preceding. To 
relate the particulars of it would be only to repeat the horrors of 
massacres, burning, outrage, and rapine, by which the feelings of 
the reader must already have been sufficiently harrowed. This 
cruei persecution was brought to a close through the friendly inter- 
position of the Swiss Cantons, in September, 16S6. Multitudes of 
the Waldenses had long been confined in loathsome prisons in Pied- 
mont. The Swiss Cantons sent deputies to demand their release, 
and the privilege of quitting the dominions of their popish per- 
secutor. 

In the month of October, the duke of Savoy's proclamation was 
issued for their release and banishment. It was now the approach 
of winter, the ground was covered with snow and ice ; the vic- 
tims of cruelty were almost universally emaciated through poverty 
and disease, and very unfit for the projected journey. The pro- 
clamation was made at the castle of Mondovi, for example : and at 
five o'clock the same evening they were to begin a march of four or 
five leagues ! Before the morning more than a hundred and fifty 
of them sunk under the burden of their maladies and fatigues, and 
died. The same thing happened to the prisoners at Fossan. A 
company of them halted one night at the foot of Mount Cenis ; 
when they were about to march the next morning, they pointed the 
officer who conducted them to a terrible tempest upon the top of 
the mountain, beseeching him to allow them to stay till it had passed 
away. The inhuman papist, deaf to the voice of pity, insisted on 
their marching : the consequence of which was, that eighty-six of 
their number died, and were buried in that horrible tempest of 
snow. Some merchants that afterwards crossed the mountains, 
saw the bodies of these miserable people extended on the snow, the 
mothers clasping their children in their arms ! Such are the ten- 
der mercies of Rome. 

Dally written as a " History of the Waldenses." and afterward enlarged, and re- 
published under the title of "a i; Historv of the Church." 



587 



CHAPTER V. 

PERSECUTIONS IN FRANCE. MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW, AND 

REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES. 

§ 29. — We have already seen, in the massacres of the Waldenses 
of Beziers, Menerbe, Lavaur, and other places, that the emissaries 
of papal vengeance did not always wait for the slow process of 
inquisitorial examination and torture, to wreak their vengeance 
upon the detested heretics ; and it would be easy to fill a volume 
with the horrid details of wholesale massacres of hundreds and 
thousands of heretics at the time, by which the faithful servants of 
the popes have merited and obtained from these self-styled suc- 
cessors of St. Peter, plenary indulgences, which should admit them, 
with their hands all reeking with blood, to the abodes of the blessed. 

Omitting all mention of the horrid massacres of Orange and 
Vassy, in France ;* the butcheries of the bigoted duke of Alva, 
in the Netherlands, performed under the sanction of the husband 
of bloody Mary, Philip of Spain ;f or the massacres in Ireland and 
other popish countries, we can describe but one which stands pre- 
eminent among these scenes of blood, viz. the massacre of St. Bar- 
tholomew, at Paris, on the 24th of August, 1572. 

The massacre of St. Bartholomew was a plan laid by the in- 
famous Catharine de Medici, queen dowager of France, in concert 
with her weak and bigoted son, Charles IX., for the extirpation of 
the French protestants, who were called by the name of Hugue- 
nots. Under the pretext of a marriage between Henry, the pro- 
testant king of Navarre, and Margaret, the sister of Charles, the 
Huguenots, with their most celebrated and favorite leader, admiral 
Coligny, had been attracted to Paris. Coligny had been affection- 
ately warned by many of his friends against trusting himself at 
Paris, but such were the assurances of friendship on the part of 
king Charles, that he was thrown off his guard, and was drawn 
within the toils that popish malignity and craft had laid for him. 
On the 22d of August, an attempt was made to assassinate the Ad- 
miral by a shot fired at him in the street, by which he was wounded 
in the arm. This act was doubtless perpetrated at the instigation 
of the infamous queen mother, if not of her son, though that wicked 
woman pretended deep commiseration, and upon a visit to the Ad- 
miral remarked, that she "did not believe now the King could 
sleep safely in his palace." And yet both the mother and son, were 

* For a description of these see Lorimer's Protestant church of France, and 
Smedley's Reformed Religion in France, 
f For an account of the cruelties of the duke of Alva in the Netherlands, who 
msted that in six weeks he had caused 18,000 persons to be put to death for the 
<cne of Protestantism, see Watson's History of Philip II., book x. 



5S8 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vm. 

Murder of Colisrny. Frightful slaughter at the massacre of Bartholomew 

at that very moment, and had for weeks past been deliberately con- 
cocting a plan for the slaughter not only of Coligny, but of "all his 
protectant friends, whom they had now caught in their toils at 
Paris ; and in all this, no doubt, their popish bigotry taught them 
they were doing God service ! 

§ 30. — At length the fatal hour had arrived. All things were 
ready. The tocsin, at midnight, tolled the signal of destruction. 
The troops were sent forth, by royal command, to perform then- 
work of death. The assassins rushed into Coli^nv's hotel, killing 
several protestant Swiss soldiers as they passed. " Save your- 
selves, my friends," cried the generous-minded chief. " I have long 
been prepared for death.''' They obeyed his commands, and es- 
caped through the tiling of the roof; and in a moment after, the 
luggers of the popish assassins were buried in the heart of the 
noble chief of the protestants, and his body ignominiously thrown 
from the window, to be exposed to the rude insults of the bigoted 
populace.* Among those who escaped through the tiling was a 
protestant clergyman, M. Merlin, the chaplain of the Admiral. His 
escape was attended with a remarkable providential circumstance. 
He hid himself in a hay-loft, where he was sustained for three days 
by an egg each day, which a hen laid, for his support. t 

After the death of Coligny, the slaughter soon extended itself to 
every quarter of the city, and when the glorious sun looked forth 
that morning, it was upon an awful spectacle. The dead and the 
dying mingled together in undistinguished heaps. The pavements 
besmeared with a path of gore, along which the bodies of the mur- 
dered protestants had been dragged to be cast into the waters of 
the Seine, already dyed with the blood of the slain. The execu- 
tioners rushing through the streets, bespattered with blood and 
brains, brandishing their murderous weapons, and in merriment, 
mimicking the psalm-singing of the protestants ! The frantic Hu- 
guenots, bewildered with fright, running hither and thither to seek 
a place of safety, but in vain. Some ran towards the house of 
Coligny. but only to fall by the hands of the same murderers ; 
others, remembering the solemn promises of the King, and hoping 
that he was not privy to the massacre, ran toward the palace of 
the Louvre, but only to meet a more certain and speedy death ; for, 
even Charles himself fired upon the fugitives from the window of 
the palace, shouting with the fiend-like fury of a devil or an in- 
quisitor, '* Kill them ! kill them !" 

The Louvre itself was a frightful scene of slaughter. The 
protestants who had remained there, in the train of the king of 
Navarre, were called out one by one.J and put to death in cold 

* See Smedley's History of the Reformed Religion in France, vol. ii.. chap. 11. 

f Quick's Synodicon, L, 125. Smedley, ii, 10. 

I Ad uno. ad uno. (Davila. torn, i..* p. 295.) "They were compelled to go 
out one after another by a little door, before which they found a great number of 
satellites armed with halberds, who assassinated the Nararrese as they came out." 
(German I sited :; Mr. S\aron Turner, Reign of Effitiabetk, p. 319.) 



chap, v.] POPERY DRUNK WITH BLOOD OF SAINTS. 589 

Multitudes of the slain in Paris and other cities of France. 

blood, under the very eyes of the king. Even the protestant king 
of Navarre himself had been ushered into the presence of Charles 
through long lines of soldiers thirsting for his blood, and commanded 
with oaths to renounce the protestant faith, and was then, together 
with the prince of Conde, thrust into prison, and informed that un- 
less they embraced the Roman Catholic faith in three days, they 
would be executed for treason. In the meanwhile the work of 
slaughter went forward, and during seven days, at the lowest com- 
putation,* 5000 protestants were murdered in the city of Paris 
alone. 

§ 31. — The whole city was one great butchery and flowed with 
human blood. The court was heaped with the slain, on which the 
King and Queen gazed, not with horror, but with delight. Her 
majesty unblushingly feasted her eyes on the spectacle of thousands 
of men, exposed naked, and lying wounded and frightful in the pale 
livery of death.-|- The king went to see the body of admiral Co- 
ligny, which was dragged by the populace through the streets ; and 
remarked, in unfeeling witticism, that the " smell of a dead enemy 
was agreeable." 

The tragedy was not confined to Paris, but extended, in general 
through the French nation. Special messengers were, on the pre- 
ceding day, dispatched in all directions, ordering a general massa- 
cre of the Huguenots. The carnage, in consequence, was made 
through nearly all the provinces, and especially in Meaux, Troyes,- 
Orleans, Nevers, Lyons, Thoulouse, Bordeaux, and Rouen. Twenty- 
five or thirty thousand, according to Mezeray, perished in different 
places. Many were thrown into the rivers, which, floating the 
corpses on the waves, carried horror and infection to all the coun- 
try, which they watered with their streams. The populace, tutored 
by the priesthood, accounted themselves, in shedding heretical 
blood, " the agents of Divine justice," and engaged " in doing God 
service.''^ The King, accompanied with the Queen and princes 
of the blood, and all the French court, went to the Parliament, and 
acknowledged that all these sanguinary transactions were done by 
his authority. "The Parliament publicly eulogized the King's 
wisdom," which had effected the effusion of so much heretical 
blood. His Majesty also went to mass, and returned solemn thanks 
to God for the glorious victory obtained over heresy. He ordered 
medals to be coined to perpetuate its memory. A medal accord- 

* That of Mezeray. Bossuet says 6000, and Davila 10,000 victims in Paris. 

f Tout le quartier ruisseloit de sang. La cour etoit pleine de corps morts. que 
le Roi et la Reine rcgardoient, non seulement. sans horreur, mais avec plaisir. 
Tout les rue-s de la ville n'etoient plus que boucheries. (Bossuet, 4, 537.) On 
exposa leurs corps tout nuds & la porte du Louvre, la Reine mere evant a uno 
fenestre, qui repaisoit ses yeux de cet horrible spectacle. (Mezeray, 5. Diuila,v. 
Thuan., ii.. 8.) 

Frequentes e gynccceo feminac, nequaquam crude i spectaculo eaa absterrente, 
curiosis oculis nudorum corpora inverccunde intuebunt.ur. (Thuan., 3, 131.) 

| Les Oatholiques se regarderent comme les executeurs de la justice de Dieu. 
(Daniel, 8, 738. Thuan., 3, 140.) 
38 



590 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vm. 

Joy of the Pope and Cardinals at the massacre. Medal struck in honor of the event 

ingly was struck for the purpose with this inscription, PIETY 
EXCITED JUSTICE.* 

§ 32. — The King sent a special messenger to the Pope to an- 
nounce to him the joyful intelligence of the extirpation of the pro- 
testants, and to tell him that " the Seine flowed on more majesti- 
cally after receiving the dead bodies of the heretics." Nothing 
could exceed the joy with which the news was received at Rome. 
The Pope and cardinals went in procession to the church of St. 
Louis to return solemn thanks to God (oh, horrible impiety !) for 
the extirpation of the heretics. Te Deum was sung, and the firing of 
cannon announced the welcome news to the neighborhood around. 
The Pope's legate in France felicitated his most Christian majesty 
i in the Pontiff's name, " and praised the exploit, so long meditated 
and so happily executed, for the good of religion." The massacre, 
says Mezeray, " was extolled before the King as the triumph of the 
church."f 

The Pope was not satisfied with a temporary expression of his 
joy. He caused a more enduring memorial to be struck in the 
form of triumphant medals in commemoration and honor of the 
event. These medals represented on one side an angel carrying a 
sword in one hand, and a crucifix in the other, employed in the 
slaughter of a group of heretics, with the words hugonotorum 
strages (slaughter of the Huguenots), 1572 ; on the other side, the 
name and title of the reigning Pope. A new issue of this cele- 
brated medal in honor of the Bartholomew massacre has recently 
been struck from the papal mint at Rome, and sold for the profit of 
the papal government. (For fac-simile, see Engraving.) 

Such was the joy of the cardinal of Lorraine (whom we have 
already seen closing the council of Trent with anathemas against 
heretics), upon receiving the news at Rome, that he presented the 
messenger with one thousand pieces of gold, and, unable to restrain 
the extravagance of his delight, exclaimed aloud that " he believed 
■ the King's heart must have been filled with a sudden inspiration 
from God when he gave orders for the slaughter of the heretics."J 
Another Cardinal, Santorio, afterwards pope Clement VIII., in his 
autobiography, designates the massacre as " the celebrated day of 
St. Bartholomew, most cheering to the Catholics"^ Thus is it by 

* Pietas excitavit justitiam. II fit frapper im medaille a l'occasion de la Saint 
Barthelemi. (Daniel, 8, 786.) Apres avoir oui solemnellement la messe pour re- 
mercier Dieu de la belle victoire obtenue sur l'heresie, et commande de fabriquer 
des medailles pour en conserver la memoire. (Mezeray, 5, 160, cited by Edgar, 240.) 

f La haine de 1' heresie les fit recevoir agreablement a Rome. On se rejouit 
aussi en Espagne. (Bossuet, 4, 544.) La Cour de Rome et le Conseil d' Espagne 
eurent une joye mdicible de la Saint Bartelemy. Le Pape alia en procession a 
l'eglise de Saint Louis, rendre graces k Dieu d'un si heureux succes, et Ton fit le 
panegyrique de cette action sous le nom de Triomphe de 1' Eglise. (Mezeray, 5, 
162. Sully, 1, 27. Edgar, 241.) 

X De Thou, lib. liii., ch. 4. Smedley, ii., 36. 

I He speaks of the " giusto sdegno del re Carlos IX. di gloriosa memona, in 
quel celebre giorno di S. Bartolomeo lietissimo a' cattolici ;" that is, " the just 
wrath of king Charles IX., of glorious memory, on the celebrated day of St 




Fac-simile of Papal Medal in honour of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew^ 




■-ussirwj 



Massacre of St. Bartholomew's, in Paria 



chap, v.] POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 593 

Revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685. Cruel effects of this decree. 

the joy of the Pope and cardinals at the massacre, by the medal 
struck in its commemoration and honor, and by their solemn thanks- 
givings for the happy events, without alluding to the proofs (by no 
means inconsiderable) of a previous correspondence between the 
Pope and the King, that this horrible slaughter is fixed as another 
dark and damning spot upon the blood-stained escutcheon of Rome. 

§ 33.— After the massacre of Bartholomew, the protestants of 
France continued to be the subjects of cruel and bitter persecution 
from the papists, and yet in the midst of all, the blood of the mar- 
tyrs was the seed of the church, and the cause of God and of truth 
continued steadily to advance. 

At length, in the year 1598, twenty-six years after the massacre, 
an edict granting the protestants liberty of worship, with certain 
restrictions, was passed, through the favor of king Henry IV. This 
was called the edict of Nantes, and though far from removing all 
disabilities on account of religion, was received by the protestants 
with joy and gratitude. It continued in force till 1685, though for 
the last few years of that period many of its provisions had been 
violated with impunity, and the protestants exposed to a series of 
cruel insults and annoyances from their popish neighbors. 

In the year 1685, king Louis XIV. of France, a bigoted 
papist, at the persuasions of La Chaise, his Jesuit confessor, publicly 
revoked that protecting edict, and thus let loose the floodgates of 
popish cruelty upon the defenceless protestants. By the edict of 
revocation, all former edicts protecting the protestants were fully 
repealed ; they were forbidden to assemble for religious worship ; 
all their ministers were banished the kingdom within fifteen days 
under penalty of being sent to the galleys ;* all their children born 
in future were ordered to be brought up in the Roman Catholic re- 
ligion, and the parents required to send them to the popish churches 
under a penalty of five hundred livres ; and what rendered the law 
yet more cruel, ail other protestants, except the banished ministers, 
were forbidden to depart out of the kingdom, under penalty of 
the galleys for men, and of confiscation of money and goods for 
the women. 

§ 34. — In the cruelties that followed the revocation of the edict 
of Nantes, the policy of Rome appeared to be changed. She 
had tried, in innumerable instances, the effect of persecution unto 
death, and the results of Bartholomew had shown that it was not 
effectual in eradicating the heresy. Now, her plan was by torture, 

Bartholomew, most cheering to catholics." (Cited by Rarike in his History of the 
Popes, book vi., p. 228.) 

* Sent to the galleys. — This was a punishment somewhat similar to sending 
felons to the hulks or convict ships, such as those at Woolwich, England ; except 
that the rigor of the former was much greater. The galley-slave was chained to 
his oar, compelled to labor without intermission, in company with the vilest felons 
and blasphemers, and continually exposed to the lash of the cruel and (in the 
case of hei-elics especially) often vindictive taskmaster, upon his naked back. To 
this horrid and degrading punishment, some of the most distinguished and learned 
of the French protestant clergy were doomed during this persecution. 



594 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vm 

Wearing out the saints of the Most High. Dragoonading. Cruel treatment of the protestante. 

annoyance, and inflictions of various kinds suggested by a brutal 
ingenuity, " to wear out the saints of the Most High." 

One of the most common means was what was called dra- 
goonading ; that is quartering brutal dragoons upon the defence- 
less people, who had license to employ any means in their power 
to compel the poor persecuted protestants to embrace the popish 
faith. " There was no wickedness," says M. Quick in his Synodi- 
con, " though ever so horrid, which they did not put in practice, 
that they might enforce them to change their religion. Amidst a 
thousand hideous cries and blasphemies, they hung up men and 
women by the hair or feet upon the roofs of the chambers, or hooks 
of chimneys, and smoked them with wisps of wet hay till they were 
no longer able to bear it ; and when they had taken them down, if 
they would not sign an abjuration of their pretended heresies, they 
then trussed them up again immediately. Some they threw into 
great fires, kindled on purpose, and w r ould not take them out till 
they were half roasted. They tied ropes under their arms, and 
plunged them again and again into deep wells, from whence they 
would not draw them till they had promised to change their religion. 
They bound them as criminals are when they are put to the rack, 
and in that posture, putting a funnel into their mouths, they poured 
wine down their throats till its fumes had deprived them of their 
reason, and they had in that condition made them consent to be- 
come Catholics. Some they scripped stark naked, and after they 
had offered them a thousand indignities, they stuck them with pins 
from head to foot ; they cut them with penknives, tore them by the 
noses with red-hot pincers, and dragged them about the rooms till 
they promised to become Roman Catholics, or till the doleful cries 
of these poor tormented creatures, calling upon God for mercy, 
constrained them to let them go. They beat them with staves, 
and dragged them all bruised to the popish churches, where their 
enforced presence is reputed for an abjuration. They kept them 
waking seven or eight days together, relieving one another by 
turns, that they might not get a wink of sleep or rest. In case they 
began to nod, they threw buckets of water in their faces, or hold- 
ing kettles over their heads, they beat on them with such a con- 
tinual noise, that those poor wretches lost their senses. If they 
found any sick, who kept their beds, men or women, be it of fevers 
or other diseases, they were so cruel as to beat up an alarm with 
twelve drums about their beds for a whole week together, without 
intermission, till they had promised to change. In some places they 
tied fathers and husbands to the bedposts, and ravished their wives 
and daughters before their eyes. And in other places rapes w~ere 
publicly and generally permitted for many hours together. From 
others they plucked off the nails of their hands and toes, which 
must needs have caused an intolerable pain." 

§ 35. — The galleys formed another mode of oppression. There, 
a vast body of protestants, some of them, such as Marolles and Le 
Febvre, of the highest station and talent, were confined — wretch- 



chap, v.] POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 595 

Popery tolerates wickedness, but not heresy. Pious expressions of the persecuted Le Febvre 

edly fed on disgusting fare — and wrought in chains for many years. 
The prisoners often died under their sufferings. When they did 
not acquit themselves to the mind of their taskmasters, or disre- 
garded any of their persecuting enactments, they were subjected 
to the lash. Fifty or sixty lashes were considered a punishment se- 
vere enough for the criminals of France — men who were notorious 
for every species of profligacy ; but nothing less than one hundred 
to one hundred and fifty would suffice for the meek and holy saints 
of God. They were considered a thousand times worse than the 
worst criminals. 

It is a striking feature of the persecutions of Popery that the 
more holy and Christ-like her victims, the more dreadfully severe 
have been the character of their sufferings ; her war has not been 
against wickedness, but heresy, and she could readily tolerate the 
grossest immorality, so long as she had no reason to complain of 
the rejection of her creed. 

This is consistent with her true character. Popery is anti- 
Christ, and it is natural to suppose that the nearer men come to 
the character of Christ, the fiercer will be her hatred, and the more 
bitter her persecution. Hence the quenchless enmity of Rome for 
such holy men as Wickliff and Huss and Jerome, Rogers and 
Latimer and Ridley, Le Febvre and Marolles and Mauru. We 
shall present an extract or two from the letters of the three last 
named victims of the revocation of the edict of Nantes, while suf- 
fering under the cruel inflictions of the papal anti-Christ, to sustain 
this assertion. 

§ 36. — Says Le Febvre, when writing from a noisome dungeon, 
■" Nothing can exceed the cruelty of the treatment I receive. The 
weaker I become, the more they endeavor to aggravate the miseries 
of the prison. For several weeks no one has been allowed to enter 
my dungeon ; and if one spot could be found where the air was more 
infected than another, I was placed there. Yet the love of the 
truth prevails in my soul ; for God, who knows my heart, and the 
purity of my motives, supports me by his grace. He fights against 
me, but he also fights for me. My weapons are tears and prayers. 
. . . . The place is very dark and damp. The air is noisome, and 
has a bad smell. Everything rots and becomes mouldy. The 
wells and cisterns are above me. I have never seen a fire here, ex- 
cept the flame of the candle You will feel for me in this 

misery,'' said he to a dear relative, to whom he was describing his 
sad condition : " but think of the eternal weight of glory which 
will follow. Death is nothing. Christ has vanquished the foe for me : 
and when the fit time shall arrive, the Lord will give me strength to 
tear off the mask which that last enemy wears in great afflictions.*' 
. . . . Far be it from me to murmur. I pray without ceasing, 
that he would show pity, not only to those who suffer, but also to 
those who are the cause of our sufferings. He who commanded us 
to love our enemies, producqs in our hearts the love lie has com- 



596 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [eook vm. 

Marolles and Pierre Mauru. Heavenly-minded piety in a dungeon and in a galley-ship. 

manded. The world has long regarded us as tottering walls ; but 
they do not see the Almighty hand by which we are upheld." 

§ 37. — Says Marolles, a minister of eminent piety, and extensive 
scientific attainments, in a letter to his wife, after being removed 
from a galley to a dungeon, " When I was taken out of the galley 
and brought hither, I found the change very agreeable at first. My 
ears were no longer offended with the horrid and blasphemous 
sounds with which those places continually echo. I had liberty to 
sing the praises of God at all times, and could prostrate myself be- 
fore him as often as I pleased. Besides, I was released from that 
uneasy chain, which was far more troublesome to me than the one 
of thirty pounds weight which you saw me wear." He then goes 
on to speak of a temptation into which he was permitted to fall — 
a distrust of God lest he should lose his reason, and a fear that he 
was advancing to a state of insanity — " At length," says he, " after 
many prayers, sighs, and tears, the God of my deliverance heard 
my petitions, commanded a perfect calm, and dissipated all those 
illusions which had so troubled my soul. After the Lord has de- 
livered me out of so sore a trial, never have any doubt, my dear 
wife, that he will deliver me out of all others. Do not, therefore, 
disquiet yourself any more about me. Hope always in the good- 
ness of God, and your hope shall not be in vain. I ought not, in 
my opinion, to pass by. unnoticed a considerable circumstance 
which tends to the glory of God. The duration of so great a 
temptation was, in my opinion, the proper time for the Old Serpent 
to endeavor to cast me into rebellion and infidelity : but God al- 
ways kept him in so profound a silence, that he never once offered 
to infest me with any of his pernicious counsels ; and I never felt 
the least inclination to revolt. Ever since those sorrowful days, 
God has continually filled my heart with joy. 1 possess my soul in 
patience. He makes the days of my affliction speedily pass away. 
I have no sooner begun them than I find myself at the end. With 
the bread and water of affliction he affords me continually most 
delicious repasts. " This was his last letter. He resigned his spirit 
into the hands of his heavenly Father on the 17th June, 1692. 

§ 38. — The next example of suffering piety, from whom I shall 
quote, was of one who wrote from amidst the slavery and suffering 
and horrors of the galleys. Says Pierre Mauru, after referring to 
the cruel stripes he was forced to bear, from twenty to forty at a 
time, and these repeated frequently for several days in succession. 
"But I must tell you, that though these stripes are painful, the joy 
of suffering for Christ gives ease to every wound : and when, after 
we have suffered for him. the consolations of Christ abound in us 
bv the Holv Spirit, the Comforter : they are a heavenly balm, 
which heals all our sorrows, and even imparts such perfect health 
to our souls, that we can despise every other thing. In short, 

when we belong to God, nothing can pluck us out of his hand 

If my body was tortured during the day, my soul rejoiced exceed- 
ingly in God my Saviour, both day and night. At this period 



chap, v.] POPERY DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF SAINTS. 597 

Cruel scourging of Pierre Mauru on board the galleys. The faith and the patience of the saints, 

especially, my soul was fed with hidden manna, and I tasted of that 
joy which the world knows not of; and daily, with the holy apos- 
tles, my heart leaped with joy that I was counted worthy to suffer 
for my Saviour's sake, who poured such consolations. into my soul 
that I was filled with holy transport, and, as it were, carried out of 
myself. .... But this season of quiet was of short duration ; for 
soon afterwards the galley was furnished with oars to exercise the 
new-comers ; and then these inexorable haters of our blessed re- 
ligion took the opportunity to beat me as often as they pleased, 
telling me it was in my power to avoid these torments. But when 
they held this language, my Saviour revealed to my soul the ago- 
nies he suffered to purchase my salvation, and that it became me 
thus to suffer with him. After this, we were ordered to sea, when 
the excessive toil of rowing, and the blows I received, often brought 
me to the brink of the grave. Whenever the chaplain saw me 
sinking with fatigue, he beset me with temptations ; but my soul 
was bound for the heavenly shore, and he gained nothing from my 

answers In every voyage there were many persons whose 

greatest amusement was to see me incessantly beaten, but particu- 
larly the captain's steward, who called it painting Calvin's back, 
and insultingly asked if Calvin gave me strength to work after 
being so finely bruised ; and when he wished the beating to be re- 
peated, he would ask if Calvin was not to have his portion again. 
When he saw me sinking from day to day under cruelties and fa- 
tigue, his happiness was complete. The officers, who were anxious 
to please him, had recourse to this inhuman sport for his entertain- 
ment, during which he was constantly convulsed with laughter. 
When he saw me raise my eyes to heaven, he said, * God does not 
hear Calvinists when they pray. They must endure their tortures 
till they die, or change their religion.' .... In short, my very dear 
brother, there was not a single day, when we were at sea, and toil- 
ing at the oar, but I was brought into a dying state. The poor 
wretched creatures who were near me did everything in their 
power to help me, and to make me take a little nourishment. But 
in the depth of distress, which nature could hardly endure, my God 
left me not without support. In a short time all will be over, and I 
shall forget all my sorrows in the joy of being ever with the Lord. 
Indeed, whenever I was left in peace a little while, and was able to 
meditate on the words of eternal life, I was perfectly happy ; and 
when I looked at my wounded body, I said, here are the glorious 
marks which St. Paul rejoiced to bear in his body. After every 
voyage I fell sick ; and then, being free from hard labor and the 
fear of blows, I could meditate in quiet, and render thanks to God 
for sustaining me by his goodness, and strengthening me by his 
good Spirit." Here rs the faith and the patience or the 
bajnts. Is it possible to conceive of suffering borne in a holier 
cause or in a more Christ-like spirit? 

§ 39. — It would be an endless task to recount all the inventions 
of popish ingenuity to harass and to wear out these saints of the 



598 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book vm. 

Fiendish cruelty to a mother and babe. The Pope's thanks to Louis for thus persecuting the heretics. 

Most High. One which could not have been conceived anywhere 
else bat in the bottomless pit and in the heart of a fiend, deserves 
to be mentioned. On January 23d, 1685, a woman had her suck- 
ing child snatched from her breasts, and put into the next room, 
which was only parted by a few boards from her's. These devils 
incarnate would not let the poor mother come to her child, unless 
she would renounce her religion and become a Roman Catholic. 
Her child cries and she cries ; her bowels yearn upon the poor 
miserable infant ; but the fear of God, and of losing her soul, keep her 
from apostasy. However she suffers a double martyrdom, one in 
her own person, the other in that of her sweet babe, who dies in 
her hearing with crying and famine before its poor mother. The 
heart sickens at the contemplation of such enormities. Human 
language cannot describe the sufferings of these oppressed victims 
of popish cruelty. It is only the Spirit of God who can mark the 
terrible lineaments, and he does so when he speaks of " wearing 
out the saints of the Most High," and of anti-Christ being " drunk 
with the blood of the saints," and of their blood crying from under 
the altar, " O Lord, holy and true, how long dost thou not judge 
and avenge our blood upon them that dwell on the earth?" and 
when he speaks of similar worthies as persons " who were stoned, 
were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword : they 
wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins ; being destitute, 
afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy) : they 
wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of 
the earth."* 

§ 40. — Let the reader carefully consider the above affecting and 
authentic instances of suffering for Christ's sake, and then let him 
read the following language of pope Innocent XL, in praise of the 
popish bigot, by whose orders they were inflicted. This Pontiff wrote 
a special letter to king Louis, expressly thanking him in the warmest 
and most glowing terms for the service he had rendered the church 
in this persecuting edict against the heretics of France. The Pope 
requests him to consider this letter a special testimony to his merits, 
and concludes it in the following words : — " The Catholic Church 
shall most assuredly record in her sacred annals a work of such 
devotion toward her, and celebrate your name with never-dy- 
ing praises ; but, above all, you may most assuredly promise to 
yourself an ample retribution from the divine goodness for this 
most excellent undertaking, and may rest assured that we shall 
never cease to pour forth our most earnest prayers to that Divine 
goodness for this intent and purpose." 

Thus evident is it net only that the acknowledged head of the 
apostate church of Rome approved of the horrid barbarities in- 
flicted upon the French protestants, but that he regarded their per- 
petrator as conferring a special favor upon that church, thus en- 
titling himself to her lasting gratitude and her warmest thanks. 

* Lorimer's Protestant Church of France, chap. iv. 



BOOK IX 



POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE. 



FROM THE REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES, A. D. 1685, TO THE PRESENT 

TIME, A. D. 1845. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE JESUITS. THEIR MISSIONS. THEIR SUPPRESSION, REVIVAL, AND 

PRESENT POSITION. 

§ 1. — The eighteenth century was chiefly distinguished by events 
connected with the history and proceedings of that crafty and dan- 
gerous order, the Jesuits ; their missionary efforts to extend the 
dominion of the papacy in China and olher oriental countries, and 
the disputes which arose relative to their practice of amalgamating 
heathen with Christian rites ; their protracted and fierce contests 
with the rival sect of the Jansenists ; their banishment from the 
various kingdoms of Europe, and the final suppression of the order 
by pope Clement XIV. in 1773. 

Before describing the controversy which arose in this century 
relative to the missionary operations of the Jesuits in China, it may 
be necessary briefly to refer to the origin of those missions. The 
missionary efforts of the Jesuits commenced immediately after the 
establishment of that order: in 1541. Francis Xavier, who appears 
to have been a sincere enthusiast, free from the trickery and 
worldly policy that afterwards distinguished his order, and who 
by his zeal and success obtained the name of " the apostle of In- 
dians," sailed for India, where he was successful in converting thou- 
sands to the Romish faith. In 1549, he visited Japan, where he 
laid the foundations of a branch of the Romish church, which in 
after years is said to have consisted of two or three hundred thou- 
sand members. From Japan, with a zeal and self-devotion worthy 
of a purer faith, Xavier sailed for China, but died when iu sight of 
that populous empire, in 1552. Subsequently i<> his death, Matthew 
Ricci penetrated into China, recommended himself to the favor of 
the nobility and Emperor by his skill in mathematics, and succeeded 
in planting the Romish faith in Fekin, the capital, where he died in 



600 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book jx. 

Policy of the Jesuit missionaries. " All things to all men." Their shameful conformity to heathenism. 

1610. Other Jesuit missionaries, in process of time, extended the 
spiritual dominion of the Pope and their order into Malabar, Abys- 
sinia, and other countries, and especially into South America, 
where they succeeded in reducing whole nations of Indians to their 
sway. 

In 1622, was established at Rome, by pope Gregory XV., the 
Congregation for propagating the faith (De Propaganda Fide), a 
body of cardinals, priests, &c, whose special duty it is to devise 
means for propagating the Romish faith throughout the world ; and 
in 1627, the College De Propaganda Fide, in which young men of 
all nations are educated as Romish missionaries ; and in 1663, the 
kindred institution in France, called " the Congregation of the priests 
of foreign missions." From these institutions hundreds of Jesuits 
were sent forth to reduce the nations of the world to the obedience 
of the Pope. 

§ 2. — In accomplishing this object the Jesuits early adopted the 
principle that the end sanctifies the means, and scrupled at no 
measures to entrap the people to the nominal profession of Chris- 
tianity. In the words of an eloquent living writer, " The motto 
and device in one of their earlier histories was well illustrated in 
their conduct. That device was a mirror, and the superscription 
was 'Omnia omnibus,' All things to all men. But what in Paul 
was Christian courtesy, leaning on inflexible principle ; and what 
in Loyola himself was probably wisdom, but slightly tinged with 
unwarrantable policy, became, in some of his disciples, the laxest 
casuistry, chameleon-like, shifting its hues to every varying shade 
of interest or fashion. 

" The gospel is to be presented with no needless offence given 
to the prejudices and habits of the heathen, but the gospel itself is 
never to be mutilated or disguised ; nor is the ministry ever to 
stoop to compliances in themselves sinful. The Jesuit mistook or 
forgot this. From a very early period, the order were famed for 
the art with which they studied to accommodate themselves and 
their religion to the tastes of the nation they would evangelize. 
Ricci, on entering China, found the bonzes, the priests of the nation ; 
and to secure respect, himself and his associates adopted the habits 
and dress of the bonzes. But a short acquaintance with the empire 
taught him, that the whole class of the priesthood was in China a 
despised one, and that he had been only attracting gratuitous odium 
in assuming their garb. He therefore relinquished it again, to take 
that of the men of letters. In India, some of their number adopted 
the Brahminical dress, and others conformed to the disgusting habits 
of the Fakeer and the Yogee, the hermits and penitents of the Mo- 
hammedan and Hindoo superstition. Swartz met a Catholic mis- 
sionary, arrayed in the style of the pagan priests, wearing their 
yellow robe, and having like them a drum beaten before him. It 
would seem, upon such principle of action, as if their next step 
ought to have been the creation of a Christian Juggernaut ; or to 
have arranged the Christian suttee, where the widow might burn 



chap, i.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 601 



Worshipping the crucifix upon the altar of Confucius. Decrees of pope Clement. The Jansenists. 

according to the forms of the Romish breviary ; or to have or- 
ganized a band of Romanist Thugs, strangling in the name of the 
virgin, as did their Hindoo brethren for the honor of Kalee. 

" In South America, one of the zealous Jesuit fathers, finding that 
the Payernes, as the sorcerers and priests of the tribe were called, 
were accustomed to dance and sing in giving their religious in- 
structions, put his preachments into metre, and copied the move- 
ments of these Pagan priests, that he might win the savage by the 
forms to which he had been accustomed. In China, again, they 
found the worship of deceased ancestors generally prevailing. 
Failing to supplant the practice, they proceeded to legitimate it. 
They even allowed worship to be paid to Confucius, the atheistical 
philosopher of China, provided their converts would, in offering the 
worship, conceal upon the altar a crucifix to which their homage 
should be secretly directed. Finding the adoration of a crucified 
Saviour unpopular among that self-sufficient people, they are ac- 
cused by their own Romanist brethren of having suppressed in 
their teachings the mystery of the cross, and preached Christ glo- 
rified, but not Christ in his humiliation, his agony and his death. A 
more arrogant act than this, the wisdom of this world has seldom 
perpetrated, when it has undertaken to modify and adorn the gos- 
pel of the crucified Nazarene."* 

About the commencement of the eighteenth century, the ques- 
tion arose in the Romish church whether this amalgamation of 
heathenism with Christianity in the missionary operations of the 
Jesuits was a lawful method of multiplying converts. This was 
decided by pope Clement XL, in the year 1704, against the Jesuits, 
and the Chinese converts were forbidden by a solemn edict any 
longer to practise the idolatrous rites of their nation in connection 
with their professed Christian worship. This edict, however, so 
displeased the Jesuit missionaries, that the same Pope, dreading 
the consequences of exasperating so powerful an order, deemed it 
politic to issue another edict a few years later, which in effect nul- 
lified the provisions of the former. This latter decree which was 
dated in 1715, allowed the heathen ceremonies referred to, upon 
condition that they should be regarded, not as religious but civil 
institutions ;f a distinction which might serve to satisfy the con- 
science of the Pope in thus authorizing the ceremonies of heathen- 
ism, but would have not the slightest effect on the feelings of the 
Chinese devotee in mingling in the same act of devotion, the wor- 
ship of Confucius and of Christ. 

§ 3. — Among the most persevering and able of the opponents of 
the Jesuits and their methods of converting the heathen, the Jan- 
senists were the most conspicuous and celebrated. They were so 
called from Cornelius Jansenius, a celebrated Roman Catholic 

* See an able and learned article on "the Jesuits as a Missionary Order," from 
the pen of Rev. Wm. R. Williams, D.D., in the Christian Review, for June, 1841. 
f Bower's Lives of the Popes, vol. vii., page 494 ; Mosheim, vi., 3. 



602 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book rx. 

Pascal's provincial letters. Father Quesnel's book on the New Testament condemned. 

bishop, who, about the middle of the seventeenth century, had pub- 
lished a work under the title of Augustinus, advocating the doc- 
trines of the African bishop on the native depravity of man, and 
the nature of that divine influence, by which alone this depravity 
can be cured. The doctrines of this book were altogether too 
evangelical for the Jesuits, who opposed it with all their might. 
Through the influence of the Jesuits, the book was first prohibited 
by the Inquisition, and afterwards condemned by the Pope, and a 
fierce and bitter controversy was thus enkindled between these 
rival sects in the Romish church, which continued for more than a 
century. For a time the Jesuits appeared to triumph in France, 
but a blow was given to them in the " Provincial Letters " of the 
devout and learned Pascal, from which they never have and never 
can recover. In this celebrated work it was shown by innumera- 
ble citations from their own standard writers, presented in a style 
of inimitable wit, beauty, and eloquence, that Jesuitism is utterly 
subversive of all true principles, alike of morality, religion and civil 
government ; a fact which the whole history of this crafty and mis- 
chievous order in every land where it has obtained a foothold has 
tended to confirm. 

The cause of the Jansenists acquired an additional degree of credit 
a few years later by the publication, in 1687, of " Father Quesnel's 
moral reflections on the New Testament." The quintessence of 
Jansenism was blended, in an elegant and artful manner, with these 
annotations, and was thus presented to the reader under the most 
pleasing aspect. The Jesuits w^ere alarmed at the success of Ques- 
nel's book, and particularly at the change it had wrought in many, 
in favor of the evangelical and almost protestant doctrines of Jan- 
senius: and to remove out of the way an instrument which proved 
so advantageous to their adversaries, they engaged that weak 
prince Louis XIY. to solicit the condemnation of this production 
at the court of Rome. Clement XL granted the request of the 
French monarch, because he considered it as the request of 
the Jesuits; and, in the year 1713, issued out the famous bull Uni- 
genitus, in which Quesnel's New Testament was condemned, and a 
hundred and one propositions contained in it pronounced heretical. 
Among the propositions condemned were the following three, viz., 
that grace is the effectual principle of all good w T orks ; that faith is 
the fountain of all the graces of the Christian ; and that the Sacred 
Scriptures ought to be read by all. 

§ 4. — This temporary triumph of the Jesuits was destined to be 
but short. The princes of Europe at length opened their eyes to 
the dangerous principles of an order which hesitated at no means, 
however unjust or perfidious, to accomplish their nefarious designs. 
The only wonder is that they should not have earlier begun to dis- 
trust an order of men, a part of w^hose creed it was, that it was 
meritorious to assassinate rulers and governors that stood in the 
way of the advancement of the Romish church. 

The Jesuits had long been notorious for attempting the lives of 



chap, i.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 603 

The Jesuits' plots against the lives of princes. The gunpowder plot and the Jesuit Garnet. 

sovereigns, as is testified by the assassination of Henri III. of 
France, and William, prince of Orange, as well as by the various 
unsuccessful plots against queen Elizabeth and James I., of Eng- 
land. Toward the close of the reign of Elizabeth, in a pro- 
clamation dated Nov. 16th, 1602, she says that "the Jesuits had 
fomented the plots against her person, excited her subjects to revolt, 
provoked foreign princes to compass her death, engaged in all 
affairs of state, and by their language and writings had undertaken 
to dispose of her crown." 

In the reign of her successor, James I., after the failure of 
several schemes against his life, the Jesuits, in the year 1605, con- 
trived the horrible gunpowder plot to blow up the King, the royal 
family, and both houses of parliament, in order to place a papist 
upon the throne of England. Through the good providence of 
God, this dreadful plot was defeated, and its popish contrivers de- 
tected and punished. In this atrocious conspiracy, says Southey 
(Book of the Church, 435), "Guy Fawkes and his associates acted 
upon the same principles as the head of the Romish church, when 
in his arrogated infallibility he fulminated his bulls against Eliza- 
beth, struck medals in honor of the Bartholomew massacre, and 
pronounced that the friar who assassinated Henri III. had per- 
formed " a famous and memorable act, not without the special 
providence of God, and the suggestion and assistance of his Holy 
Spirit !" If the conspirators had felt any compunctious scruples, 
the sanction of their ghostly fathers quieted all doubts ; and when 
one of their confessors, the Jesuit Garnet, suffered for his share in 
the treason, it was pretended that a portrait of the sufferer was 
miraculously formed by his blood, upon the straw with which the 
scaffold was strewn ; the likeness was rapidly multiplied ; a print 
of the wonder, with suitable accompaniments, was published at 
Rome ; Garnet in consequence received the honors of beatification 
from the Pope, and the society to which he belonged enrolled him 
in their books as a martyr." 

Even the persecuting Louis XIV. of France stood in fear of 
the dirk or the poniard of the Jesuits. When Pere La Chaise, for 
so many years the Jesuit confessor of Louis, and the prompter of 
his persecuting measures against the protestants, felt his own end 
approaching, he earnestly begged of him to select his future con- 
fessor from among the Jesuits. He requested him to do so, ac- 
cording to S. Simon, " for his own security," as the society num- 
bered among its members persons that ought not to be driven to 
despair, and because after all a " bad blow " was soon struck, and 
was not without precedents. Louis XIV., however prodigal of 
the lives of others, was too careful of his own to neglect the Jesuit's 
advice, and selected a successor to La Chaise from among the 
same powerful and dangerous order.* 

* S. Simon. Memmres, chap. 217. See an able article on the Jesuits in 
France in the North British Review for February, 1845. 



604 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ix. 

Suppression of the Jesuits in France, Spain, &c. Abolition of the order by Clement XIV. 

§ 5. — The Jesuits had already been expelled from England by 
proclamation of James L, in 1604, the year previous to the gun- 
powder plot. But it was not till the latter half of the eighteenth 
century that the other sovereigns of Europe awakened to the dan- 
ger of permitting in their dominions an order of men holding such 
principles ; and incensed by the officious interference of the Jesuits 
in political affairs, they one after another expelled them as a pest 
and a plague from the countries they governed. They were ex- 
pelled from Portugal in 1759. Three years later, the French 
parliament declared that such a body, having peculiar laws, and all 
subject to one individual residing in Rome, was dangerous to the 
state ; and in 1764 the society was suppressed in France by order of 
the King. Three years afterward they were expelled from Spain. 
On the 31st of March, 1767, the colleges and houses of the Jesuits 
in that country were surrounded at midnight by troops ; sentinels 
were posted at every door, the bells were secured, the royal decree 
expelling them from Spain read to the members hastily assembled ; 
and then having taken their breviaries, some linen, and a few other 
conveniences, they were placed in carriages and escorted by 
cavalry to the coast, where they embarked for Italy. In the follow- 
ing year, 1768, the king of the Two Sicilies and the duke of 
Parma, followed in the steps of France and of Spain, and sup- 
pressed the order in their dominions. 

§ 6. — At length, by a bull of pope Ganganelli, or Clement XIV., 
dated July 21st, 1773, the order of the Jesuits was entirely abolished, 
its statutes annulled, and its members released from their vows. 

" Their abolition was not a work of haste. According to the 
life of this Pope, published in the year 1776, he spent four years 
deliberately examining the history of the order. He searched the 
archives of the Propaganda for the documents relating to their 
missions, the accusations against and apologies for them ; desirous 
of being correct in the matter of his condemnation, he communi- 
cated his brief privately to several cardinals and theologians as 
well as to some sovereigns, &c, before he promulgated it. He 
then decided on the abolition, but not without considering the con- 
sequences to himself. He believed it would be death to him ; when 
he signed the instrument, he is reported to have said : " The sup- 
pression is accomplished. I do not repent of it, having only re- 
solved on it after examining and weighing everything, and because 
I thought it necessary for the church. If it were not done, I would 
do it now ; but this suppression will be my death." The initial 
letters of a Pasquinade appeared on St. Peter's church, which he 
interpreted, " The Holy See will be vacant in September," wh'ch 
was verified in his death on the twenty-second of that month, 1774, 
attended with every symptom of poison. Thus ended for the time 
being the order of Jesuits, and thus too the man that dared to stop 
them in their course of iniquity, j It is not saying too much," re- 
marks Rev. Dr Giustiniani (page 247), " if we consult history and 
experience, that another so infamous a class of men never lived." 



chap, i.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 605 



The order revived by pope Pius VII. in 1814 Copy of the Jesuits' oath 

§ 7. — Notwithstanding this deliberate condemnation of the 
Jesuits, the order was revived by pope Pius VII., soon after his re- 
turn to Rome from his captivity in France, where he had been de- 
tained by Napoleon. The bull of restoration was dated August 
7th, 1814, and the order is now engaged, as busily as ever, in Eng- 
land, Switzerland, America, and other lands, in secretly under- 
mining every protestant government by its insidious and crafty, yet 
steady and persevering efforts to advance the influence of the 
order, to propagate the dogmas, and extend the dominion of Rome. 
It will be a sufficient evidence of the dangerous character of the 
order to any government where they are suffered to pursue their 
nefarious designs, to append to this brief notice of the Jesuits the 
solemn oath that is taken by every member upon his initiation into 
the Society. 

Jesuits' Oath. — " I, A. B., now in the presence of Almighty God, the blessed 
Virgin Mary, the blessed Michael the Archangel, the blessed St. John Baptist, 
the holy apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and the saints and sacred host of heaven, 
and to you my ghostly father do declare from my heart, without mental reserva- 
tion, that pope Gregory is Christ's Vicar General, and is the true and only Head 
of the universal church throughout the earth ; and that by virtue of the keys of 
binding and loosing, given to his Holiness by Jesus Christ, he hath power to 

DEPOSE HERETICAL KINGS, PRINCES, STATES, COMMONWEALTHS, AND GOVERNMENTS, 
ALL BEING ILLEGAL, WITHOUT HIS SACRED CONFIRMATION, AND THAT THEY MAY 

safely be destroyed ; therefore to the utmost of my power, I will defend this 
doctrine and his Holiness's rights and customs against all usurpers of the hereti- 
cal or protestant authority whatsoever, especially against the now pretended au- 
thority and church in England, and all adherents, in regard that they be usurped 
and heretical, opposing the sacred mother church of Rome. 

" I DO RENOUNCE AND DISOWN ANY ALLEGIANCE AS DUE TO ANY HERETICAL 
KING, PRINCE, OR STATE, NAMED PROTESTANT, OR OBEDIENCE TO ANY OF THEIR 

inferior magistrates or officers. I do further declare the doctrine of the 
church of England, of the Calvinists, Huguenots, and other protestants, to be 
damnable, and those to be damned who will not forsake the same. I do further 
declare, that I will help, assist, and advise all or any of his Holiness's agents in 
any place wherever I shall be; and do my utmost to extirpate the heretical pro- 
testants' doctrine, and to destroy all their pretended power, legal or otherwise. 
I do further promise and declare, that notwithstanding I am dispensed ivith to as- 
sume any religion heretical, for the propagation of the mother church's interest, 
to keep secret and private all her agents' counsels, as they entrust me, and not to 
divulge, directly or indirectly, by word, writing or circumstance whatsoever, but 
to execute all which shall be proposed, given in charge, or discovered unto me, by 
you my ghostly father, or by any one of this convent. All which I, A. B., do 
swear by the blessed Trinity, and blessed sacrament, which I am now to receive, 
to perform and on my part to keep inviolably ; and do call all the heavenly and 
glorious host of heaven, to witness my real intentions to keep this my oath. In 
testimony hereof, I take this most holy and blessed sacrament of the eucharist, 
and witness the same further with my hand and seal, in the face of this holy 
convent." 

Within the three years that have elapsed since the publication of 
the first edr.ion of this work, the Jesuits have been expelled from 
Switzerland, Rome, &c. See Supplement to the present edition, 
page 707. 39 



606 



CHAPTER IL 

THE PERSECUTING AND INTOLERANT SPIRIT OF POPERY, AS EXHIBITED 

IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES. 

§ 8. — Subsequent to the cruel edict of the popish king Louis 
XIV. in 16S5, which was the cause of the horrible sufferings de- 
scribed in a previous chapter, the remaining years of the seven- 
teenth and a few of the eighteenth century, were occupied "in 
France in attempting to suppress the insurrections which arose in 
some parts of that kingdom, by those who banded together in de- 
fence of their religious liberties. Multitudes of the Huguenots, in 
spite of the decree which forbade them to quit the country, evaded 
the vigilance of the guards, and escaped into Holland, England, 
America, and other countries where they could enjoy freedom to 
worship God. 

The larger number of those who escaped were artisans, and 
carried their useful arts and manufactures to the countries which 
they thus enriched by their flight. The farmer was unable to carry 
with him his cattle or his fields, his vines or his fig trees, and was 
thus, in some instances, driven by oppression to fight for religious 
freedom in his native land. A thrilling account has been given of 
the protracted struggle for religious freedom of the people of the 
Cevennes, in Languedoc, and the horrible barbarities of their popish 
persecutors and conquerors, by one of the most celebrated of their 
leaders, Mobs. Cavalier, whose memoirs were published in London 
in 1726. In this contest no quarter was given by the papists to 
the Huguenots, or Camisards as they were now generally called, 
and hundreds of men, women, and children, the inhabitants of whole 
towns, were butchered in cold blood. 

§ 9. — In the year 1705, a few months after the Camisards ap- 
peared to be wholly crushed, some of the leading men who yet sur- 
vived, secretly assembled at the house of AEons. Boeton, between 
Nismes and ATontpellier, to consult upon a new attempt to extort 
religious liberty from the government. The plan was discovered ; 
Boeton was apprehended, and condemned to the horrible death of 
being broken alive upon the wheel — a cruel death, which he bore 
with a fortitude worthy of the primitive martyrs, and which showed 
that the spirit which animated a Huss, a Latimer, and a Ridley, was 
not extinct at the commencement of the eighteenth century. When 
led forth to execution, he never ceased to raise his voice above the 
rolling of the drums, to exhort the spectators, and especially such 
as he saw dissolved in tears, to <; continue to remain firm in the 
communion of Jesus Christ." Incessantly importuned by two 
priests who accompanied him, and who offered him pardon in the 
name of the King, if he would abjure his religion and repent of his 
faults, he was seen to lift his eyes toward heaven, as if praying for 



chap, n.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 607 

Cruel martyrdom of Boeton. His courage and piety to the last. 

strength to withstand the suggestions of those ecclesiastics, whom 
he regarded as angels of darkness sent to seduce him, and for forti- 
tude to endure the attacks of death, like a faithful soldier fighting 
in the cause of God. 

One of his friends, who chanced to be out and perceived him 
approaching, was so deeply pained by this touching sight, that he 
stepped hastily and in tears into a shop to avoid meeting him. 
Boeton, having observed him, asked permission to say a word to 
his friend. It was granted, and he desired that he might be called 
out. " What !" said he, " do you shun me because you see me 
clothed in the livery of Christ ! Why should you weep, when he 
grants me the favor to call me to himself, and to seal the defence 
of his cause with my blood ?" Sobs choked the utterance of his 
friend, who was going to embrace him, when the archers made 
Boeton walk on. As soon as he came in sight of the scaffold 
erected on the esplanade, he exclaimed, " Courage, O my soul ! I 
behold the scene of thy triumph. Soon, released from thy painful 
bonds, thou wilt be in heaven !" 

Without a murmur he submitted to the torments prepared for 
him. The bones of his legs, thighs, and arms, were broken by the 
blow of the executioner's club ; and in this deplorable and mutilated 
condition he was left fastened to the torturing wheel, with his head 
hanging down, for five hours, which he spent in singing hymns, in 
fervent prayers to God, and exhortations to those who drew nigh 
to listen. His tormentors perceiving from the tears of the specta- 
tors, and their loud praises of the constancy of the suffering mar- 
tyr, that instead of striking terror into the protestants, this specta- 
cle only tended to strengthen them in their faith, the order was 
given for the executioner to terminate his work by the coup de 
grace. As he was about to do this, an archer on the scaffold ex- 
claimed, in the true spirit of Popery, that this Huguenot ought to 
be left to die on the wheel, since he would not renounce his errors. 
Boeton made this reply to the cruel wretch : " You think, my 
friend, that I am in pain ; indeed I am : but learn that He who is 
with me and for whom I suffer gives me strength to endure my suf- 
fering with joy." 

The executioner now came to complete his task. Boeton made 
a last effort ; raised his head, notwithstanding the horrible state 
to which he was reduced ; and, lifting his voice above the drums, 
which had never ceased beating during the execution, among the 
troops drawn up in order of battle around the scaffold, he em- 
phatically pronounced these his last words; " My dearest brethren, 
let my death be an example to you to maintain the purity of the 
Gospel, and be faithful witnesses how I die in the religion of Jesus 
Christ and of his holy apostles," and immediately expired. 

§ 10. — It is computed that to the persecuting spirit of Louis 
XIV., not less than three hundred thousand protestants were 
sacrificed during his reign. After his death in 1714, the French 
protestants enjoyed a temporary respite from their sufferings, 



608 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ix. 

Popish clergy clamor for the execution of the laws against heretics Martyrdom of Rochette, &.c, in 1762. 

though the edicts against them remained unchanged, and they 
were still in various ways exposed to the annoyances of their ene- 
mies. One of the most serious of these was the fact, that their 
marriages were regarded as illegal, because not solemnized by a 
papal priest. The children of such parents were regarded, in the 
eye of the law, as illegitimate, and the parents represented by the 
priests as living in a state of concubinage. Property left to such 
children was in many cases made over to the nearest popish relative, 
and in other instances confiscated to the crown. 

In the meanwhile, the popish clergy clamored for the literal 
execution of the laws against heretics. The bishop of Alais, In 
reply to an officer who was a friend to tolerance, wrote — " The 
magistrates have relaxed the severity of the ordinances, and thus 
caused all the evils of which the state has to complain." Another 
popish prelate, the bishop of Agen, having heard a report that the 
tolerating edict of Nantes was to be re-enacted, wrote a pamphlet 
praising the piety of Louis XIV. for revoking that decree, and for 
persecuting the heretics, and expressing the hope that his successor 
would never undo the noble deed of his predecessor.* 

§ 11. — About the year 1745, the former cruelties were revived, and 
all Huguenot pastors who fell into the hands of the government 
were put to a cruel death. The apprehension of M. Desubas, a 
young pastor, in December, 1745, was the cause of a most cruel and 
wanton waste of life. Some of his flock assembled unarmed to 
implore the liberation of their beloved pastor, and were twice 
fired upon with muskets, by which upwards of forty were killed. 
The young pastor obtained the crown of martyrdom, February 1st, 
1746. Among those who fell victims to this cruel persecution were 
a venerable man of eighty years old, who was condemned to be 
hung for preaching, and went to the gallows repeating the fifty-first 
Psalm, and a youthful pastor named Benezet, whose patience, cou- 
rage, and joy, at the hour of his martyrdom, in January, 1752, were 
such as to lead even the executioner to say that he " did not hang 
a man, but an angel." 

So fate as 1762, a Huguenot pastor named Francis Rochette, 
and three brothers named Grenier, who had made an attempt to 
rescue their pastor, were executed at Thoulouse. The eldest was 
not twenty-two years of age. They had endeavored to release 
their pastor from captivity, and were beheaded close to th-? gibbet 
on which Rochette was hanged. They were offered their lives if 
they would abjure ; but their firmness did not relieve them from 
the obtruding solicitations of four priests, who beset them until the 
fatal moment. As the crucifix was occasionally presented to the 
brothers, the eldest observed: " Speak to us of him who died for 
our sins and rose again for our justification, and we are ready to 
listen ; but do not introduce your superstitions." Rochette was 
forced to descend in front of the cathedral, where he was ordered 

* See Browning's History of the Huguenots, chap. lxvi. 



chap, ii.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 609 

Cessation of the persecution. Remonstrance of the popish clergy. The French revolutioa 

to make the amende honorable : but he boldly declared his princi- 
ples, refused to ask pardon of the King, forgave his judges, and to 
the last displayed a martyr's constancy. The brothers Grenier 
were equally firm. After two had suffered, the executioner en- 
treated the younger to escape their fate by abjuring. " Do thy 
duty," was the answer he received, as the youth submitted to the 
axe.* 

§ 12. — Soon after this, the Jesuits, the relentless enemies of the 
Huguenots, were suppressed in France, and the flowing of heretic 
blood ceased; though an effort was made in 1765 by the popish 
clergy to resist the tendency to toleration by a remonstrance to the 
King. " It is in vain," that body declares. " that all public worship, 
other than the Catholic, is forbidden in your dominions. In con- 
tempt of the wisest laws, the protestants have seditious meetings on 
every side. Their ministers preach heresy and administer the 
Supper ; and we have the pain of beholding altar raised against 
altar, and the pulpit of pestilence opposing that of truth. If the 
law which revoked the edict of Nantes — if your declaration of 
1724 had been strictly observed, we venture to say there would be 
no more Calvinists in France. Consider the effects of a tolerance 
which may become cruel by its results. Restore, sire ! restore to 
the laws all their vigor — to religion its splendor." 

Similar presentations were made by the papist clergy against 
the protestant assemblies so late as 1770 and 1772, thus afford- 
ing the most conclusive evidence that the persecuting spirit of 
Popery remained unchanged, and that its priests, even so late as 
toward the close of the last century, would gladly have renewed 
against the heretics of France the massacres, the barbarities and 
outrages of 1572, or of 1685. A few years subsequent to these 
memorials against the protestants, the Roman Catholic clergy were 
themselves exposed, amidst the horrors of the French revolution, 
to the same sufferings of confiscation and banishment, which they 
thus earnestly desired to be inflicted upon their protestant neigh- 
bors. And while we most heartily deprecate the atrocities of the 
infidel faction which then ruled the destinies of unhappy France, 
and rejoice in the hospitality shown in England and other pro- 
testant lands, to the banished Romish clergy (among whom were, 
doubtless, some who had joined in these persecuting petitions 
twenty years before), presenting as it does so marked a contrast to 
the intolerance and cruelty of these very priests towards the pro- 
testants in their own land ; at the same time, we cannot but regard 
these sufferings as a part of that retributive vengeance which will 
not always sleep, and which we learn from the eighteenth chapter 
of Revelations, is yet to fall more fearfully upon persecuting and 
apostate Rome. 

§ 13. — The Inquisition in Spain continued its work of torture and 

* From the Toulousaines a series of letters published in 1763, cited by Brown- 
ing, 273. 



610 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ix. 

The Inquisition in Spain. Its suppression. Still exists in Home 

of blood through the greater part of the eighteenth century, and so 
late as November 7th, 1781, a woman was burnt alive by the sen- 
tence of the Holy Office at Seville, on the charge of having formed 
a contract with the Devil. At the time of the suppression of the 
Inquisition in Spain by Napoleon, in 1808, multitudes of unhappy 
victims were found in a most deplorable condition, incarcerated in 
the horrid dungeons of the tribunal, and restored by the French 
soldiery to liberty and their homes. Upon the restoration of Fer- 
dinand VII., the Catholic king of Spain, he re-established the In- 
quisition by an ordinance dated July 21st, 1814, and appointed the 
bishop of Almeria, Inquisitor-general, but it only continued in ope- 
ration five years. Upon the revolution of 1820, it was finally sup- 
pressed by the Cortes. 

In the Papal States, the Inquisition still exists, though its opera- 
tions are conducted with much secresy, and are veiled as much 
as possible from the public eye. In other countries the exercise 
of inquisitorial power is frequently entrusted to the popish prelates. 
The Roman tribunal now in existence is that established by pope 
Sixtus V. in 1588, which was styled the "Holy Roman and Uni- 
versal Inquisition." It consists of twelve cardinals, several pre- 
lates as assessors, several monks called consulters, and several 
priests and lawyers called qualificators, whose business is to pre- 
pare the cases. Persons at Rome are frequently imprisoned for 
not going to confession, having in their possession bibles and pro- 
testant books, and for other offences against Popery. It is said by 
papists that the torture and the punishment of death is not now in- 
flicted by the Romish inquisition. All we know on the subject is 
that its punishments are inflicted with the profoundest secresy, that 
its victims are no longer publicly burnt at the auto da fe, and that 
their sufferings, in most cases, are known only to themselves, their 
persecutors, and to God. Occasionally, a victim of Romish bar- 
barity escapes to a land of freedom, and publishes to the world the 
recital of his sufferings, though these narratives are invariably de- 
nounced as false by the Jesuitical defenders of Rome, in accord- 
ance with their well known principle of action that frauds are holy 
and lies are lawful, when told for the good of the church. 

§ 14. — One of the most valuable recent narratives of this kind is 
that of a young monk, named Raffaele Ciocci, who after being bar- 
barously treated in an inquisitorial prison near Rome, in 1842, till he 
consented to sign a recantation,* escaped to England, where he 

* After Raffaele had been entrapped into the hands of his inquisitorial persecu- 
tors, many means were employed by the Jesuits to subdue him. Four times a 
day he had to listen to a long sermon against the doctrines of Protestantism. To 
all the questions which he addressed to the Jesuits, one would reply : " Think on 
hell, my son ! : ' — a second : ' ; Think, my son, how terrible the death of a sinner !" 
— a third would exclaim: "Paradise! my son, Paradise!" Next, recourse was 
had to phantasmagory, to strike him with terror. A skeleton placed in his cham- 
ber : a transparency,"presenting a resemblance of the last judgment day, suddenly 
appeared before him during the rehearsal of terrible discourses, or afterward cal- 
culated to affect him. At last, filth and privations of every kind came also to the 



chap, il] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 611 

Treatment of Raffaele Ciocci by the Roman Inquisition, in 1842. 

published his thrilling and instructive narrative, a production which 
bears internal evidences of its truth, as is well remarked by Sir 

aid of the Jesuits, in subduing their obstinate pupil. When they saw him suffi- 
ciently shaken, the following declaration was offered to him for his signature : " I, 
Raffaele Ciocd, a Benedictine and Cistercian monk, unskilled in theological doc- 
trines, having in good faith, and without malice, fallen into the errors of the pro- 
testants, being now enlightened and convinced, acknowledge my errors. 1 retract 
them, regret them, and declare the Roman church to be the only true Catholic 
and Apostolic church. I bind myself, therefore, to teach and preach according to 
her doctrines, being ready to shed my blood for her sake. Finally, I ask pardon 
of all those to whom my anti-Catholic discourses may have been an occasion of 
error, and I pray God to pardon my sins." On reading these lines, Raffaele 
trembled with indignation, and immediately exclaimed : " Kill me, if you please, 
my life is in your power ; but as for subscribing this iniquitous formulary. I shall 
do so — never f ' 

After vain efforts to induce him to comply with his wishes, the Jesuit withdrew 

in a rage The following day Raffaele appeared before his persecutors, 

who again urged him to sign the declaration. On his refusal Father Rossini 
spoke : " Your opinions are inflexible ; be it so ; we are going to treat you as you 
deserve. Rebellious son of the church, in the plenitude of power which she has 
received from Christ, you shall feel the holy rigor of her laws. She cannot per- 
mit the tares to infect the soil in which grows the good seed, nor suffer you to re- 
main among her sons, and become a stumbling-block for the ruin of many. Aban- 
don the hope, therefore, of leaving this place, and of returning to dwell among 
the faithful. Know, then, that all is over with you." " Then," continues Raf- 
faele, " there was a long silence ; all the terrors which had seized me during my 
seclusion at once assailed me. The immovable countenances of the Jesuits, who 
in their cold insusceptibility of feeling seemed alien from earth, convinced me that 
all indeed was over with me My courage failed, and trembling I ap- 
proached the table ; with a convulsive movement I seized the pen, and wrote 
, ... my shame ! . . . . my condemnation ; .... God of mercy ! O may 
that moment be blotted from my life !" 

The Jesuits congratulated him, and he was permitted to return to the convent 
of San Bernardo, in which, from that time, he was allowed a little more liberty. 
He continued, meanwhile, to read the Bible, and strengthened himself more and 
more in his determination to break definitely with the errors of Rome, and to bid 
an eternal adieu to Italy and his family. A circumstance presented itself which 
favored the execution of this project. Two English travellers, whom Raffaele 
accompanied one day in the quality of cicerone in the circus of the baths of 
Diocletian, and to whom he discovered his situation, took a strong interest in his 
behalf. Several times they returned, had conversations with the unhappy monk, 
and undoubtedly instructed him as to the means of escaping from his prison. In 
fact, not long after this, he embarked at Civita-Vecchia, where, before doing so, 
he had the privilege of reading, posted up in the church, a brief of excommuni- 
cation against " D. Raffaele Ciocci, a Cistercian monk, an apostate ;" and after 
various distressing perplexities, owing to his inexperience, he reached Marseilles, 
crossed France, and arrived at London, where he was received with kind hospi- 
tality, and protected from the attempts of the Jesuits to seize once more on 
their prey. 

" Oh !" exclaims he, " that my companions in slavery in the monasteries of 
San Bernardo and Santa Croce, in Gerusalemme, could see me as I am, in a state 
of health and tranquillity, while they are taught to believe that the excommunica- 
tion has penetrated my bones, and that I am wasting away like a lamp whose oil 
is failing. Poor youths ! seized with terror at tin* funeral ceremony performed 
on occasion of the apostasy of any member of thfi Order, they are not aware that 
it is but a trick, calculated to expel from their minds every thought of imitating 
the example, and of following the footsteps of the fugitive." — (Ciocci , s Narnitive, 
page 137.) 



612 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ix. 

Continued iiersccuting policy of Rome. Exiles of Zillerthal. Bible-burning at Champlain. 

Culling Eardly Smith, a distinguished protestant gentleman, who 
long resided in Rome, and is therefore well qualified to judge.* 
Not more than two years ago a severe decree against the Jews of 
Ancona was issued by the Roman Inquisition, dated from the 
chancery of the Holy Office, June 24th, 1843. f 

The persecuting policy of Rome is still carried out by her 
priests in the various countries where they are dispersed, just in 
proportion to the power and influence they possess. In thoroughly 
popish countries they continue openly and without disguise to act 
upon their ancient intolerant and persecuting principles, though the 
spirit of the age forbids them, as formerly, to sacrifice at once 
whole hecatombs of human victims; in semi-papal lands, as in 
France and some other parts of continental Europe, where Pro- 
testantism is tolerated by the government, they exhibit the same 
spirit by a system of petty annoyance, and attempted restrictions 
upon the freedom of a protestant press ; and in protestant lands, as 
America and England, in order the more effectually to accomplish 
their designs, they aim, as much as possible, to conceal the true 
character of their church, and sometimes even have the bare-faced 
effrontery to deny that persecution is or ever has been one of its 
dogmas. In the first case, the wolf appears in his own proper skin, 
showing his teeth, and growling hatred and defiance against all 
opposers ; in the second, with his teeth extracted, but with all his 
native ferocity, showing that if his teeth are gone, he can yet bruise 
and mangle with his toothless jaws ; and in the last, covered all 
over with the skin of a lamb, attempting to bleat out the assertion, 
"I am not a wolf, and I never was" and yet by the very tones of 
his voice betraying the fact that though clothed in the skin of a 
lamb, and trying to look innocent and harmless, he is a wolf still ; 
waiting only for a suitable opportunity to throw off his temporary 
disguise, and appear in all his native ferocity. 

§ 15. — As a recent illustration of this unchanged spirit of Roman- 
ism may be mentioned the persecutions, banishment, and exile, 
in the year 1837, of upwards of four hundred protestants of Ziller- 
thal, in the Tyrol, for no other reason but because they refused to 
conform to the Roman Catholic church.f 

As another instance of the intolerance of Popery, and its de- 
termined hatred to the bible in the vulgar tongue, may be 
mentioned an occurrence still more recent, by which the feelings 
of protestant Americans were outraged, viz., the public burning 
of bibles, which took place no longer ago than October 27th. 1842, 
at Champlain, a village in the State of New York. The following 
account of this sacrilegious outrage is from an official statement of 
facts, signed by four respectable citizens appointed as a committee 
for that purpose : — " About the middle of October, a Mr. Telmont, 

* Romanism in Italy, by Sir C. E. Smith, page 41. f Ibid., 49, 65. 

I An interesting account of the sufferings of these exiles for conscience sake 
has been written by Dr. Rheinwald, of Berlin, and translated from the German by 
Mr. John B. Saunders, of London. 



chap, il] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 613 

Jesuits openly burning bibles. Disgraceful language of a priest on the protestant bible {note). 

a missionary of the Jesuits, with one or more associates, came to 
Corbeau in this town, where the Catholic Church is located, and as 
they say in their own account given of their visit, ' by the direction 
of the bishop of Montreal.' On their arrival they commenced a 
protracted meeting, which lasted several weeks, and great numbers 
of Catholics from this and the other towns of the county attended 
day after day. After the meeting had progressed several days, 
and the way was prepared for it, an order was issued requiring all 
who had bibles or testaments, to bring them in to the priest, or ' lay 
them at the feet of the missionaries.' The requirement was gene- 
rally complied with, and day after day bibles and testaments were 
carried in ; and after a sufficient number was collected, they were 
burned. By the confession of Telmont, as appears from the affi- 
davit of S. Hubbell, there were several burnings, but only one in 
public. On the 27th of October, as given in testimony at the pub- 
lic meeting held there, Telmont, who was a prominent man in all 
the movements, brought out from the house of the resident priest, 
which is near the church, as many bibles as he could carry in his 
arms at three times, and placed them in a pile, in the open yard, and 
then set fire to them and burned them to ashes. This was done in 
open day, and in the presence of many spectators." For a pictorial 
illustration of this scene of popish intolerance and sacrilege, see En- 
graving opposite page 440. 

In the affidavit of S. Hubbell, Esq., above alluded to, who is a 
respectable lawyer of the place, it is stated that the President of 
the Bible Society, in company with Mr. Hubbell, waited upon the 
priests, and requested that inasmuch as the bibles had been given 
by benevolent societies, they should be returned to the donors and 
not destroyed ; to which the Jesuit priest, perhaps with less cun- 
ning than usually belongs to his order, coolly replied, that " they 
had burned all they had received, and intended to burn all they 
could get."'* 

§ 16. — A still more striking illustration of the unchangeably per- 
secuting spirit of Popery down to the present time, remains yet to 
be told. In the Portuguese island of Madeira, which is almost en- 
tirely under the control of the popish priesthood, a violent persecu- 
tion has been lately carried on, chiefly in consequence of the suc- 

* For a full account of the circumstances connected with this atrocious act, see 
"Defence of the Protestant Scriptures against Popish Apologists for the Cham- 
plain Bible-Burners," by the present author. The above little work was written 
in reply to a popish priest named Corry, of Providence, 11. [., who justified t ho 
burning of the bibles upon the ground of the alleged unfaithfulness* of the pro- 
testant version. Among other statements he makes use of the following dis« 
gracetul ianguage : — " If, then, such a version of the bible should not be tolerated, 
the question then is, which is the best and most respectful manner to make away 
with it. As for myself, I would not hesitate to say, that the most respectful would be 
to burn it, rather than give it to grocers and dealers to wrap their wares in, or 
consign it to more dishonorable purposes (! !) and I hardly think, that there is 
a man of common sense, be he Catholic or protestant, that would not say the 
same." 



614 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book IS. 

A woman sentenced to death for heresy in 1844, by the papists of Madeira. 

cess of the labors of Dr. Kalley, a pious physician from Scotland, 
and a British subject, resident on the island. Dr. Kalley has for 
some time past been in the habit of reading and explaining the 
scriptures in his own house for the benefit of his family and such 
others as chose to come in. Several of these have been convinced 
of the errors of Popery, and have consequently exposed themselves 
to the most cruel annoyances and persecutions. In a letter from 
Dr. Kalley, dated May 4th, 1844, and published in the London 
Record, he says : 

" Last Sabbath two persons, when going home from my house, 
were taken prisoners and committed to jail, where they now lie, 
for not kneeling to the host (or consecrated wafer) as it passed. On 
Monday a third was imprisoned on the same charge. On Wednes- 
day, several were mauled w 7 ith sticks, and some taken by the hands 
and feet as in procession, and carried into the church, and made to 
kneel before the images. On the 2d of May, a girl brought me 
some leaves of the New Testament, telling me, with tears, that her 
own father had taken two, and beaten them with a great stick, and 
then burnt them. On the same day, Maria Joaquina, wife of 
Manuel Alves, who had been in prison nearly a year, was con- 
demned to death." (! ! !) Yes, condemned to death, in the year 
1844, for denying the absurd dogma of transubstantiation, refusing 
to participate in the idolatry of worshipping the wafer idol, and (in 
the words of the accusation) " blaspheming against the images of 
Christ and mother of God ;" in plain language, refusing to give that 
worship to senseless blocks of wood and stone which is due only 
to God. The same letter contains a copy of the sentence of death 
passed on this poor woman by Judge Negrao, of which the follow- 
ing is an extract : — 

" In view of the answers of the jury and discussion of the 
cause, &c, it is proved that the accused, Maria Joaquina, perhaps 
forgetful of the principles of the holy religion which she received 
in her first years, and to which she still belongs, has maintained 
conversations and arguments condemned by the church, maintain- 
ing that veneration should not be given to images, denying the real 
existence of Clirist in the sacred host (the wafer), the mystery of 
the most holy Trinity ;* blaspheming against the most holy Virgin, 
Mother of God, and advancing other expressions against the doc- 
trines received and followed by the Catholic Apostolic Roman 
Church, expounding these condemned doctrines to different persons, 
thus committing the crime of heresy and blasphemy, &c. * * 
* * * ' * * # * * I condemn the ac- 
cused, Maria Joaquina, to suffer death, as declared in the said law, 

* Though the crime of the papists would not have been diminished in the 
slightest degree, had this accusation been true, as persecution for conscience sake 
is in every case unjust; yet it is due to this victim of popish persecution to say, 
on the testimony of Dr. Kalley and others, that she firmly believes the doctrine of 
the Trinity, and is " an intelligent, clear-minded, Christian woman, quite willing 
to die, if the Lord will." 



chap, ii.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 615 

Maria Joaquina in her dungeon. Persecution, not a mere abuse, but part of the system of Romanism. 

and in the costs of the process, which she shall pay with her goods. 
Funchal Oriental, in public court, 2d of May, 1843. Joze Pereira 
Leito Pitta Ortegueira Negrao." 

The papists have not yet dared to brave the indignation of the 
world by executing this sentence, and thus burning or hanging a 
heretic in the middle of the nineteenth century. Yet, the fact that 
a pious and respectable woman, the mother of seven children 
(the youngest at the breast when she was cast into prison), 
should receive such a sentence in the year 1844, for the crime of 
heresy, should arouse the whole protestant world to the unchange- 
ably persecuting character of the apostate church of Rome. At 
the last accounts, the poor woman was still languishing in her dun- 
geon ; Dr. Kalley states his opinion that " it is as likely that she will 
be actually executed, as it was that she should be condemned to 
death." Of this, however, we have doubts. However glad the 
popish priests might have been to burn a heretic, could they have 
confined the knowledge of the fact to their own little island, they 
dare not, and they will not do it, now their cruelty has been pub- 
lished abroad, and the pulse of the whole protestant world is throb- 
bing with sympathy for that suffering martyr of the nineteenth 
century as she pines in her lonely dungeon, the persecuted Maria 
Joaquina. (For result, see Supplement, p. 706.) 

§ 17. — The instances of persecution and intolerance above related 
are not mere abuses of the system of Romanism, or excrescences 
upon it ; they are a part of the system itself, and that Romish 
bishop who does not, to the utmost of his power, -* persecute and 
oppose " heretics and rebels against his Lord, the Pope, is false to 
his most solemn oath. This will be evident from the following 
oath, which is taken by every archbishop and bishop, and by all 
who receive any dignity from the Pope. Let particular notice be 
taken of the sentence printed in capitals. 

Bishops' Oath of Allegiance to the Pope. — " I, N., elect of the Church 
of N., from henceforward will be faithful and obedient to St. Peter the Apostle, 
and to the holy Roman Church, and to our Lord, the Lord N., pope N., and to his 
successors, canonically entering. I will neither advise, consent, nor do anything 
that they may lose life or member, or that their persons may be seized, or hands 
in anywise laid upon them, or any injuries offered to them, under any pretence 
whatsoever. The counsel with which they shall intrust me by themselves, their 
messengers, or letters, I will not knowingly reveal to any to their prejudice. I 
will help them to defend and keep the Roman papacy, and the royalties of St. 
Peter saving my order, against all men. The legate of the apostolic See, going 
and coming, I will honorably treat and help in his necessities. The rights, 
honors, privileges, and authority of the holy Roman Church, of our Lord the 
Pope, and his aforesaid successors, I will endeavor to preserve, defend, increase, 
and advance. I will not be in any counsel, action, or treaty, in which shall be 
plotted against our said Lord, and the said Roman Church, anything to the hurt 
or prejudice of their persons, right, honor, state or power; and if I shall know 
any such thing to be treated or agitated by any whatsoever, I will hinder it to my 
utmost, and as soon as I can, will signify it. to our said Lord, or to some other, by 
whom it may come to his knowledge. The rules of the holy Fathers, the apos- 
tolic decrees, ordinances, or disposals, reservations, provisions, and mandates, I 
will observe with all my might, and cause to be observed by others. 



616 :: -7 : V I? ROMAMSM. : z 



±-i ? :=z :: '. '. z ±>: : :-.:__. " - r __.-= ;.-:: F:i: z Az: : I 

z_iii.fi: : t ."".:..".._" f : = i " • . i . : i : = : . ziz - - :._--.. - ... - 

■ : : ' - i ziii-: Si if.: zf >.: : : ±~z :.:. Z- :s : - z = i: 



~ ;. : - : z_ i 



:.:f M— ; ri :;_ : ~~ : :. 



chap. ii.J POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 617 

Ceremony of excommunication and cursing at Rome on Holy Thursday. 

the Bull in cosna domini, or " at the supper of the Lord." The cere- 
monies on this occasion are well adapted to strike terror into the 
superstitious multitude. The bull consists of thirty-one sections, 
describing different classes of excommunicated persons. The fol- 
lowing single section, which includes all protestants, is given as a 
specimen. 

" In the name of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and by the au- 
thority of the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, and by our own, we excommuni- 
cate and anathematize all Hussites, Wickliffites, Lutherans, Zuinglians, Calvin- 
ists, Huguenots, Anabaptists, Trinitarians, and other apostates, from the faith ; 
and all other heretics, by whatsoever name they are called, or of whatever sect 
they be. And also their adherents, receivers, favorers, and generally any de- 
fenders of them : with all who, without our authority, or that of the apostolic 
See, knowingly read or retain, or in any way, or from any cause, publicly or pri- 
vately, or from any pretext, defend their books containing heresy, or treating of 
religion ; as also schismatics, and those who withdraw themselves, or recede ob- 
stinately from their obedience to us, or the existing Roman Pontiff." 

§ 19. — A recent spectator of the ceremony at Rome says that after 
the excommunicated are mentioned, the curse proceeds as follows : — 
" Excommunicated and accursed may they be, and given body and 
soul to the devil. Cursed be they in cities, in towns, in fields, in 
ways, in paths, in houses, out of houses, and all other places, stand- 
ing, lying or rising, walking, running, waking, sleeping, eating, 
drinking, and whatsoever things they do besides. We separate 
them from the threshold, and from all prayers of the church, from 
the holy mass, from all sacraments, chapels, and altars, from holy 
bread and holy water, from all the merits of God's priests and re- 
ligious men, from all their pardons, privileges, grants, and immuni- 
ties, which all the holy fathers, the popes of Rome have granted ; 
and we give them utterly over to the power of the fiend ! And let 
us quench their soul, if they be dead, this night in the pains of hell- 
fire, as this candle is now quenched and put out (and then one of 
them is put out), and let us pray to God, that if they be alive, their 
eyes may be put out, as this candle is put out (another was then 
extinguished) ; and let us pray to God, and to our Lady, and to 
St. Peter, and St. Paul, and the holy saints, that all the senses of 
their bodies may foil them, and that they may have no feeling, as 
now the light of this candle is gone (the third was then put out), 
except they come openly now, and confess their blasphemy, and by 
repentance, as in them shall lie, make satisfaction unto God, our 
Lady, St. Peter, and the worshipful company of this cathedral 
church. And as this cross falleth down, so may they, except they 
repent, and show themselves." Then the cross on which the ex- 
tinguished lights had been fixed was allowed to fall down with a 
loud noise, and the superstitious multitude shouted with fear. This 
terrific scene is of itself sufficient to account for the superstitious 
dread, among ignorant Papists, of the priestly anathema. 

J: he impious farce of cursing is soon followed by the Pope's 
blessing on all who believe, or profess to believe, his own creed. 



618 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ix. 

Popery still unchanged with respect to freedom of opinion and the press, &c. 

On Easter day he says mass at the high altar of St. Peter's, and at 
its close pronounces his blessing on the prostrate multitude in the 
square below, many of whom are pilgrims from considerable dis- 
tances. (See Engraving opposite page 430.) One thing is, how- 
ever, clear : he curses some who are objects of the Divine favor ; 
he blesses others with whom God is angry every day. In each 
instance he speaks in vain, as it regards them ; but in every one 
there is a record against him of presumptuous sin, in the book of 
God's remembrance.* 



CHAPTER III. 

POPERY UNCHANGED. MODERN DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE OF ITS HATRED 

TO LIBERTY OF OPINION, SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, FREE- 
DOM OF THE PRESS, AND A TRANSLATED BIBLE. 

§ 20. — An impression is extensively prevalent that the Popery 
of the present day is something entirely different from the Popery 
of the dark ages, w T hen amidst the gloom and the superstition of 
the world's midnight, it reigned Despot of the World. Yet while 
this change for the better is charitably believed by some lukewarm 
protestants, who are therefore contented to lay down their weapons 
and forsake their watch-tower, it is absolutely and unequivocally 
denied by the most celebrated champions of Rome. Says Charles 
Butler, in his Book of the Roman Catholic Church, " It is most true 
that Roman Catholics believe the doctrines of their church to be 
unchangeable ; and that it is a tenet of their creed, that what their 
faith ever has been, such it was from the beginning, such it is now, 
and such it ever will be." 

We have already seen, in the last chapter, that Popery is the 
same as in the dark ages, with respect to its essentially persecuting 
spirit. We shall now proceed by citations from various authentic 
documents of recent date, and by a reference to the state of Popery, 
as it is at present seen in popish countries, to show that in 
every important particular ; in its hatred to the freedom of opinion 
and of the press, and to the bible in the vulgar tongue ; in its hos- 
tility to the separation of church and state ; in its debasing, super- 
stitious, and grovelling idolatry ; its blasphemous pretended power 
of indulgences, and its forged miracles and lying wonders ; in all 
these respects, that Popery is even now the same that we have seen 
it throughout the career of ages, over which our long journey is 
now nearly finished. 

* Spirit of Popery, page 115. 



chap, in.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 619 

Liberty of opinion still forbidden. Pope opposed to separation of church and state. 

§21. — In the last session of the council of Trent, it was decreed 
in reference to certain doctrines, " If any one shall presume to 
teach or think (' senserit ') differently from these decrees, let him 
be accursed" (see page 534). Thus we see that Popery invades 
the sanctuary of a man's most secret thoughts, and however con- 
sistently he may speak or act, if he presumes only to think diflei- 
ently from her decrees, subjects himself to her curse. To show 
that liberty of opinion is still prohibited in the Romish church, it 
will be sufficient to present a single extract from a document which 
no Roman Catholic will presume to dispute, emanating from the 
Supreme Pontiff himself, of no older date than August 15th, 1832. 
It is the famous Encyclical letter of the now reigning Pope, — 
Gregory XVI. 

" From that polluted fountain of indifference flows that absurd and erroneous 
doctrine, or rather raving, in favor and in defence of ' liberty of conscience? for 
which most pestilential error, the course is opened by that entire and wild liberty 
of opinion which is everywhere attempting the overthrow of civil and religious 
institutions ; and which the unblushing impudence of some has held forth as an 
advantage of religion." * * * * " From hence arise these revolutions in the 
minds of men, hence this aggravated corruption of youth, hence this contempt 
among the people of sacred things, and of the most holy institutions and laws ; 
hence, in one word, that pest of all others most to be dreaded in a state, unbridled 
liberty of opinion." 

§ 22. — It might be expected that a power which is thus bitterly hos- 
tile to liberty of opinion, should be equally opposed to the separation 
of church and state, which has always been regarded by every en- 
lightened friend of freedom, as one of the surest safeguards of the 
liberty of nations. Accordingly we find pope Gregory, in the 
same document, making use of the following plain and unequivocal 
language : — " Nor can we augur more consoling consequences to 
religion and to government, from the zeal of some to separate the 
church from the state, and to burst the bond which unites the priest- 
hood to the empire. For it is clear that this union is dreaded by 
the profane lovers of liberty, only because it has never failed to con- 
fer prosperity on both." 

The reason why the Pope is in favor of a union of the state 
with the church, especially when the secular powers can be held 
in submission to Rome, is too obvious to need remark. In the fol- 
lowing extract from Gregory's bull of 1844, the Pope calls upon 
his " venerable brethren " to prevent the machinations of the 
Christian Alliance, and by exciting the jealousy of the sovereigns 
of Italy, lest their subjects should obtain with liberty of conscience 
political liberty also, he invokes their aid in frustrating these " sec- 
tarian combinations." 

" Moreover, venerable brothers," says he, " we recommend the utmost watchful- 
ness over the insidious measures and attempts of the Christian Alliance, to those 
who, raised to the dignity of your order, are called to govern the Italian churchos, 
or the countries which Italians frequent most commonly, especially the frontiers 
and ports whence travellers enter Italy. As these are the points on which the 



620 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book rx. 

The Pope's horror of political liberty. Bull against the "detested liberty of the press." 

sectarians have fixed to commence the realization of their projects, it is highly 
necessary that the bishops of those places should mutually assist each other, 
zealously and faithfully, in order, with the aid of God, to discover and prevent 
their machinations. 

" Let us not doubt but your exertions, added to our own, will be seconded by the 
civil authorities, and especially by the most influential sovereigns of Italy, no less 
by reason of their favorable regard for the Catholic religion, than that they plainly 
perceive how much it concerns them to frustrate these sectarian combinations. 
Indeed, it is most evident from past experience, that there are no means more cer- 
tain of rendering the people disobedient to their princes than rendering them indif- 
ferent to religion, under the mask of religious liberty. The members of the Chris- 
tian Alliance do not conceal this fact from themselves, although they declare that 
they are far from wishing to excite disorder ; but they, notwithstanding, avow 
that, once liberty of interpretation obtained, and with it what they term liberty of 
conscience among Italians these last will naturally soon acquire political 

LIBERTY." 

Such has ever been the horror of the popes, in all countries sub- 
ject to their sway, lest the people should obtain political liberty. 

§ 23. — From the decree of the fourth session of the council of 
Trent, as well as the rules of the congregation of the Index (see 
above, pp. 488-499), we have seen that the laws of Popery authori- 
tatively prohibit the freedom of the press, and decree certain heavy 
penalties, wherever they have the power to enforce them, on all 
who dare to exercise that freedom. That this is still the doctrine 
of Rome will be evident from an additional extract or two from 
pope Gregory's bull of 1832. 

" Hither tends that worst and never sufficiently to be execrated and de- 
tested liberty of the press for the diffusion of all manner of writings, which 
some so loudly contend for and so actively promote." 

Again : " No means must be here omitted, says Clement XIII., our predecessor 
of happy memory in the Encyclical Letter on the proscription of bad books — no 
means must be here omitted, as the extremity of the case calls for all our exertions, 
to exterminate the fatal pest which spreads through so many works, nor can the 
materials of error be otherwise destroyed than by the flames, which consume the de- 
praved elements of the evil. From the anxious vigilance then of the Holy Apos- 
tolic See, through every age, in condemning and removing from men's hands sus- 
pected and profane books, becomes more than evident the falsity, the rashness, and 
the injury offered to the Apostolical See by that doctrine, pregnant with the most de- 
plorable evils to the Christian world, advocated by some, condemning this censure 

OF BOOKS AS A NEEDLESS BURDEN, REJECTING IT AS INTOLERABLE, OR WITH 
INFAMOUS EFFRONTERY, PROCLAIMING IT TO BE IRRECONCILABLE WITH THE RIGHTS 
OF MEN, OR DENYING, IN FINE, THE EIGHT OF EXERCISING SUCH A POWER, OR THE 
EXISTENCE OF IT IN THE CHURCH." 

In addition to the other ' ; bitter causes of solicitude," pope Gregory proceeds 
to mention "certain associations, and political assemblies," in which {horribile 
dictu!) "liberty of every kind is maintained, revolutions in the state and in 
religion are fomented, and the sanctity of all authority is torn in pieces." 

In the above extracts from these famous documents of pope G re- 
gory, the acknowledged head of the Roman Catholic church, 
there is no ambiguity. The doctrine of Popery is stated without 
disguise. Let the reader remember, that these extracts are not 
from a document of the dark ages ; that they did not proceed from 
the pen of a Gregory VII., or an Innocent III., but from the present 



chap, in.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 621 

Bunyan's giant Pope biting hie nail3. Rome's hatred to the Bible in the vulgar tongue* 

reigning Pope in the nineteenth century ; and that in them those 
rights which Americans and freemen of every nation hold most 
dear, liberty of opinion, of conscience, and of the press, are 
fiercely denounced as "absurd and erroneous doctrines;" "preg- 
nant with the most deplorable evils" — and "pests of all others most 
to be dreaded in a state ;" while such as dare to " condemn this 
censure of books as a needless burden,'' " proclaim it to be irrecon- 
cilable with the rights of men" or deny " the existence of such a 
power in the church," are charged with falsity, rashness, and in- 
famous effrontery ! ! 

Who will deny that the spirit manifested in this document 
would prompt its author to enforce its abominable doctrines against 
the friends of freedom of every name, by the rack, the faggot, and 
the stake, like his predecessors, in the palmy days when Popery 
was in its glory, if he did but possess the power? But, in the words 
of good old John Bunyan, though the giant Pope be still alive, sit- 
ting " among the blood, bones, ashes, and mangled bodies of pil- 
grims that had gone this way formerly," yet, " by reason of age, 
and also of the many shrewd brushes that he met with in his 
younger days, he has grown so crazy and stiff in his joints, that he 
can now do Lttle more than sit in his cave's mouth, grinning at 
pilgrims, as they go by, and biting his nails, that he cannot come 
at them." 

§ 24. — With respect to Rome's hatred to the bible in the vulgar 
tongue, we have seen that the council of Trent, in the fourth rule of 
the corgregation of the Index (p. 492), declares that its indiscriminate 
use will be productive of " more evil than good." Such is still the 
doctrine of Rome. Within the last thirty years, several papal 
bulls, or circulars, have been issued, condemning Bible Societies 
and the free circulation of the scriptures in the vulgar tongue. 
One by pope Pius VII., in 1816, one by Leo XII., in 1824, another 
by Pius VIII., in 1829, and two by the present Pope, Gregory XVI., 
in 1832 and 1844. It will be sufficient to give a brief extract from 
the circular of Pius VII., in 1816, and more copious extracts from the 
bull of 1844, which, on account of its exhibition of the present 
character of Popery, is the most valuable of them all. In a letter 
addressed to the primate of Poland relative to Bible Societies, and 
dated June 26th, 1816, pope Pius VII. uses the following language: 

" We have been truly shocked at this most crafty devi.ce (Bible Societies), by 
which the very foundations of religion are undermined. We have deliberated 
upon the measures proper to be adopted by our pontifical authority, in order to 
remedy and abolish this pestilence, as far as possible, — this defilement of the faith 
so imminently dangerous to souls. It becomes episcopal duty, that you first of all 
expose the wickedness of this nefarious scheme. It is evident from fxfkrience, 

THAT THE HOLY BCRIPTUftES, WHEN CIRCULATED IN THE VULGAR TONGUE, HAVE, 
THROUGH THE TEMERITY OF MEN, PRODUCED MORE HARM THAN BENEFIT. Warn the 

people entrusted to your care, thai they tall not into the snares prepared for their 
everlasting ruin'''' (that is, as you value your souls, have nothing to do with Bible 
{Societies, or the bibles they circulate). 

40 



622 HISTORY OF ROMANISM [book rx. 

Gregory's bull of 1844. All versions of the Scriptures forbidden without popish notes. 

§ 25. — Nothing but want of space (as we have already exceeded 
our intended limits) prevents us from giving entire the last bull of 
pope Gregory XVI., dated May 8th. 1844; so conclusive is the evi- 
dence it affords of Rome's unchanged hostility to the Bible. The 
following are the most important portions : — 

" Venerable Brothers, health and greeting Apostolical : — Among the many 
attempts which the enemies of Catholicism, under whatever denomination they 
may appear, are daily making in our age, to seduce the truly faithful, and deprive 
them of the holy instructions of the faith, the efforts of those Bible Societies are 
conspicuous, which, originally established in England, and propagated throughout 
the universe, labor everywhere to disseminate the books of the Holy Scriptures, 
translated tats the vulgar tongue ; consign them to the private interpretation of each, 
alike among Christians and among infidels ; continue what St. Jerome formerly 
complained of — pretending to popularize the holy pages, and render them intelli- 
gible, without the aid of any interpreter, to persons of every condition — to the 
most loquacious woman, to the light-headed old man, to the wordy caviller ; to all, 
in short, and even by an absurdity as great as unheard of, to the most hardened 
infidels." The Pope then proceeds to remark that these societies " only care 
audaciously to stimulate all to a private interpretation of the divine oracles, to 
inspire contempt for divine traditions, which the Catholic Church preserves upon 
the authority of the holy fathers ; in a word, to cause them to reject even the 
authority of "the Church herself." 

The Pope then proceeds to eulogize the tyrannical and bloody persecutor of the 
Waldenses and founder of the Inquisition, for his zeal against u Bibles translated 
into the vulgar tongue." ;i Hence the warning and decrees of our predecessor 
Innocent III., of happy memory, on the subject of lay societies and meetings of 
women, who had assembled themselves in the diocese of Metz for objects of piety 
and the study of the Holy Scriptures. Hence the prohibitions which subsequently 
appeared in France and Spain, during the sixteenth century, with respect to the 
vulgar Bible." 

" It became necessary subsequently," he adds, " to take even greater precau- 
tions, when the pretended reformers, Luther and Calvin, daring, by a multiplicity 
and incredible variety of errors, to attack the immutable doctrine of the faith, 
omitted nothing in order to seduce the faithful by their false interpretations and 
translations into the vernacular tongue, which the then novel invention of printing 
contributed more rapidly to propagate and multiply. Whence it was generally 
laid down in the regulations dictated by the Fathers, adopted by the council of 
Trent, and approved by our predecessor Pius VII., of happy memory, and which 
(regulations) are prefixed to the list of prohibited books, that the reading of the 
Holy Bible, translated into the vulgar tongue, should not be permitted except to 
those to whom it might be deemed necessary to confirm in the faith and piety. 
Subsequently, when heretics still persisted in their frauds, it became necessary for 
Benedict XIV. to superadd the injunction that no versions whatever should 
be suffered to be read but those which should be approved of by the 
Holy See, accompanied by notes derived from the writings op the Holy 
Fathers, or other learned and Catholic authors. 

" Notwithstanding this, some new sectarians of the school of Jansenius, after 
the example of the Lutherans and Calvinists, feared not to blame these justifiable 
precautions of the Apostolical See, as if the reading of the Holy hooks had been at 
all times, and for all the faithful, useful, and so indispensable that no authority 
could assail it. 

M But we find this audacious assertion of the sect of Jansenius withered by the 
most rigorous censures in the solemn sentence which was pronounced against 
their doctrine, with the assent of the whole Catholic universe, by two sovereign 
pontiffs of modern times. Clement XI. in his unigenitus constitution of the year 
1713, and Pius VI. in his constitution actorem fdei, of the year 1794. Conse- 
quently, even before the establishment of Bible Societies was thought of, the 
decrees of the Church, which we have quoted, were intended to guard the faithful 



chap. m.J POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 623 

All preceding decrees against the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue confirmed by pope Gregory. 

against the frauds of heretics who cloak themselves under the specious pretext that it 
is necessary to propagate and render common the study of the holy books. 

" Since then, our predecessor, Pius VII., of glorious memory, observing the 
machinations of these societies to increase under his pontificate, did not cease to 
oppose their efforts, at one time through the medium of the apostolical nuncios, 
at another by letters and decrees, emanating from the several congregations of 
cardinals of the Holy Church, and at another by the two pontifical letters ad- 
dressed to the Bishop of Gnesen and the Archbishop of Mohilif. After him, 
another of our holy predecessors, Leo XII., reproved the operations of the Bible 
Societies, by his circulars addressed to all the Catholic pastors in the universe, 
under date May 5, 1824. Shortly afterward, our immediate predecessor, Pius 
VIII., of happy memory, confirmed their condemnation by his circular letter of 
May 24, 1829. We, in short, who succeed them, notwithstanding our great un- 
worthiness, have not ceased to be solicitous on this subject, and have especially 
studied to bring to the recollection of the faithful the several rules which have 
been successively laid down with regard to the vulgar versions of the holy books." 

Alluding to the recently formed society called the Christian Alliance, the Pope 
says : " This society strains every nerve to introduce among them, by means of 
individuals collected from all parts, corrupt and vulgar Bibles, and to scatter them 
secretly among the faithful. At the same time, their intention is to disseminate 
worse books still(! !), or tracts designed to withdraw from the minds of their 
readers all respect for the Church and the Holy See." 

After referring with evident alarm to the fact of the translation into Italian of 
those exce-llent works, D'Aubigne on the Reformation, and M'Crie's Reformation 
in Italy, the Pope proceeds as follows : " With reference to works of whatsoever 
writer, we call to mind the observance of the general rules and decrees of our 
predecessors, to be found prefixed to the Index of prohibited books ; and we invite 
the faithful to be on their guard, not only against the books named in the Index, 
but also against those proscribed in the general proscriptions. 

" As for yourselves, my venerable brethren, called as you are to divide our soli- 
citude, we recommend you earnestly in the Lord, to announce and proclaim, in 
convenient time and place, to the people confided to your care, these Apostolic 
orders, and to labor carefully to separate the faithful sheep from the contagion of 
the Christian Alliance, from those who have become its auxiliaries, no less than 
those who belong to other Bible Societies, and from all who have any communica- 
tion with them. You are consequently enjoined to remove from the hands of the 
faithful alike the Bibles in the vulgar tongue which may have been printed con- 
trary to the decrees above mentioned of the Sovereign Pontiffs, and every book 
proscribed and condemned, and to see that they learn, through your admonition and 
authority, what pasturages are salutary, and what pernicious and mortal. . . . 
Watch attentively over those who are appointed to expound the Holy Scriptures, 
to see that they acquit themselves faithfully, according to the capacity of their 
hearers, and that they dare not, under any pretext whatever, interpret or explain the 
holy pages contrary to the tradition of the Holy Fathers, and to the service of the 
Catholic Church." 

After more remarks in a similar strain, the Pope proceeds, in the following 
words, to renew the condemnation of the Bible Societies, and to confirm all pre- 
ceding decrees against the Scriptures in the Vulgar tongue : 

" Wherefore, having consulted some of the Cardinals of the Holy Romish 
Church, after having duly examined with them everything and listened to their 
advice, we have decided, venerable brothers, on addressing you this letter, by 
which we again condemn the Bible Societies, reproved long ago by our predeces- 
sors, and by virtue of the supreme authority of our apostlesnip, we reprove by 
name and condemn the aforesaid society called the Christian Alliance, formed 
last year at New York ; it, together with every other society associated with it, or 
which may become so. 

" Let all know, then, the enormity of the sin against God and his Church which 
they are guilty of who dare to associate themselves with any of these societies, 
or abet them in any way. Moreover, \vk CONTtRM and renew the decrees re- 
cited ABOVE, DELIVERED IN FORMER TIMES BY APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY, AGAINST THE 



624 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ix. 

Four facts evident from pope Gregory's bull. 

PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, READING AND POSSESSION OF BOOKS OF THE HOLT 
SCEIPTURES TRANSLATED INTO THE VULGAR TONGUE." 

The circular letter from which the above copious extracts are transcribed is 
superscribed as follows : " Given at Rome from the Basilic of St. Peter, on the 
8th, of May, in the year 1844, and the fourteenth of our Pontificate." Signed, 
Gregory XVI, S. P. 

§ 26. — The above is a remarkable document. It shows conclu- 
sively that Rome's hatred to the Bible remains unchanged, and that 
she is just as much opposed in the nineteenth century to " the publica- 
tion, distribution, reading, and possession of books of the Holy 
Scriptures translated into the vulgar tongue," as she was in the 
fifteenth or sixteenth centuries, when she burnt the heretics who 
were guilty of these enormous crimes, with their Bibles hanging 
round their necks, or ransacked the grave of Wickliff, the first 
translator of the New Testament into English, and vented her 
rage by burning his mouldering bones to ashes. 

In the closing sentence of our quotations from the bull, pope 
Gregory confirms and renews the various decrees referred to in 
his circular, including, of course, the decree of pope Benedict 
XIV., which he cites, forbidding the reading of all versions, ex- 
cept " those which should he approved by the Holy See, and accom- 
panied by notes, derived from the writings of the Holy Fathers, 
or other learned and Catholic authors." 

Among the other decrees confirmed and approved in this letter 
of pope Gregory are the decree and rules in relation to pro- 
hibited books, adopted by the council of Trent, and approved by 
pope Pius VII., of happy memory — the bull Unigenitus of pope 
Clement XL, in 1713, condemning the New Testament of Father 
Quesnel, and the circulars or bulls of popes Pius VII., Leo XII., 
and Pius VIIL, against Bible Societies, issued successively from 
Rome in 1816, 1824, and 1829. 

From the extracts we have given from this bull of pope Gre- 
gory, four facts are manifestly evident. First, That the Pope, 
and of course all true pap sis, are still opposed to the "distribution, 
reading, and possession of books of the Holy Scriptures in the vul- 
gar tongue." Second, That tradition is still regarded as of equal 
authority with the inspired word of God. Third, That private in- 
terpretation of the Scriptures is still absolutely prohibited ; that is, 
that the Romanist does not believe the Bible means what it says, but 
what the church says it means. Fourth, That all bibles in the 
vulgar tongue are positively prohibited to the people, unless accom- 
panied by popish notes, for the purpose, of course, of persuading 
the credulous multitude that where they depict the character and 
the doctrines of the papal anti-Christ, they do not mean what they 
say. 

We accordingly find that this rule is followed in America, and 
wherever Popery prevails. Romish priests do not even dare to 
circulate the Douay version, without popish notes, for fear that the 
people might learn, even from that, if published without note or 



chap, m.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 625 

Burning of Roman Catholic Testaments in South America, because without notes. 

comment, that the Pope is anti-Christ, and that the Romish church 
is the great predicted Apostasy of the New Testament. It is per- 
fectly safe to challenge the Roman Catholic world to produce a 
Douay Bible without popish notes. It cannot be done. There are 
none in existence, and were our Bible Societies to publish them, 
they would be hunted up and burned by Romish priests with as 
much zeal as they have recently displayed in collecting and burn- 
ing copies of the protestant version. 

§ 27. — As a proof of this remark, the following account of an auto 
da fe of Spanish New Testaments of the Roman Catholic version in 
Chili, South America, a few years ago, may be worthy of record. 
The Testaments had been printed by the American Bible Society, 
without note or comment, and the letter was from a worthy agent 
of that Society to the secretary. 

" My dear Sir, — Soon after my arrival in this place, some persons informed 
me that the New Testament had been taken from them as a proscribed book, and 
that several copies were to be burned in the public square on the following Sab- 
bath. Letters had been received, I was further informed, from the Pope himself, 
cautioning the bishops and priests against spurious editions of the New Testa- 
ment printed in England, and circulated gratuitously in South America, for the 
purpose of creating divisions and heresies in the church. In order to obviate mis- 
apprehensions of this kind, I have repeatedly presented your edition of the New 
Testament to the clergy for their inspection, requesting them to compare it with 
their own copies of Sck>, at the same time offering to give up all the books in my 
possession (for I had Testaments only) in case there should be discovered the 
slightest discrepancy between them. As the comparison has uniformly resulted 
in our favor, the clergy have resorted to the old objection, that all editions of the 
Bible and Testament without notes are prohibited by a decree of the Council of 
Trent. 

" On Sabbath evening, the time fixed for the sacrilegious conflagration, a pro- 
cession was formed, having the curate at the head, and conducted with the usual 
pomp, the priest kneeling a few moments at each corner of the square, and placing 
a large crucifix upon the ground. During the afternoon a fire had been kindled 
for the purpose, I was told by several bystanders, of burning heretical books 
which ridiculed the mass and confession ; and among the number was mentioned 
the New Testament. A guard of soldiers prevented me from examining them 
separately, but I stood sufficiently near to discover that the greater part were 
copies of the New Testament issued by the American Bible Society. As the 
flame ascended, increasing in brightness, one of the clergy shouted ' Viva Deos ' 
(Let God reign), which was immediately echoed by the loud acclamations of a 
large concourse of people. For the time 1 forgot what a late writer says, * We 
must always remember that South America is a Christian and not a heathen land.' 
The outrage was public, and instead of being disowned, was openly defended, and 
done, it was said, in compliance with the decree of an infallible council. 

The Scriptures burned were of the approved Spanish version, translated from 
the Vulgate by a Spanish Roman Catholic bishop. They were Nero Testaments 
too, so the plea that the Apocrypha was excluded could not be urged. They 
were portions of their own acknowledged word of God, because in the vulgar 
tongue and without popish notes, solemnly committed to the flames ! ! 



626 



CHAPTER IV. 

POPERY AS IT NOW IS. TESTIMONY OF EYE-WITNESSES. ITS MODERN 

PIOUS FRAUDS AND PRETENDED MIRACLES. 

§ 28. — Not only does Romanism remain unchanged, as we have 
shown in the preceding chapter, in its essentially persecuting, intole- 
rant, and enslaving principles ; but in thoroughly popish countries, 
it is still distinguished by the same grovelling superstitions, senseless 
mummeries, pretended miracles, and lying wonders, as marked its 
history in those dark ages, when it held the nations of Europe in 
the gloom of an intellectual and moral midnight. 

To see Popery as it is, it is not enough to contemplate the opera- 
tion of the system as it is seen in America and other protestant 
lands. The priests of Rome are too cunning to allow the most re- 
pulsive features of Romanism to be displayed, except where the 
people are firmly bound in their slavish vassalage ; and thus, how- 
ever unchanging its principles, yet with respect to its outward mani- 
festation, it changes its hue, like the chameleon, with the country in 
which it is exhibited. There is one kind of Romanism to be ex- 
hibited in protestant lands, and another and a widely different kind 
in Italy, Spain, and other popish lands, where it reigns in its glory. 
To understand Romanism as it is, in its true character, it must be 
seen in those countries ; because, as it is there, so it will be in 
America, England, or anywhere else, w r hen it shall obtain that as- 
cendency and universal prevalence after which it is grasping. 

It could scarcely be credited, that in the nineteenth century, the 
priests of Rome should be able to impose on the inhabitants of Italy, 
Austria, Spain, and even France, their plenary indulgences, mi- 
raculous medals, fictitious relics, and pretended miracles, were not 
the facts attested by the united voice of all intelligent travellers. 

§ 29. — Though it would be easy to quote from many recent tra- 
vellers in proof of this assertion, I prefer to insert the following 
brief but interesting letter from a clerical and literary friend, the 
Rev. Robert Turnbull of Boston, who recently spent some months 
in the tour of Europe, in company w r ith the Rev. Rollin H. Neale, 
of the same city : 

" While in France and Italy, I saw upon many Catholic churches, such adver- 
tisements — in large, staring capitals — as the following — Indulgentia Plenaria — 
Indulgentia tolies et quoties — Indulgentia Quoiidiana, Indulgentia pro vivis et 
mortuis. These indulgences are promised, for pecuniary benefactions, to benevo- 
lent objects, such as Missions to the United States, for pilgrimages to particular 
places, for assistance in religious professions, and so forth. For example, I saw 
at Lyons, on the day of the festival of John the Baptist — usually called the Fete 
Dieu — indulgences promised to those who should take part in the procession on 
that occasion, avec piete, as it was expressed, signed Barox, Yi car-General. In 
Rome and in all other Italian and Catholic cities, innumerable indulgences are 
granted daily. They are not exactly bought — so say the priests, and so the people 



chap, iv.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 627 

Testimony of an eye -witness on the superstitions of Rome, &c. 

also affirm — but they are generally given in connection with the 'payment of money 
from the recipients. They are often, nearly always, secured by relatives, for the 
dying. No matter what their character, if they will only confess, take the eucha- 
rist, and submit to extreme unction, they can always have the benefit of a priestly 
indulgence, which covers at once the past and the future. Nay, the dead them- 
selves may enjoy the benefit, provided their relatives and friends comply with the 
requisite conditions. 

" I was much struck, both in France and in Italy, but particularly in Italy, with 
the extreme superstition of the Catholic Church. Accounts of miracles the most 
grotesque and absurd are retailed by the priests and circulated among the people. 
The most of these are performed by the Virgin Mary, who is the presiding ge- 
nius, and, one may say, the goddess of the Catholics. Her image is to be seen 
everywhere, in churches and in private houses. It is worn as an amulet by priests 
and people, and the most extravagant things are said of her glory and power, and 
the most marvellous accounts given of the miracles performed by her agency. I 
read several of these stories in Italian pamphlets or tracts, and heard many of 
them from the lips of apparently intelligent priests. Relics of dead saints, known 
only to the Catholic Church, and even of Christ and his Apostles, are to be seen 
in many of the Catholic churches, and many wonderful stories are told of their 
miraculous powers. 

" In the church of San Gennaro, or St. Januarius, in Naples, the blood of the 
patron saint is kept in a vial, and liquified once or twice a year, to the great edifi- 
cation and delight of the faithful. A picture in miniature of the Virgin Mary is 
shown in the church of the Augustines (I think that is the name) in Bologna, 
painted by Si. Luke ! It is said that the brazen serpent, or a piece of it, is shown 
in the church of St. Ambrose at Milan ; and a gentleman informed me, that even 
in the church of St. John Lateran, in Rome, they show the table on which our 
Lord partook of the Last Supper. 

" The holy stairs, visited by so many pilgrims, and which they ascend on their 
knees, are composed, according to the Catholics, of the steps up which our Sa- 
viour walked to Pilate's judgment hall, and the pilgrims are often seen kissing 
the spots said to be ' blessed' with the sweat of his sacred feet. The water 
which flows from the rock in the dungeon of the Carcere Mamertina, in which 
Paul and Peter are said to have been confined, is sold to pilgrims, as possessing 
most marvellous properties, Mr. Neale and I drank of the water, having paid 
the requisite sum. Tradition says it was miraculously brought from the rock, 
before dry, by the Apostle Peter ; hence its great value. Large sums of money 
are made annually by the sale of such holy water, and in other ways which appeal 
directly to the grossest superstition of the people. 

" You frequently see persons prostrate before images, and in a state of the great- 
est apparent devotion, even if those images are formed out of materials taken 
from heathen temples. At Pisa I saw several females prostrate before the statues 
of Adam and Eve, which are exhibited in a state of almost entire nudity. The 
celebrated statue of St. Peter, in the church of St. Peter's at Rome, the toe of which 
is almost literally kissed away, was originally a statue of Jupiter, taken from the 
Capitol. Many of the altars, ornaments, and so forth, in the churches, are entirely 
heathen in their origin and appearance. Naked forms in marble abound in all the 
churches. Many of the vases used for baptismal purposes, and those containing 
the holy water, were anciently used for similar purposes in the days of heathenism. 
Nothing struck me with more force than incidental circumstances like these, as 
indicating the gross ignorance, credulity, superstition and dishonesty abounding in 
the Catholic church." 

§ 30. — The allusion in the above letter to the connection of Roman- 
ism with Heathenism (a topic which has been treated ;il large in the 
early part of this work), may suitably introduce the following 
striking parallel between the system of modern heathenism, called 
Bhoodism and Popery, for which 1 am indebted to the Rev. Euffe- 



628 HISTORY OF ROMANISM [book ix. 

Rev. Mr. Kincaid's parallel between Bhoodism and Romanism. 

nio Kincaid, who has spent thirteen years as a most successful mis- 
sionary in Burmah, and who kindly furnished me with the following, 
in reply to my inquiries to him on this topic. The titles in italics, 
bv wh;ch the various parts of the letter are distinguished, I have 
myself prefixed. 

' : Bhoodism." says Mr. Kincaid, "prevails over all Burmah. Siam, the Shan 
Principalities, and about one-third of the Chinese empire. Gaudama was the last 
Bhood, or the last manifestation of Bhood, and his relics and images are the ob- 
jects of supreme adoration over all Bhoodist countries. In passing through the 
great cities of Burmah. the traveller is struck with the number and grandeur of 
the temples, pagodas and monasteries, as also with the number of idols and sha- 
ven-headed priests. 

Worship of images, relics and saints. — ;; Pagodas are solid structures of ma- 
sonry, and are worshipped because within their bare walls are deposited images or 
relics of Gaudama. The temples are dedicated to the worship of Gaudama; in 
them thrones are erected, on which massy images of Gaudama are placed ; in 
some of the larger temples are the images of five hundred primitive disciples who 
were canonized about the time or soon after the death of Gaudama. 

Bhoodist monasteries. — " The monasteries are the abode of the priests, and the 
depositaries of the sacred volumes, with their endless scholia and commentaries. 
These monasteries are the schools and colleges of the empire. They are open to 
all the boys of the kingdom, rich and poor. No provision is made for the educa- 
tion of girls. 

Bhoodist monies with shaven heads. Vow of celibacy, <Src. — " Priests are monks, 
as monasticism is universal ; they take the vow of poverty and celibacy — their 
heads shaved and without turbans, and, dressed in robes of yellow cloth, they retire 
from society, or, in the language of their order, retire to the wilderness. Hence- 
forth, they are always addressed as lords or saints, and over the entire population 
they exert a despotic influence. Priests, dead and alive, are worshipped the same 
as idols and pagodas, because they are saints, and have extraordinary merit. 

Bhoodist Rosaries. Prayers in an unknown tongue. — K All devout Bhoodists, 
whether priests or people, male or female, use a string of beads, or rosary, in the 
recitation of their prayers — and their prayers are in the unknown tongue, called 
Pali, a language that has ceased to be spoken for many hundred years, and was 
never the vernacular of Burmah. 

Acts of merit. " The frequent repetition of prayers with the rosary, fasting, 
and making offerings to the images are meritorious deeds. Celibacy and voluntary 
po\erty is regarded as evidence of the most exalted piety. To build temples, pa- 
godas and monasteries, and purchase idols, are meritorious acts. 

Burning of icax candles in the daytime. — "The burning of wax tapers and 
candles of various colors, both day and night, around the shrines of Gaudama, is 
universal in Bhoodist countries, and is taught as highly meritorious. Social 
prayer is unknown — each one prays apart, and making various prostrations before 
the'images, deposits upon the altar offerings of fruit and flowers. 

The Bhoodist Lent. Priests confessing each other. — "The priests are required 
to fast every day after the sun has passed the meridian till the next morning. Be- 
sides this, there is a great fast once a year, continuing four or five weeks, in which 
all the people are supposed to live entirely on vegetables and fruits. During this 
great fast, the priests retire from their monasteries, and live in temporary booths 
or tents, and are supposed to give themselves more exclusively to an ascetic life. 
At a certain time in the year. "the priests have a practice of confessing and exorcis- 
ing each other. This takes place in a small building erected for the purpose over 
running water. 

The Bhoodist priesthood and Pope. — " There are various grades of rank in the 
priesthood, and the most unequivocal submission in the lower to the higher orders 
is required. Tha-lha-na-bing is the title of the priest who sits on the highest 
ecclesiastical throne in the empire (and thus corresponds to the Pope among Ro- 



chap, iv.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 629 



Resemblance of Bhoodist and Romish worship. The blood of St. Januarius commanded to liquefy 

manists).' He is Primate, or Lord Archbishop of the realm — receives his appoint- 
ment from the King, and from the Tha-tha-na-bing (or Pope) emanate all other ec- 
clesiastical appointments in the kingdom and its tributary principalities. He lives 
in a monastery built and furnished by the King, which is as splendid as gold and 
silver can make it. 

Bhoodist defences against idolatry the same as the excuses <f Romanists for the 
worship of images.—" I should observe that intelligent, leaned Bhoodists (like 
some Romanists) deny that they worship the images and relics of Gaudama, but 
only venerate them as objects that remind them of Gaudama, the only object of 
supreme adoration — but the number of Bhoodists who make this distinction is very 
small. 

Striking resemblance between the worship of a Bhoodist temple and a Roman 
Catholic Cathedral — "Often," says Mr. Kincaid, "when standing in a great 
Burman temple, and looking round upon a thousand worshippers prostrating them- 
selves before images, surrounded by wax candles, uttering prayers in a dead lan- 
guage, each one with a rosary in hand, and the priests with long, flowing robes and 
shaven heads, I have thought of what I have witnessed in the Roman Catholic 
Cathedral in Montreal, and it has required but a very small stretch of the imagi- 
nation to suppose myself transported to the opposite side of the globe, looking not 
upon the ceremonies of an acknowledged heathen temple, but upon the Christian- 
ized heathenism of Rome." 

§ 31. — One of the most amusing, and at the same time bare- 
faced impostures performed in Italy by Romish priests at the pre- 
sent day is the pretended liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius, 
referred to in the letter of Mr. Turnbull. The following, amusing 
account of the effect of the injunctions of one of Napoleon's offi- 
cers upon the Saint, when he appeared reluctant to perform his 
accustomed miracle, is taken from the recent work of Dr. Giustiniani 
(Papal Rome, p. 258) :— 

" St. Januarius is the protector of Naples in Italy ; his blood is preserved in a 
small bottle at the altar of the church of the same name. It is believed by every 
Neapolitan, that the liquefaction of that blood is an indication of grace and mercy 
to the inhabitants of the city, as well as to private individuals, who approach in 
faith to the saint. At the time when Napoleon invaded Italy, suppressing the 
convents and nunneries, carrying the priests and their riches to France, the few 
who remained were, as a matter of course, not very loyal to the Emperor; they 
agitated in secret, whispered in the confessionals, into the ears of the Lazzaroni, 
that ' St. Januarius is displeased with the conduct of the invaders, that his blood 
did not boil during the whole time that the ungodly French soldiers occupied the 
kingdom of Naples.' On the day of the celebration of high mass, the blood of 
Januarius was exposed to the adoration of the people ; but it would not boil, not 
even liquefy. The spies of the French immediately informed the commander of 
the troops of the imminent danger of the rising of the populace, who without de- 
lay gave orders that the whole army should occupy the principal streets of the 
city ; two cannon were planted before the door of the church of St. Januarius, and 
at the different corners of the streets, with lighted matches, and a special order 
to the Vicar of the bishops, who celebrated the mass: ' That if in ten minutes 
St. Januarius should not perform his usual miracle, the whole city would be re- 
duced to ruins:'' and in five minutes the saint was pacified, his blood was lique- 
fied and boiled. The ' gloria in excclsis' was sung, the shouts of joy re-echoed 
in the air, and the French rejoiced with them, but not the disappointed priests." 

What a comment upon the power of Popery, to blind the under- 
standing and degrade the intellect of its victims, that the periodical 
performance of this foolish and barefaced piece of imposture is still 



630 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ix. 

Our Lady of Loretto. Journey of the holy house through the air. Mother " Goose" come true. 

actually credited by multitudes of the deluded votaries of Rome as 
a veritable miracle ! 

§ 32. — But a still more ridiculous and contemptible piece of 
priestly imposture is the Santissima Casa, or holy house of the 
Virgin, at Loretto, a small town in the Pope's dominions in Italy. 
The popish priests pretend that this is the house in which the Virgin 
Mary was born, and was carried by angels through the air, from 
Nazareth to Loretto (!) some centuries ago ; and that the Virgin 
Mary herself appeared to an old man to reveal to him the wonder- 
ful fact. They also show the Santissima Scodella, or holy porrin- 
ger, in which, they gravely assert, the pap was made for the infant 
Jesus (! !) The pilgrims who visit this laughable imposture, regard 
it as a special favor to obtain a chaplet or a rosary that has been 
shaken in this wonderful porringer, duly certified by the priests, or an 
inch square of the Virgin's old veil, which is changed every year ; 
and if fortunate enough to obtain them, they sacredly preserve 
these treasures, which they regard as preservatives against witch- 
craft and other calamities. The holy house and image are hung 
around with votive offerings, some valuable, such as golden hearts, 
chains with precious stones, silver and gilt angels, &c, which have 
been contributed by rich devotees, besides multitudes of other offer- 
ings, the gifts of the poorer pilgrims. 

This ridiculous fable of the journey through the air of the Santa 
Casa, porringer and all, irresistibly reminds one of the famous feat, 
recorded by Mother Goose, about "the cow that jumped over 
the moon," and " the dish that ran off with the spoon ;" and the 
mental imbecility which can credit the one, is scarcely equalled by 
the childish simplicity which believes the other. And yet, incre- 
dible as it may seem, the great body of Romanists, amidst the light 
of the nineteenth century, profess actually to believe this most ab- 
surd of all impostures ; and a regular establishment of priests 
is maintained, with an annual revenue of many thousand dollars, 
the proceeds of the exhibition. A small pebble picked up in the 
house, duly certified, has been sold for ten dollars, and an unfortunate 
mouse that had concealed itself under the Virgin's dress, for as much 
as would purchase an ox, and afterward embalmed by the purchaser, 
and kept as a preservative against diseases and accidents. The 
Litany to the " Lady of Loretto" may be found in the " Garden of 
the Soul" (page 288), and in most other Romish prayer-books. 

§ 33. — It is not uncommon for the apologists of Popery, when 
we refer to the stigmata or miraculous wounds of St. Francis or 
St. Catherine, and to other pious frauds of Romanism in the middle 
ages, to attribute them to the general ignorance and darkness which 
then prevailed ; but we are prepared to relate similar instances of 
blasphemous imposture, that have been contrived by a cunning and 
designing priesthood, and imposed upon the credulous multitude 
in the very times in which we live. However strange it may ap- 
pear, no longer ago than 1841, the cunning Roman priests exhibited 



chap, iv.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 631 

Outrageous imposture. Two women receiving the miraculous wounds of Christ in 1841. 

two wonderful " Virgins of the Tyrol," who professed to have 
miraculously received the five wounds of Christ, from which the 
blood is said frequently to flow, " without staining the sheets," and 
much more copiously on the " Friday," the day of the Saviour's 
crucifixion ; and they were successful in imposing, among others, 
upon a weak-minded and gullible English papist, called the Earl of 
Shrewsbury, who published a most marvellous pamphlet concern- 
ing his visit to these two prodigies, whom he styles " the Ecstatica 
of Caldaro, and the Adolorata of Capriana." This silly story 
has been republished and extensively sold to the poor deluded 
papists of America ; and the reality of the miracle of the wounds 
is doubtless by many of them believed as a positive fact (!) And 
this in the nineteenth century. Can any one deny that the 
lying impostures of Romanism are unchanged, and that its power 
to debase and degrade the human intellect remains the same 
as ever? 

§ 34. — Nothing has been more common in popish countries than 
the pretence of images of the Virgin Mary miraculously winking 
the eyes, shedding tears, &c, and these impositions have been 
the more frequent from the facility with which the priests have 
learned to manage them. At the corner of the Via Paganica, in 
Rome, there exists at this moment a picture of the Virgin Mary 
with her title Mater Providentice (mother of Providence), and un- 
derneath it a statement, that "in September, 1796, this adorable 
image, by sundry winkings of its eyes, refreshed the praying 
crowds with its benign countenance ;" and every evening at sun- 
set devotees may be seen kneeling before this miraculous image, 
repeating a litany to it, in the hope of obtaining two hundred days' 
indulgence, promised to such service by the Pope. The imposi- 
tions of the priests with these miraculous images have frequently 
been detected; yet, among papists, multitudes are found simple 
enough to devour with greediness every fresh instance of impos- 
ture. One will be related as a specimen of hundreds of similar 
cases. It is taken from the recently published life of Ramon Mon- 
saltvage, a converted Spanish monk (page 48). 

"In 1835, the Liberal Government of Spain, at the head of which was Queen 
Christina, since the death of Ferdinand VII., in 1833, was unable any longer to 
withstand the insurgents, and ordered that all the monastic communities should be 
dispersed, and their convents destroyed, which was done in many places. The 
6th of July was the day appointed for the formal suppression of our convent at 
Olot, where I was then studying. The Juslicia, or civil officers, presented them- 
selves, and, in the name of the Queen, declared the community to be dissolved, 
and delivered to each monk a passport to return to his native place. But before 
we had time to leave the convent, the leaders of the insurgents of Olot rushed in, 
and began their work of destruction. The crowd soon hastened to the chapel, 
and tore down the pictures and the altars, which had so long been the objects of 
blind adoration. 

"There was there an image of the Virgin Mary, which had the miraculous pro- 
perty of weeping. Many a time have I seen it, with the big tears trickling down 
its cheeks, and I, as did all Others, believed it to be unquestionably a miracle. 
When the insurgents penetrated into the chapel, as I have above stated, they tore 



632 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book rx. 

The miraculous medal and its wonderful miracles. 

the image down from its niche, and discovered behind its head small tubes con- 
ducting from a basin in which water was poured ; and thus the image wept." 

§ 35. — Another glaring instance of popish knavery and imposture 
is in the recent invention and pretended wonders achieved by the 
miraculous medal. A book was published at Rome, in 1835, giving 
a minute account of these wonders, by the Abbe Le Guillon. Ac- 
cording to the Abbe, the origin of the medal was as follows : — 

"Toward the end of the year 1830, a well-born young female, a noviciate in 
one of those conservatories which are dedicaled in Paris to the use of the poor 
and the sick, * * * * whilst in the midst of her fervor during her prayers, 
saw a picture representing the most Holy Virgin (as she is usually represented 
under the title of the Immaculate Conception), standing with open and extended 
arms : there issued from her hands rays of light like bundles, of a brightness 
which dazzled her : and amidst those bundles, or clusters of rays, she distin- 
guished that some of the most remarkable fell upon a point of the globe which 
was under her eye. In an instant she heard a voice, which said, ' These rays are 
symbolical of the graces which Mary obtains for men, and this point of the globe 
on which they fall most copiously is France.' Around this picture she read the 
following invocation, written in letters of gold : — k O Mary, conceived without sin, 
pray for us who have recourse to you.' Some moments after, this painting turned 
round, and on the reverse she (the Estatica) distinguished the letter M, sur- 
mounted by a little cross, and below it the most sacred hearts of Mary and Jesus. 
After the young girl had well considered the whole, the voice said, ' A medal 
must be struck, and the persons who wear it, and who shall say with devotion the 
inscribed short prayer, shall enjoy the very special protection of the Mother of 

Accordingly, by direction of the archbishop of Paris, the medal 
was struck, and a large supply was ready against the invasion of 
the cholera, and this wonder-working medal has since been in- 
troduced in immense numbers into all popish countries, and also 
into England and America, and sold at a most extravagant price 
to the multitudes of the ignorant and deluded papists. 

The Boston Pilot, a Roman Catholic paper in Boston, has al- 
ready had advertisements, offering these " siloer miraculous medals " 
for sale. In the work of Abbe Le Guillon, two hundred and fifty 
pages are occupied with accounts of the cures effected by the 
medal, and various other wonders it had wrought, which very 
much resemble the testimonies of wonderful cures which we fre- 
quently see appended to the advertisement of some famous quack 
medicine. Were my intention to excite the risible faculties of my 
readers, I would transcribe some of these prodigies, but as my 
space will not permit of that, it will be sufficient to remark that 
they are worthy of the darkest ages of Romish imposture. We 
shall close our brief notice of this impudent piece of religious 
quackery, written by an officiating priest, and gravely sanctioned 
with the imprimatur of the episcopal censors at Rome, in an Italian 
translation, by an additional extract : — 

" Finally," says the Abbe", " from all parts we hear the most con- 
soling facts. Priests full of the spirit of the Lord tell us, that 
these medals are reviving religious feeling in cities as well as 



chap, v.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 633 

The holy coat of the Saviour at Treves. Present jmsition of Rom:inisin in Italy. 

country places. Vicars-General, who enjoy a well-merited con- 
sideration, as well for their piety, and even distinguished bishops, 
inform us that * they have reposed every confidence in these medals, 
and they regard them as a means of Providence for awakening the 
faith which has slept so long in this our age.' " 

But the grossest and most notorious instance of recent priestly 
imposture, and one which is likely to be most pregnant in its con- 
sequences to the Romish church, is the exhibition, within the past 
few months, of the pretended coat of the Saviour at Treves, in Ger- 
many, by the popish Bishop of that city. An account, of the immense 
sensation that has been created in Europe by the fearless remon- 
strance against this imposture, made by John Rouge, a second Lu- 
ther, who has arisen to complete the deliverance of lis country from 
the thraldom of Rome, will be reserved for the next, which is the 
concluding chapter of our history. 



CHAPTER V. 

RECENT EVENTS. DISCONTENT IN ITALY. PUSEYISM. THE HOLY 

COAT, AND THE PRIEST RONGE. JESUITS IN SWITZERLAND. STA- 
TISTICS. CONCLUSION. 

§ 36. — The position of the Romish church and government in 
Italy for some years past, has been striking and peculiar, and the 
hopes or the fears of its friends have been alternately exciled by 
a succession of favorable or adverse events. Within the Inst 
half century, the power of the Pope has been alternately shaken 
and revived in several of the kingdoms of Europe. The Pope 
himself has been a captive in a foreign land, and restored again to 
his throne; yet ever since, feeling that throne shaking beneath 
him, at the aroused spirit of liberty which his been awakened in 
the breasts of the enlightened and the patriotic, among the men of 
Italy. The interposition of Austria has alone prevented, long ere 
this, the prostration of the throne of anti-Christ in Italy, the ex- 
tinction of the Papal States from the monarchies of Europe, and 
the entire destruction of the political, if not of the spiritual power 
of the popes in the land where they so long reigned as D spots of 
the World, and hurled their thunders at the thrones of the mightiest 
of earth's monarehs and rulers. 

In the year 1831, an insurrection broke out in the Papnl States, 
under the lawyer Vicini, who establ shed his head-quarters at 
Bologna. The Pope and the cardinals in their terror aid weak- 
ness besought the aid of Austria, and an army of twelve thousand 



634 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ex. 

The Pope's dread of political liberty. Extract from ball of 1&44. 

men sent in compliance with their petition, defeated the revolu- 
tionists, and thus perpetuated for a few years longer the crumbling 
dominion of the Pope in Italy. 

The spirit of liberty was checked by the bloody executions 
which followed, but not crushed. In spite of the Pope and his 
minions, the San-fedists (so called from la santa fed?, the holy 
faith), that spirit has been kept alive by the societies of liberalists, 
whose object is the restoration of civil and religious liberty, called 
Carbonari, in various parts of the papal dominions. 

Every effort is made by the Pope to suppress these combina- 
tions. Persons suspected of liberalism are subjected to the sur- 
veillance of the papal police, and these suspected persons are com- 
pelled regularly to transmit to the police a certificate that they have 
confessed and communed, after three days* retirement in a convent 
designated by the Bishop, under penalty of three years' hard labor ! 
Xo wonder that the enlightened among the Italians groan under 
such a system of slavery, and long to be delivered from it. 

The Pope understands full well that his tyrannical reign must 
end, so soon as the people become enlightened ; and 'hence his 
jealousy of every attempt to diffuse religious knowledge, and above 
all, the translated Bible among the thousands who groan beneath 
his oppressive government. This, without doubt, was one chief 
cause of his alarm at the formation of the Christian Alliance, as 
exhibited in his bull of 1844, against that Society, from which 
copious citations have already been made. Who can mistake the 
feeling of alarm for the security of his throne, which prompted the 
following language from the same document : — 

B Among the sectarians of whom we are speaking, deceived in their hopes, and 
in despair at the immense sums which the publication of their Bible costs 
them, without producing; any fruit, some have been found who, giving another 
direction to their manoeuvres, have betaken themselves to the corruption of minds, 
not only in Italy, but even in our own capital. Indeed, many precise advices and 
documents teach us that a vast number of members of sects in Xew York, in 
America, at one of their meetings, held on the 4th of June, last year, have 
formed a new association, which will take the name of the Christian All:^::z. 
a league composed of individuals of every nation, and which is to be farther in- 
creased in numbers by other auxiliary societies, all having the same object, viz., 
to propagate among Italians, and especially Romans, : the principles of Christian 
liberty.' or, rather, as insane indifference to all religion.' - ' 

Again — " This is why, determined to afford all people ; liberty of conscience ' (or 
rather, it should be said, liberty to err), from which, according to their theory, 
must flow, as from an inexhaustible source, public prosperity and political liberty, 
they think they should before all things win over the inhabitants of Rome and 
Italy, in order "to avail themselves after, of their example and aid in regard to 
other countries." 

\ 37. — In England, and chiefly in connection with the University 
of Oxford, a movement has recently taken place which has afforded 
the Pope some cause of consolation, amidst the turbulent complaints 
of his rebellious subjects, and the diminution of his influence in Spain, 
France, Austria, Prussia, Germany and other parts of continental 
Europe. 



chap, v.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 635 

Rise of Puseyism in aid of Popery at Oxford. Character of this system. Second German reformation. 

This movement has generally obtained the designation of Pusey- 
ism, from the name of one of the leaders, Dr. Pusey, who, in con- 
nection with Rev. Mr. Newman and some others, commenced, 
about ten or twelve years ago, the publication, at Oxford, of a 
series of " Tracts for the Times," advocating the equality of tradi- 
tion with the bible, lineal tactual apostolical succession, baptismal 
regeneration, the real material presence of Christ in the eucharist ; 
the observance of saints' days, reverence of relics, use of crosses, 
on churches, &c, and nearly all the anti-Christian doctrines and 
superstitious mummeries of Popery, with the single exception of 
the supremacy of the pope of Rome. This insidious form of anti- 
Christian error, though opposed with a giant's strength by a 
Whately, and other faithful protestants, has wormed itself into the 
very frame-work of Episcopacy in Great Britain ; and in America, 
notwithstanding the faithful expostulations of such men as Milnor, 
and M'llvaine, and Hopkins, and Tyng. has made considerable pro- 
gress in that branch of the same church which exists in the United 
States. The Pope and his priesthood have looked calmly on, 
contemplating with satisfaction the efforts of the Puseyites to dis- 
seminate principles which inevitably lead towards Rome, and in 
following which principles, several have already thrown themselves 
at the feet of his Holiness, and taken refuge in Holy Mother 
Church. 

What is to be the eventual result of this semi-papal movement, 
time alone can reveal. If the expectation of the Pope shall be 
realized, and all who embrace the Tractarian views shall, in con- 
sistency with their creed, go where they properly belong, into the 
bosom of the Romish church, the communion which they leave 
may indeed be diminished in numbers, but what is lost in numbers 
shall be more than gained in strength and efficiency ; and the faith- 
ful men who shall be left standing at their post (for there are yet 
hundreds of such), shall again be left untrammelled to show them- 
selves worthy of the name of protestants, and to carry on the 
conflict with the Devil and with Rome, in the spirit of their fathers 
of the same church, a Latimer, a Chillingworth and a Jewel. 

§ 38. — The advantage gained to Rome by the spread of Pusey- 
ism in England and America has been more than counterbalanced 
by a recent important movement in Germany, which threatens 
speedily to prostrate, perhaps to annihilate the remains of Popery, 
in the various German principalities, if not in other nations of con- 
tinental Europe. 

This second German reformation, like that of Luther, has been 
caused by the base imposture and insatiable cupidity of the priests 
of Rome. In the German reformation of the sixteenth century, 
the pious zeal of the monk of Wittembcrg was aroused by the 
shameless traffic of John Tetzel in indulgences for sin ; in that of 
the nineteenth, the equally shameless cupidity of Arnold, bishop of 
Treves, in exhibiting a piece of old cloth as the holy coat of the 
Saviour, endowed with miraculous powers, for the purpose of en- 



f>36 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book k. 

Exhibition by popish priests of the pretended holy coat of our Saviour at Treves. Immense throng. 

rich'n^ the coffers of the church, has awakened the energies of 
John Ronge to protest against the impostures and abominations 
of Rome. I quote from the account furnished in an eloquent letter 
of Professor G. de Felice, dated Montauban, November 24th, 1844. 

" It would be difficult to imagine anything more scandalous, more disgusting, 
more contrary to the spirit of the gospel than the popish farce recently enacted at 
Treves, a city of Germany, belonging now to the kingdom of Prussia. The clergy 
of Treves pretend to have in their hands the seamless coat of Jesus Christ (John 
xix. 23, 24), and they made a formal exhibition of it, from the 8th of August last 
to the 6th of October, inviting all Romanists to come and see and touch this pre- 
cious relic. Some journals say that eleven hundred thousand pilgrims responded to 
this call. The most moderate computation makes the number of visitors at least 
Jive hundred thousand. 

" What a striking proof that the church of Rome shows ever the same spirit, the 
same conduct, the same contempt of the common sense of mankind, and the same 
inclination lo deceive miserably the consciences of men ! In the nineteenth cen- 
tury, in the heart of civilized Europe, by the side of the flourishing literary insti- 
tutions of Germany, when a thousand periodical journals are daily relating all the 
news, are priests who dare, in the face of heaven and earth, to exhibit an old bit 
of cloth which they call our Saviour's coat ! and they promise a plenary indul- 
gence to all who will come to view it ! and they assert that this relic will work 
miracles ! and a million of men are found flocking from all parts to countenance this 
absurd sacrilege. Oh ! let us not be so proud of what we call the intelligence of 
our age. Gross darkness still covers the people. There are still thousands, mil- 
lions of unhappy men, who are the dupes of ambitious and greedy priests. 

" If we were told that in the interior of Africa, the degraded natives prostrated 
themselves before a fetish, or that, on the banks of the Ganges, a blind multitude 
sought the pardon of their sins by worshipping idols, it would seem credible to us, 
because these poor creatures have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. But 
that in a church pretending to be Christian, and even more Christian than all 
others, such idolatries should occur ; that they should be sanctioned by bishops, 
cardinals, the Pope himself, would seem incredible at first view ; we should re- 
quire most authentic evidence to admit the fact ; and now we ask, How can rea- 
sonable and intelligent men still remain in a church which has sunk so low ? 
Will not a sense of shame force them to disavow a clergy who speculate so impu- 
dently upon the stupidity of the mass of the people ? 

' ; Cicero said that two soothsayers of Rome could not meet without smiling. I 
presume it is so with the priests of Treves. No, they would not dare to affirm, 
with their hands upon their hearts, that they believe this bit of old cloth to be the 
real coat of Jesus Christ ! Be this as it may, the invitation was made to all 
faithful Romanists, and on the 18th of August the bishop of Treves performed 
mass in his pontifical robes, and afterwards exhibited the seamless coat. All the 
parishes in the city made a pompous procession. The civil and military authori- 
ties, the students of college, the school children, the mechanics, tradesmen, all 
attended. In the evening the houses were illuminated. The soldiers were led 
by their officers before the relic, with their colors lowered. Three hundred prison- 
ers asked leave to visit the holy garment, and they came with great gravity and 
compunction. During the whole exhibition, the cathedral was open from five 
o'clock in the morning till eight o'clock at night, and it was constantly filled with 
an immense crowd. 

** Pilgrims came from all countries, chiefly from Germany and the eastern fron- 
tiers of France. They were for the most part peasants, who, with their vicar at 
their head, flocked to this pagan spectacle. The city of Treves presented during 
the exhibition a lively scene. In all the streets and public places, processions 
were continually passing. Ordinarily the pilgrims marched two and two, and 
chanted a monotonous litany. All the hotels were crowded. Extensive wooden 
barracks were erected at the gates of the city ; and there, for a penny or two a 



chap, v.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 637 

Procession in the Cathedral to touch the holy coat. Immense gain of money to the priests. 

head, the pilgrims found a little straw to lie upon. At two o'clock in the morning 
the noise began again, and continued till a very advanced hour of the night. 
Play actors of all sorts established themselves at Treves ;• every day several thea- 
tres were opened to amuse the strangers. There were panoramas, dioramas, 
menageries, puppet shows, all the diversions which are found in France at fairs. 
Everywhere mirth and revelry abounded, wholly unlike the composed and pious 
feelings inspired by the performance of a religious duty. 

" Let us now accompany the pilgrims to the cathedral. At the bottom of the 
nave, on an altar brilliantly lighted, is the relic in a golden box. Steps placed at 
each side lead to it. The pilgrims approach, mount the steps, and pass their 
hand through an oval aperture in the box, to touch the coat of the Lord. Two 
priests seated near the relic receive the chaplets, medals, hoods, and other articles 
of the faithful, and put them in contact with the marvellous coat, because mere 
contact is a means of blessing. Objects which have thus touched the relic are 
consecrated, sanctified ; they then become holy chaplets, holy medals, &c. ; and 
after this ceremony, the pilgrims go away rejoicing, thinking they have acquired 
the remission of all their sins. It is needless to say that this exhibition was dis- 
tinguished by numerous miracles. Has not Rome miracles always at her service ? 
Is not her whole history filled with striking prodigies ? 

" This exhibition of course brought a great deal of money to the priests. This is 
the true explanation of the riddle. It is estimated that the offerings of the faithful 
amounted to 500,000 francs ($100,000), in the space of six weeks, without reck- 
oning the 80,000 medals of the Virgin which were sold, and the profits from the 
sale of chaplets and other objects of devotion. Even now, in all the towns of 
France, the priests employ persons, particularly women, to sell at an exorbitant 
price a thousand petty articles which have touched the holy coat 1 such as — rib- 
bons, bits of cloth, cotton and silk, some of which are shaped like the coat ; be- 
sides crucifixes and images, in wood or in glass. The clergy have monopolized all 
the old rags of the neighborhood of Treves and sell them for their weight in gold, 
and they find dupes weak enough to purchase these amulets ! The product of 
this traffic, added to the offerings of the pilgrims, will be perhaps from one to two 
millions of francs. 

" We mention, however, one honorable exception among the Romish clergy. A 
German priest, named John Ronge, has published a letter addressed to the bishop 
of Treves, which has produced much sensation. Fifty thousand copies of this 
letter were sold in a few days. All Germany exulted, as if she heard the voice of 
a new Luther ! It is said that this bold and conscientious priest has been sum- 
moned before the ecclesiastical courts, and is to be deposed. 

" I give you some extracts from this protest : ' What would have seemed till 
now,' says John Ronge, ' a fable, a fiction, bishop Arnold of Treves presenting 
to the adoration of the faithful, a garment called the coat of Christ ; you have 
heard it, Christians of the nineteenth century ; you know it, men of Germany ; 
you know it, spiritual and temporal governors of the German people ; — it is no 

longer fable or fiction, it is a real fact Truly may we here apply the 

words : Whoever can believe in such things without losing his reason, has no reason 
to lose.'' 

" The author of the protest then points out the dangers to which pilgrims were 
exposed who visited this relic. ' This anti-Christian spectacle,' he says, ' is but 
a snare laid for superstition, formalism, fanaticism, to plunge men into vicious 
habits. Such is the only benefit which the exhibition of the holy coat, whether 
genuine or not, could produce. And the man who offers this garment, a human 
work, as an object of adoration ; who perverts the religious feelings of the cre- 
dulous, ignorant, and suffering multitudes; who thus opens a door to superstition 
and its train of vices ; who takes the money and the bread of the poor, starving 
people ; who makes the German nation a laughing-stock to all other nations. . . 
this man is a bishop, a German bishop . bishop Arnold of Treves ! 

" ' Bishop Arnold of Treves ! I turn to you and I conjure you, as a priest, as a 
teacher of the people, and in the name of her rulers ; — I conjure you to put an 
end to this pagan exhibition of the holy coat, to take away (his garment from pub- 
lic view, and not to let the evil become greater than it is already. 
41 



638 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book k. 

Ronge's expostulation with the bishop-showman of the holy coat. A new church formed. Articles. 

u l Do you not know — as a bishop you must know, that the founder of the Chris- 
tian religion left to his disciples and his successors not his coat, but his spirit. 
His coat, bishop Arnold of Treves, was given to his executioners I 

a ' Do you not know. — as a bishop you ought to know, that Christ has said, God 
is a spirit, and they thai worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth 1 . . 

" ' Do you not know, — as a bishop you ought to know, that the Gospel forbids 
expressly the adoration of images and relics of every kind ; that the Christians of 
the apostolic age and of the first three centuries, would never suffer an image or 
a relic in their churches ; that it is a pagan superstition, and that the Fathers of 
the first three centuries reproached the pagans on this account ? 

" ' Be not misled by the great concourse of visitors. Believe me, while hun- 
dreds of thousands of pilgrims go to Treves, millions of others groan in anger 
and bitterness over the indignity of such an exhibition. And this anger exists 
not in this or that class, this or that party only ; it exists among all, and every- 
where, even in the very bosom of the Catholic clergy, and the judgment will 
come sooner than you think. Already history takes her pen; she holds up )-our 
name, Arnold of Treves, to the contempt of the present age and posterity, and 
stigmatizes you as the Tetzel of the nineteenth century J- ; ' 

In a subsequent letter addressed to the Romanists of Germany, 
and dated on the New Year of 1845, Ronge mentions a fact 
which sets this gross popish imposture in the most ludicrous point 
of light, and challenges his opponents to deny it — that pilgrims to 
this marvellous piece of old cloth, have been heard in numbers to 
use this prayer, " Holy coat ! pray for us !" Think of that, 
Americans. Amidst the intelligence of the nineteenth century, 
" Holy coat ! pray for us !" 

§ 39. — As might be expected, the faithful and fearless man who 
could thus rebuke the avarice and imposture of a Romish bishop, 
was soon degraded from the priesthood and excommunicated. God 
designs, however, in this to make the wrath of man to praise him. 
Churches, independent of Rome, have already been established, 
consisting of the followers of this second Luther, at Breslau (of 
which Ronge is pastor), Berlin, Elberfeld, Magdeberg, Offenbach, 
Dresden, Leipsic, &c. The independent community at Breslau 
have published their confession of faith, from which, as will be seen 
from the following summary of the principal articles, all the dis- 
tinctive doctrines of Popery are utterly excluded ; and thus it 
appears that though styled the German Catholic Church of Breslau, 
the doctrines of the church are such as are held by the great 
body of protestants. 

Article I. " The foundation of Christian faith must be solely and exclusively 
the Holy Scriptures, interpreted by sound reasoning. 

II. " The church adopts the creed of the Apostles for its confession of faith. 

IV. " The church avows the principle of free inquiry. 

VI. " The church admits but two sacraments, baptism and the holy supper, be- 
cause, from the testimony of Scripture, they are the only ones instituted by Jesus 
Christ. 

X. " Transubstantiation is rejected, because it cannot be defended from the 
gospel. 

XIII. " The celibacy of the priests is rejected, because it is not founded on the 
gospel, because it cannot be supported by reason, and is a mere popish contrivance 
to strengthen the Romish hierarchy. 

XIV. " The church rejects the supremacy of the Romish pope. 



crat. v.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 639 

Recent proceedings of t'ae Jesuits in Switzerland. Social worship forbidden through their means. 

XV. " It abolishes auricular confession. 

XVI. " It employs in its worship only the vernacular language. 

XVII. " It rejects all invocation of saints, all worship rendered to relics and to 
images. 

XVIII. "It rejects alike fasts, pilgrimages and indulgences. 

XXII. "The church claims its former privilege of choosing its own pastors and 
guides. It is represented by the pastor and elders." 

Thus in the nineteenth century has God seen fit to overrule the 
priestly imposture, which could exhibit an old piece of rotten cloth 
to the gaping multitude as the genuine coat of the Saviour, in order 
to fleece the deluded people of their money (as he overruled, in the 
sixteenth century, the outrageous imposition of Tetzel in selling 
his pretended indulgences) ; for the purpose of raising up a new 
set of reformers to complete, in the native land of Luther, the 
glorious reformation from Popery, which was begun by the re- 
former of Wittemberg three centuries ago. (See p. 706.) 

§ 40. — While these stirring events have been transpiring in Ger- 
many, the land of Luther; Switzerland, the land of Zwinglius, has 
been shaken to its very centre, by a movement of a different kind, 
but no less calculated to awaken the people to the anti-Christian 
character and insidious designs of Popery than was the exhibition 
of the pretended holy coat of our Saviour by the bishop of Treves. 
I refer to the recent violent efforts of the Jesuits to regain their 
lost power, and to obtain the exclusive control of education in 
several of the cantons of Switzerland, which constitute so instruc- 
tive a chapter in the history of Popery in the nineteenth century. 

These iniquitous proceedings of the Jesuits in that beautiful but 
now distracted country, which have resulted in bringing upon it all 
the horrors of a civil war, commenced in the year 1843. Toward 
the close of that year, the people of the Upper Valais, constituting 
the illiterate mountaineers in complete subjection to the popish 
clergy, suddenly attacked the citizens of the Lower Valais, who 
are more intelligent, and many of whom are pious protcstants, 
chiefly such as have come from the canton of Vaud to pursue 
their peaceful occupations. 

This attack was successful. The priests triumphed, and at once 
took advantage of their victory. Many honorable citizens were 
thrown into prison, and others forced to leave their country. 
Special courts were instituted to try summarily those whom they 
called rebels, and the most iniquitous sentences were passed upon 
men who had committed no other fault than that of resisting the 
usurpations of the clergy. A reign of terror existed in the whole 
canton, and the Jesuits hastened to establish a new political consti- 
tution, while the general panic prevented good citizens from lifting 
their voice in opposition. It is needless to add, that this constitution 
was cunningly contrived to give the preponderance to the priests 
and their friends. 

The Jesuits even proceeded so far, in imitation of the ancient in- 
tolerance of Popery, as to cause the passage of a law in the can- 



640 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ix. 

The Jesuits in Switzerland. Law against the social meetings of protestants. Civil war. 

ton of Valais, forbidding to the protestants the right to assemble 
for the worship of God. " A few members of the council of state," 
according to an able and accurate writer, " proposed with some 
feeling of shame left, to forbid only public worship by protestants, 
but to allow them to celebrate social or family worship. Even 
this was a violation of the rights of religious worship ; it was 
gross intolerance ; but the priests, the Jesuits, and their adherents, 
judged that the provisions of the bill did not reach far enough. So 
they demanded that social worship itself should be forbidden to pro- 
testants ; and, in consequence, the majority of the representative 
council being the mere tools of the clergy, sanctioned this exorbi- 
tant and iniquitous law. Thus, in the canton of Valais, — do not 
forget it, American citizens ! do not forget it, Christians of all de- 
nominations ! — protestants have no right to celebrate even social 
worship ; they have no right to read the Bible with a pastor and 
their brethren in their own houses. Here we have the acts of 
Jesuits and the true spirit of Popery."* 

§ 41. — In the canton of Lucerne, the Jesuits soon after obtained 
the passage of a law by which all the colleges, schools, and other 
institutions of learning were to be solely directed by them. This 
was accomplished through the address of the cunning disciples of 
Loyala, in intriguing with the poor and ignorant peasantry in the 
remote parts of the canton. The intelligent and educated in- 
habitants of Lucerne, the capital, and other cities, were very gene- 
rally opposed to the influence of the Jesuits, and used their utmost 
efforts to defeat the law. After passing the legislative body, the 
laws of the canton required an enactment of this description before 
it could go into operation, to be ratified by a numerical majority of 
the citizens. The city of Lucerne rejected the law consigning the 
education of their children to the absolute control of the Jesuits, by 
a majority of more than three to one. Yet, notwithstanding this, 
the influence of the Jesuits was such in the country places, that 
they obtained a majority of the citizens of the entire canton, and 
thus the iniquitous enactment became a law, and the Jesuits were 
constituted the only legal professors and teachers of the canton. 
The result of these proceedings was that thousands of the people 
arose in their might, and demanded the expulsion of the Jesuits 
from Switzerland. In the civil war which ensued, the Jesuit party 
were victorious. Many of the insurgents (as they were called) 
who had arisen in defence of their right to appoint their own in 
structors for their children were slain ; many respectable citizens 
of Lucerne were imprisoned ; the freedom 'of the press was de- 
stroyed ; the printing offices of two liberal journals at Lucerne 
were closed at the instance of the Jesuits, and the editors forbidden 
hereaiter to publish their papers. 

* See an article on " the late popish movement in Switzerland " in the Pro- 
testant Quarterly Review for April, 1845, chieflv taken from the valuable corres- 
pondence of the Rev. Professor Gustavus de Felice, D.D., of France, the able 
iiuropean correspondent of the New York Observer. 



chap, v.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 641 

Efforts of the Pope and European papists to spread Popery in America. Sums for Romish missions 

It remains yet to be seen what will be the result of this contest, 
and whether in any of the Western States of oui own America 
the efforts of the Jesuits (as active there as in Switzerland, though 
in a more secret manner) shall be attended with similar results. 

§42. — It is the general opinion of enlightened and observing 
protestants that the influence of Romanism among the nations of 
continental Europe is gradually but surely diminishing, that the 
throne of the triple-crowned tyrant in Italy is tottering to its fall, 
and that the long reign of papal despotism, which has kept one of 
the most beautiful countries of the world at least two centuries be- 
hind the age in the march of civilisation and improvement, is rapidly 
drawing to a close. It is shrewdly suspected that even the Pope and 
the cardinals are themselves aware of this fact, and while they feel 
the pillars of their Italian empire shaking around them, are anxiously 
looking abroad for a site to re-erect their throne in some other 
country, perhaps in another hemispliere, when they shall be compelled 
to fly from the ruins of that which they have so long occupied. 

Hence, it is easy to comprehend the motives for the herculean 
efforts recently put forth by the emissaries of Rome, and the vast 
sums of money that are sent from Europe, and poured forth like 
water in disseminating the doctrines of Popery and extending 
the dominions of the Pope, especially in the United States of 
America. As our limits will not permit extended comments upon 
the efforts of Romish missionaries in America, we must content 
ourselves with a few statistical facts. Besides the Propaganda at 
Rome, devoted to popish missions in all lands, there are two socie- 
ties in Europe whose principal object is to reduce America to sub- 
mission to the Pope, viz., the Leopold Foundation in Austria, and 
the Society of St. Charles Borromeo, in Lyons. The society at 
Lyons alone transmitted to the United States in 1840, 8163,000, 
and in 1842, $177,000. The following is an extract from the annals 
of these societies of the appropriation of a portion of their funds 
to different missionary stations in America. The sums are stated 
in francs, about five to a dollar. 

Paid to Lazarists, for missions to Missouri and Illinois, the seminary 

and the college of St. Marie des Barriens, 7,000 fr. 

Outfit of missionaries who left in 1839 to join those missions, - - 9,333,30 

To the Jesuits, for missions in Missouri and New Orleans, - - 15,000 

To the Jesuits in Kentucky, 6,000 

To my lord Eccleston, Archbishop of Baltimore, - 7,327 

To my lord Sarus, Bishop of Dubuque, 52,627 

To my lord Purcell, Bishop of Cincinnati, 3b,S27 

To my lord Kenrick, Bishop of Philadelphia, 20,327 

To my lord Fenwick, Bishop of Boston, ------ 20,327 

To my lord Hughes, acting Bishop of. New York, - - - - 831,50 

To my lord Miles, Bishop of Nashville, 26,807 

To my lord Fluget, Bishop of Bardstown, 21,409 

To my lord Hailandiere, Bishop of Vincennes, ----- 65,827 

To my lord Rasati, Bishop of St. Louis, 20,327 

To my lord Blane, acting Bishop of Natchez, ----- 10.827 

To my lord England, Bishop of Charleston, 13,827 

Outfit of missionaries to Detroit, 4,000 

841.823.80 



642 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 



[book IX. 



Statistics of Popery in the United States. 



§ 43. — Fifty years ago there was but one bishop, twenty-five 
priests, and a few scattered Romish churches in the United States; 
now there are twenty-one bishops, more than seven hundred priests, 
and over a million of papists. The following table is taken from 
the Metropolitan Catholic Almanack and Laity's Directory for 
1845. and is a general summary of the Romish Church in the 



United States. 



Dioceses. 


§ 

X 


X 

5 
a 

X 


r T5 

=-"2 

2 1 

V 

5 


a ■-< 

r 9 


CD 2. 
X = 

B 


\^ 

- 
m 


5*2 

- 
P I 

X 


£ — 

If 

=■ 
X 


5 5* 
S > 

r-. 
p. 


5 Q 


o 
5" 

3 


Baltimore. - - - 


59 


32 


43 


37 


5 


5t 


4 


5 


5 


27 


90.000 


New Orleans, - 


46 


26 


40 


11 


1 


10 


1 


3 


4 


6 


160.000 


Louisville, - - 


40 


85 


31 


24 


3 


9 


3 


4 


11 


4 


40.000 


Boston, - - - - 


32 


15 


34 


3 


_ 


— 


1 


_ 


1 


1 


65.000 


Philadelphia, 


61 


6 


49 


3 


1 


30 


4 


1 


6 


4 






New York, - - 


110 


75 


96 


- 


1 


20 


: 


1 


3 


15 


200.000 


Charleston, - - 


20 


50 


19 


2 


1 


4 


l 


2 


o 


6 


10,000 


Richmond, - - - 
Cincinnati. - - - 


10 

TO 


15 

50 


10 
57 


1 
10 


1 
2 


10 
19 


l 
l 




1 

2 


a 




2 


5 


65,000 


St. Louis, - - - 


33 


25 


31 


29 


3 


25 


l 


4 


8 


6 





Mobile, - - - - 


12 


30 


10 


•2 


1 


7 


l 


1 


4 


7 


11.000 


Detroit, - - - 


12 


31 


15 


— 


- 


— - 


- 


- 


1 


— 


40,000 


YlNCENNES. - - - 


40 


30 


33 


6 


1 


19 


2 


1 


5 


5 


25.000 


Dubuque, - - - 


13 


9 


12 


— 


- 


— 


1 


1 


2 


— 


5.S0O 


Nashville, - - 


3 


33 


8 


— 


1 


3 


1 


- 


1 


1 





Natchez, - - - 
Pittsburg. - - - 


5 
41 


!1 


6 

24 





















_ 


8 


1 


1 


2 


4 


30,000 


Little Rock, - - 

Chicago, - - - 

* Hartford, - - - 

Milwaukee, - - 


o 


6 
58 


2 










1 


2 






33 
10 
IS 


20 
7 
9 


2 


1 


— 


1 


1 


50,000 








_ 





1 


_ 


1 





20,000 


Af. Yic. Or. T. - 






16 




- 


— 




1 


2 








Dice. 21. Y. Ap. 1 


675 


592 


572 


137 


22 


■2-20 


26 


2S 


63 


94 


811,800 



To the above table is appended the remark that the aggregate 
population of the dioceses not marked, is probably about :260,00O. 
making a total of 1.071.S00 as the entire Romish population at pre- 
sent in the Ignited States. To show the probable increase of Roman- 
ism in future years, which, by the way, is chiefly by immigration 
from popish countries in Europe, the following comparative statis- 
tics of their increase in the past ten years are given from the same 
source. 



Dioceses, in 1835. 13 : 

Bishops, « 14; 

Churches, " 272 : 

Priests, " 327; 

Eccles. Seminaries. " 12 ; 



Colleges. 



9; 



in 1840, 


16; 


in 1845. 21 


u 


17; 


26 


f< 


454: 


675 


ec 


4S2; 


709 


cc 


16; 


22 


(( 


ii; 


15 



chap, v.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 643 

Designs of the Pope and his adherents in America. Plain avowal of a popish editor 'note). 

During the same ten years the total number of Roman Catho- 
lics in the United States, like the number of churches, has more 
than doubled, and with the addition of at least 100,000 popish 
immigrants every year, there can be no doubt that it will double 
again in less than the same time. The ratio of increase of the 
whole population of the United States, is about 34 per cent, for 
ten years. 

§ 44. — There can be no doubt that the Pope and his adherents have 
formed the deliberate design of obtaining the ascendency in the 
United States. Popish priests and editors make no secret of this 
design, and expect its realization at no distant day.* The rapidity 
with which they are carrying forward their operations in the 
Western States maybe gathered from the statistics of a single city. 
At the last census, St. Louis contained about 36,000 inhabitants, of 
whom probably 15,000 are papists, though the priests claim one 
half the population. From the St. Louis Directory, recently pub- 
lished, we gather the following particulars, furnished by the priests 
themselves. 

They have, including the cathedral and the chapel of the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus, which is attached to the Convent, now built and 
building, seven churches, five of which are of the largest size and 

* The following language of Orestes A. Brownson, who is just now a flaming 
Roman Catholic, in the number of his Quarterly Review for April, 1845, would 
be of very little consequence from the chamelion character of the writer or editor, 
who, it has justly been remarked, ; ' is everything by turns, and nothing long to- 
gether," were it not believed that the paragraphs relative to the designs of 
Popery in America are published " under authority." 

" ' But would you have this country come under the authority of the Pope V 
Why not? 'But the Pope would take away our free institutions !' Nonsense. 
But how do you know that ? From what do you infer it ? After all do you not 
commit a slight blunder ? Are your free institutions infallible ? Are they founded 
on divine right? This you deny. Is not the proper question for you to discuss, 
then, not whether the Papacy be or be not compatible with republican government, 
but, whether it be or be not founded in divine right? If the Papacy be founded 
in divine right, it is supreme over whatever is founded only in human right, and 
then your institutions should be made to harmonize with it, not it with your insti- 
tutions. . . . The real question, then, is, not the compatibility or incompatibility 
of the Catholic Church with Democratic institutions, but, is the Catholic Church the 
Church of God ? Settle this question first. But, in point of fact, Democracy is a 
mischievous dream, wherever the Catholic Church does not predominate, to inspire 
the people with reverence, and to teach and accustom them to obedience to author* 
ily. The first lesson for all to learn, the last that should be forgotten, is. to obey. 
You can have no government where there is no obedience ; and obedience to law, 
as it is called, will not long be enforced, where the fallibility of law is clearly 
seen and freely admitted. . . . But ' it is the intention of the Pope to possess 
this country.' Undoubtedly. 'In this intention he is aided by the Jesuits, and 
all the Catholic prelates and priests.' Undoubtedly, if they arc faithful to their 
religion." 

After the above plain avowal and additional remarks in a similar strain. Mr. B. 
comes to the following conclusion: — " That the policy of the Church is dreaded 
and opposed, and must be dreaded and opposed, by all protestants, infidels, dema- 
gogues tyrants, and oppressors, is also unquestionably true. Save, then, in the 
discharge of our civil duties, and in the ordinary business of life, there 13, and 

CAN BE, NO HARMONY BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS.'" 



644 h_57C?7i Ji ?» r .l'LrJSl$ZZ "z.rzix. 



::.- 



' ^ r — -_7.'~: :::.::.::y fzzrzs ..:"': ?.s: zrifi.: y 'zriz :.::.ie :":: 

tr.r ' " ". ." " _ r ". : ._ : : _ : : f r~." .7 .-77 " ±777.1 1 l;.r ; : . : ~zz. _ : .5 - 
-.: ; :: .77 Rimish :....:.. in :.-.;■: r :;z. ire m-ItI :.... 
C ://.: . : Dire:;: rv :": : 1S4-: : — 



7~i~ ---:--'- 

I" :■- :.---.-::.:: : jrrc-i: ! 

L::.: - '.. ir= . : • :::. V : :'. 

Somersetshire, aod W 

i:t 1 . :i±:7: ::L.r^ 
czz.isi.rTifs --T :: 

-■ ■ ; ■_ ■ • 






77: h: 5. ~.:. 



342,424, 



p-im 2:---irirS ij-e- ;;:.:.: v. :: .:; :r :..i.: :t'..:\:v.s 

views ; and it is well known that multitudes in I: elsewhere 

:.:"....■: .: ::i :n: ; :: " : ..-: : 7.7:7." 777 :::: : r~5 7/.f e 
1 :.v. . ->. :: -. .:-:■ ::._/.:: z-r ".-:s = : /.:.-_ f 0. "."■-." 0. :: : / 

r:;:rr. An nz \.-:-_i : : : zi.izr :: -..:- _ - v. 7.: .-_'. 77.7 ::-: :ne 
F:ir. 147 ir. ?S4 :s.: 5. '1 "Mis rvs .... \ . r-re- 

iri'.s. 3 izos:7::i.s. inz E 267 zz.ssi.r.irv zris.s. 

L" s::t.' :e :.-.-=■ f.rrz^zz, :./ 1: zizers' i? :z.r R:~:?h :\ .:. :: 
: ';.:■ .::..: :: zif. : .7.: " : : i^ri. -x'zj "-: ':.:-.?■= rirl:lf i :.. .5 :".:«.lc 

:.:..:: :zzr r_s::r" " ?:-zrrr i~ ::? !»:::-. jr." T: :::. s "t ::-.;-. 



Lz.r. : 7 : .-.-. r 
: - - : = :/. 






chap, v.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 645 

Popery, upon the whole, gradually diminishing in influence and strength. It is in its Dotage. 

Christ are being laid, broad and deep, on these western shores, still 
it is cause of joy and gratitude to the friends of truth, that in 
Europe that throne is tottering to its fall. The blows which Popery 
has received within a year past, in continental Europe, from the 
sturdy arms of John Ronge and his noble coadjutors in Germany, 
more than outweigh, in the estimate of its aggregate strength, its 
apparent and boasted successes in the western world ; and while it 
behoves America to be watchful against the advances of that 
dangerous and insidious power which is aiming to control her des- 
tinies, still it is consoling to reflect that the strength and influence 
of the papal anti-Christ is, upon the whole, gradually yet certainly 
diminishing ; and that it has been growing weaker and weaker, 
with each succeeding century, from the time when a Gregory, an 
Innocent, or a Boniface, by the force of their spiritual thunders, 
hurled monarchs from their thrones, or an Alexander VL, by a 
single dash of his pen, granted to the Catholic king of Spain the 
whole continent of America, North and South, and all beyond " a 
line drawn a hundred leagues west of the Azores, and extending 
from the South to the North Pole."* 

Most heartily, then, do we again join in the eloquent words of 
Hallam : — " A calm, comprehensive study of ecclesiastical history, 
not in such scraps and fragments as the ordinary partisans of our 
ephemeral literature obtrude upon us, is perhaps the best antidote to 
extravagant apprehensions. Those who know what Rome has 
once been, are best able to appreciate what she is ; those who 
have seen the thunderbolt in the hands of the gregories and 
the Innocents, will hardly be intimidated at the sallies of 

DECREPITUDE, THE IMPOTENT DART OF PrIAM AMID THE CRACKLING 

ruins of Troy !"f 

Yes ! in spite of its spasmodic efforts for enlargement, Popery is 
in its dotage ! It is not, and never again can be, what it once was ; 
and compared with the Popery of the middle ages, notwithstanding 
its boasted and frequently exaggerated numbers, it is a Pigmy 
compared with a Giant. Popery is in its dotage ! and therefore all 
its struggles to regain its former power shall prove only like the 
convulsive throes of a dying man ; for, sure as the unerring word 
of prophecy, anti-Christ is destined to fall, and the signs of the times 
indicate that the day cannot be very far distant, when the shout of 
joy and exultation shall be heard — " Babylon the Great is fallen, 
is fallen ! ' 

Let the Protestants of the present age only be vigilant, active, 
persevering and prayerful ! let them sleep not while the enemy is 
sowing his tares, and some of their children may yet live to see the 
day when the Romish Babylon shall be destroyed, and to join 
in the shout of triumph which shall burst from a disenthralled and 
regenerated world over its final downfall and destruction ! 

* See Irving's Life and Voyages of Columbus, book v., chap. 8, ct sirpra, 428. 
f Hallam's Middle Ages, page 304, et supra, 355. 



64.6 



CONCLUDING RZMAEKS. 



§ 47. — Thus have we. at length, arrived at the close of our long 
journey of sixteen or seventeen centuries, from the dawn of papal 
corruptions down to the present time. The result of our examin- 
ation is the solemn conviction — strengthened the more attentively 
we study the subject — that the Romish, so far from being the 
true church, is the bitterest foe of all true churches of Christ — that 
she possesses no claim to be called a Christian church — but. with 
the long line of corrupt and wicked men who have worn her triple 
crown, that she is ANTI-CHRIST ; — the original of that apostate 
power whose character was sketched eighteen hundred years ago 
by the pen of inspiration. " whose coming is after the working of 
Satan, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness/' and "whom the 
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with 
the brightness of his coming." (2 Thess. ii.. 8-10.) 

If this is so, if Popery is not Christianity, but a system of cor- 
ruption, error, and falsehood, that has usurped that venerable name, 
then it is evident that Christianity is not chargeable with the atro- 
cious vices and horrible cruelties of which her corrupt and wicked 
hierarchy have been guilty through so many centuries of perse- 
cution, of shame, of pollution and guilt, and the history of which 
has been given in the preceding pages. 

Let not the infidel, therefore, after perusing the detail of the 
enormities of anti-Christian Rome, close the book with a scowl of 
contempt at the iXew Testament, and say — "this then is your 
Christianity." No! Popery is not Christianity; it is not the re- 
ligion of the iXew Testament ; it is as far from it as light from 
darkness, as heaven from hell, as Christ from anti-Christ. And it 
would be just as rational to brand Christianity with the cruelties 
and enormities of the idol temples of Juggernaut or of Kalee, or 
with the atrocities of the infidel actors in the French revolution, 
as to lay at the door of the religion of HDI who was meek and 
lowly in heart, and who came not to destroy men's lives, but to 
save them — the crimes, the murders, the burnings, the massacres, 
the obscenities, the impostures, the lying wonders — which have 
marked the career of apostate Rome, at every stage of her pol- 
luted and blood-stained history. 

If Popery were a just exhibition of Christianity, it would be a 
religion unworthy of a Being of infinite holiness, purity, and be- 
nevolence, and were it not that prophecy has foretold its history 
and described its character, the existence of such a system for so 
many centuries under the name of Christianity, would be the 
strongest prop of Infidelity. This difficulty, however, immediately 
vanishes, and Popery is transformed into an eloquent argument 
for the truth of the bible when we remember that its whole history 
and character are fully delineated in the prophetical scriptures ; that 



chap, v.] POPERY IN ITS DOTAGE— A. D. 1685-1845. 647 

Men who have advocated the identity of Rome with anti-Christ. Can a Roman Catholic be saved ? 

it is that great anti-Christian power, described by Daniel, in his 
seventh chapter (verse 25), under the emblem of a little horn, as 
" wearing out the saints of the Most High ;" by John in the 
Revelations, as a beast "making war with saints," and "open- 
ing his mouth in blasphemy against God" (xiii., 5, 6, 7), and as 
" Babylon the great, mother of harlots, and abominations of the 
earth," " a woman drunken with the blood of the saints and the 
martyrs of Jesus" (xvii., 5, 6), and by Paul in his first epistle to 
Timothy as " a departure from the faith, giving heed to seducing 
spirits and doctrines of devils (iv., 1), and in his second epistle to 
Thessalonians as " a falling away," or apostasy, as the revelation of 
that " Man of Sin," that " Son of perdition who opposeth and 
exalteth himself above all that is called God or is worshipped" (iL, 
3, 4). In these prophetic scriptures, the character of the papal 
anti-Christ is drawn, with an unerring precision, which is sufficient 
alone to prove that-these holy men, Daniel, Paul and John, " spake 
as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost." 

This identity of papal Rome with anti-Christ was maintained by 
Luther,' Melancthon, Calvin, and all the continental reformers ; by 
Latimer, Ridley, Cranmer, and all the British reformers : by the 
illustrious Sir Isaac Newton, Mede, Whiston, Bishop Newton, 
Lowth, Daubuz, Jurieu, Vitringa, Bedell, and a host of equally 
pious, illustrious and learned names. The same testimony has been 
borne in the authorized doctrinal standards of the Episcopal, Pres- 
byterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, and other churches both of 
Europe and America. The same doctrine is still taught in the theo- 
logical school of Geneva by the illustrious D'Aubigne and Gaussen, 
and with but here and there a solitary exception, by all the most 
learned professors and clergymen of the present day, connected 
with the various evangelical denominations of protestant Christians. 

§ 48. — Here the inquiry naturally presents itself, ' if the Romish 
is not a true church of Christ, but only an apostate anti-Christian 
power, is it possible for any one to be saved who dies in her com- 
munion V To this we reply, that the salvation of a man depends 
not upon what visible Church, whether true or false, he is connected 
with, but upon the question, whether he has been " born again" (John 
iii., 3), whether he has truly repented of his sins before God (Luke 
xiii., 3), and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts xvi., 31 ; John 
iii., 16, 36). If any man be thus reconciled to God through faith in 
Christ, he is a "new creature ; old things are passed away ; behold, all 
things are become new" (2 Cor. v., 17) ; and he who is thus called 
and justified shall most assuredly be glorified (Rom. viii., 30), what- 
ever visible church he belong to, or if he belong to none at all. It 
is not the connection with any particular church that saves a man 
(though it is the duty of every converted man to become a member 
of a church of Christ), but it is his union to the Lord Jesus Christ 
by a sanctifying and saving faith ; and if this is wanting, then all 
the confessions, and absolutions, and indulgences and extreme unc- 
tions of a priest can confer no benefit ; but if he possesses this sav- 



648 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. [book ix. 

Some of God's believing people probably in Babylon. All exhorted to come out of her. 

ing faith in Christ, then while these popish practices can do him not 
a particle of good, they shall not avail to shut him out of heaven. 
The great danger of these popish observances is, that they have 
led thousands and tens of thousands to trust not in the atonement 
and righteousness of Christ, but in them for salvation, while the ab- 
solute necessity of the new birth, and the new heart and the new 
life (" hid with Christ in God") has been kept out of sight, till it was 
too late ; and thus are the skirts of the Romish priesthood covered 
all over with the blood of the thousands and tens of thousands 
whom they have led blindfolded to hell. 

Still it is a thought calculated to relieve in some degree the pain- 
ful feelings produced by this bitter reflection, to remember that a 
Fenelon, a Kempis, a Pascal, a Bourdaloue, and perhaps thousands 
more who once held an external connection with the church of 
Rome, have, in spite of such connection, and the hindrance it offers 
to that personal application to and reliance on Christ, without which 
none can be saved, become penitent believers in Jesus, and are now 
in glory. O it is pleasing to hope that many a poor monk, like 
Luther in his monastery at Erfurth, may have found out, within the 
walls of his solitary cell, that " the just shall live by faith," and 
that salvation is to be obtained, not by pilgrimages, and penances, 
and indulgences and extreme unction, but through faith in the blood 
and righteousness of Christ ; and thus discovered the way to 
heaven, though he may never have renounced his external connec- 
tion with Rome. 

That there may be some, even in the Romish Babylon, who are 
the " children of God by faith in Jesus Christ" (Gal. iii., 26), seems 
to be intimated by the warning cry, " Come out of her, my people /" 
If there were none of God's people in Babylon, they could hardly 
be called upon to come out of her. To such, therefore, in the com- 
munion of Rome, who, though (like Luther in the sixteenth, and 
Ronge in the nineteenth century,) nominally connected with the 
Romish Babylon, have discovered her errors and mourned over 
her corruptions, I would say, Come out of her ! like Luther and the 
thousands of holy men who have trodden in his footsteps, Come out 
of her ! — if you would not be instrumental, by your influence and 
example, in leading souls from Christ to trust for salvation in the 
foolish mummeries of Popery which your souls despise — Come 
out of her ! finally, if you would escape the calamities which pro- 
phecy declares are yet to fall upon her, hear the voice from heaven 
(Rev. xviii., 4, 5), which says — Come out of her, my people ! that 

YE BE NOT PARTAKERS OF HER SINS, AND THAT YE RECEIVE NOT OF 
HER PLAGUES ; FOR HER SINS HAVE REACHED UNTO HEAVEN, AND GoD 
HATH REMEMBERED HER INIQUITIES ! 



THE END OF THE ORIGINAL EDITION". 



SUPPLEMENT 



TO DOWLING'S 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM, 



BY THE AUTHOR. 

BEING A CONTINUATION OF THAT WORK FROM THE ELECTION OF FOPE 
PIUS IX. TO THE PRESENT TIME. 

A. D. 1846—1853. 



The continued demand for the present work, notwithstanding 
the sale of some twenty thousand copies, in connection with the 
recent occurrence of very remarkable events in the history of 
Rome and the Papacy, has suggested the importance of appending 
to the present new and enlarged edition a continuation of the 
history from the time of its first publication, A. D. 1846, to the 
present year, 1853. 

§ 1. State of the Country under Pope Gregory XVI. — The dis- 
contented and disturbed condition of the Roman states under the im- 
becile but tyrannical old pontiff Gregory XVL, has already been 
alluded to.* Aided by his associate and adviser in oppression, the 
Secretary of State, Cardinal Lambruschini, he had long attempted, 
by a series of confiscations, banishments, and executions, to quell 
the rising spirit of liberty, and hundreds of the noblest spirits of 
Italy had been crushed beneath the iron heel of his priestly despot- 
ism. 

The government beneath which the people had groaned for ages, 
was a government of priests. The supreme council of Rome con- 
sisted exclusively of priests. The governors of provincials were 
cardinals and bishops ; and all the political and financial affairs of 
the Roman states were regulated by the priests. Their single object 
was the maintenance of their own priestly authority. Their spirit 
was a narrow, bigoted despotism, and the country they governed, 
though rich in the bounties of nature, was the poorest and the most 
miserable in Europe. *" 

* Supra — pages G33, C34. 



650 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Reforms demanded under Gregory XVI. Secret Manifesto. 

Yet, though thousands of her patriots had been either murdered or 
exiled. Italv still groaned for deliverance from her ghostly oppressors, 
and like the smouldering fires of Vesuvius previous to eruption, the 
fires of liberty were just ready to burst forth from their pent-up cav- 
erns, when the welcome news of the death of Gregory XVI. spread 
universal joy throughout the states of the church. 

§ 2. Reforms demanded by the Italian People. — The following 
passages, translated from the conclusion of a " Manifesto of the Peo- 
ple of the Roman States to the Princes and People of Europe," is- 
sued a short time previous to the death of the old Pope, and secretly 
circulated, afford abundant evidence of the existence of this spirit 
among the people, and point out the reforms that were most impera- 
tively demanded : — 

" "We venerate the ecclesiastical hierarchy and the whole clergy. 
We entertain the hope that it will recognise the noble essence of civ- 
ilization embraced in Catholicism. Therefore, in order that our 
views may not be misinterpreted by Italy and Europe, we proclaim 
aloud our respect for the sovereignty of the pontiff as the chief of 
the Universal Church, without restriction or condition. As respects 
the obedience due to him as a temporal sovereign, behold the prin- 
ciples which we propose to him for a basis, and the demands which 
we make : — 

" 1. That he shall accord an amnesty to all political offenders ac- 
cused since 1521; 

" 2. That he shall accord a civil and criminal code, modeled on 
those of other parts of Europe, establishing the publicity of debates, 
trial by jury, and the abolishment of confiscation, and of the punish- 
ment of death for the crime of treason ; 

" 3. That the inquisiliofi and other ecclesiastical tribunals shall be 
divested of all jurisdiction over the laity; 

" 4. That the political trials shall be conducted before the or- 
dinary tribunals, with the ordinary forms ; 

" 5. That municipal councils shall be freelv chosen bv the people, 
and their choice approved by the sovereign ; that these councils shall 
nominate provincial councils, and that the supreme councils of state 
be named by the sovereign from lists presented by the provincial 
councils : 

" 6. That the supreme council of state, sitting at Rome, shall 
have the control of the finances and the public debt, that it shall have 
a determining voice in reference to the receipts and expenses of the 
state, and be consulted in reference to all matters of public interest; 

" 7. That all employments and dignities, civil and military, be con- 
ferred on the laity ; 

" S. That the public instruction shall cease to be subjected to 
bishops and clergy, religious education being reserved exclusively to 
them ; 

" 9. That the censorship of the press be restricted to the prevention 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 651 

Pope Gregory and the beautiful Cajetanina. 

of injury to the divinity, the Catholic religion, to the sovereign, and 
to the domestic life of the citizen ; 

" 10. That foreign troops be disbanded. 

" 11. That there be instituted an Urban guard, charged with the 
maintenance of public order and of the observance of the laws ; 

" 12. Finally, that the government enter upon the path of all the 
social ameliorations demanded by the spirit of the age, and practised 
by the other governments of Europe." 

§ 3. Character of Pope Gregory, and his favorite, the beautiful 
Cajetanina. — Before proceeding to describe the election of Gregory's 
successor, by whom we shall see that several of the above reforms 
have been granted, we shall pause, for the purpose of giving a brief 
sketch of the history and character of Gregory XVI. 

"Mauri Capellari was born atBelluno in 1765, and placed by his 
parents, respectable citizens, in a Benedictine convent of Camaldules. 
In 1826 he was named Cardinal by Pope Leo XII. , and placed at 
the head of the Propaganda, or missionary school at Rome ; and on 
the 2d of February, 1831, crowned Pope, under the name of Greg- 
ory XVI. 

"As a man, if not greatly calumniated, he was passionate, not 
much restrained by his vows of chastity, and habitually addicted to 
the intemperate use of intoxicating drinks. This last failing enabled 
the French government to obtain great favors at Rome, by semi- 
annual presents of champagne ; and has been well hit off by a pas- 
quinade. It represents the deceased Pope knocking for admittance 
at the gates of Paradise. ' Who wishes to enter?' asks St. Peter. 
' Gregory, your successor at Rome.' — 'But,' replies St. Peter, ' Greg- 
ory the Great died, and came here a long time ago. Who are you 
that have taken his name ?' — ' Why, they call me, in Rome, Greg- 
ory Bevonc' {the tippler). ' Oh ! I have heard of you ; come in.'* 



* The Roman people have a great partiality for these pasquinades and carica- 
tures, and frequently exercise their wit upon a dead Pope, however obsequious 
to the living one. An amusing caricature and dialogue were got up in Rome, 
after the death of Gregory — representing St. Peter and Gregory going to Para- 
dise. The journey being hard and tedious for an aged man like the Pope, lie 
complained to St. Peter thus : " How is it, St. Peter, that our journey is so long ? 
I did not know that Paradise was so far from the Vatican." St. Peter replied, 
"•'If you had allowed the construction of railways and steamers in yajif stale, 
we should have arrived there long ago. But now you must stop for a while in 
Purgatory." 

After having remained some time in Purgatory, where he met his Friend 
O'Connell — so the story goes — Gregory set out with St. Peter again on his eter- 
nal journey. Coming insight of Paradise, the Pope asked St. refer why the 
angels and his last predecessors in the Papal chair, did riol come otfl to meet him. 

"Dear Gregory," replied St. Peter, '-as for the Popes, there are lew of them 
in heaven, and the news of your, death has nut yel reached there: as it would 
have done, if you had established telegraphs, and granted the freedom of the 
press." 

When the Saint and the Pope arrived at the gates 6f Paradise, St. Peter 
asked Gregory for his key, which after some time he found, and handed it to 



;. When he m at zed, he distributed copper coins to the popu- 
rnm et argentum hob est mihi, qood atitem babe© 

:::: ::.' — ■ rize ::: ::!: I !:ive :::f. :•:: • r'-el 

Yz :e bis iez zzrzey ezd perse 2= I p;: z z ei 

300,000 z hs nephews and nieces; for, of coarse, he had 
z: eiizz heirs. 

ls monarch of the Papal States, bis partisans endeaTor t: 
;.:fr his zzzy zz'zs :j seyier he: :~zzr z -lis zezziesz he — is 
--z.zeeiei hy :iz zzezeeis: ze: his:eey ~ih zeezre hizz ~zz: rz;ss 
. zzernment and bigoted cruezz No sooner was be seated on 
zz z. zz zze :z : : : ■.: z z e ::' Az: zz. z~ :hz Fzezzh. exzzzed 
zzz him i :zze:ise : :' zhzzz zz zzzz. H:~ iez he zhdizi 
i: 7 7 zzz - h :e hzeze iz his irzizzizz :: A zz.z '. :-; z ezz 
under Jesuitical influence, to enforce his despotic laws — in the taxes 
which hare oppressed bis subjects — in bis encyclical letter, which 

7 zez — iz zee ezeiezzezz z'zeelzzz- 
sition — and in the pertinacity with wbieh r obstinate in wrong, he has 
zzez :he zzz zz: : ezzze- ~hi:z z z zz eezezzzz: ::" 
5zzz. he z: ::z: !zzz ezzz ere :he eez'e se i^zzrez: — 
z: :z 7. : z z: -...:: zz"* 

The allusion of the writer just quoted to G z ^rant 

of chastity, refers, doubtless, to the fact, so notorious in Rome, of 
hz zz '.zz'z z z e zezzhzi ~i:e ::" h : .ze: ihezzz, zzzeezy 
:ze : :-•■•• zz: :zzzz zz:ez z' hzzz;. 'zze zzzz e'e:- 
ward camasxero secreto, and chief favorite (always excepting 
h:s — i:"- z ez zz: z : z z ze J ■ z hzzz XVI " Ozer 
■zz.: - zys M he It ze. — zi zezeh. e: :ee e.zze: :zze. :ze 

e : _z z z z zz z-z- 
ing fortunes of Cajetanino, the barber of Cardinal Capellari; they 
will explain the 7 zz enderness of the holy father for the beau- 

tiful Cajetanina, and her seven children : z ill tell the causes 
~hzz ..■■ z _zzz z ze: zz z zz.ze: iz :he ^zzzi :iizz :e :ee 
same story with that of the Pope. We will content ourselves with 
e:z:zz: zFzzee zeezze zzzz ::: ezhezi :z zz:zz:z 
and that Gregory XVI. is openly designated as the father of the chuV 
:ze ::' C " ezez."' 

^ 4. Cmrioms History of the Pope's Barber, ike husband of Caje- 

— Tze zzzz zzzzzzzi zzi z ez z ze size =■:- 

: zz. ::" :he rise z' z zzzz zzzz ee::eze:ei ze: :z zeizez 

z ze Zz z I .. Iz Feizz z'Mzzhe::. zz zie zz: :::. zez :"::- 

eign correspondent of the Xew York Observer : — 

Wz:ie ye: = size ie ze Fez: z. z-hz . :z zez zz 5 z 



.. 



:z: :: :-: :.: Z : z Zv :: jii? —.-.:_-_=.: 

: tz:: ~-- '. . - - : . : z:e 

* r ■•-- 1 it : ::' - '.A 3":-;-:- A :*.=-< :iz :...:- 
- Z :■; :hr ?:-s ::._z-:= : 

tz. z: 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 653 

Rapid rise of the monk Capellari. 

of a barber named Cajetanino Moroni, who was known as a facetious 
fellow, full of wit and joviality. A sort of intimacy was formed be- 
tween the monk and the merry barber. They passed sometimes 
hours together in the most friendly conversation, and Cajetanino said, 
laughing, to father Capellari: ' When you shall be Pope, I will still 
be your barber,'' How little did he think that this jest would become 
one day earnest ! 

"In his youth and riper years, the monk Capellari was fond of 
study. He wrote some books in defence of the Catholic faith. His 
labors drew the attention of his superiors, and, in 1807, he was ap- 
pointed, by Pope Pius VII. member of the Academy of the Catholic 
religion. In this new office, he devoted himself more ardently than 
ever to theological pursuits. He became successively censor of the 
Academy, professor of theology, vice-president, and finally prior of 
the Camaldules in Rome. As might be supposed, the high honors 
conferred on Capellari would not allow him any longer to frequent the 
humble barber's shop, and take his turn to sit in the chair with his 
own clients ; but the intimacy between them was not diminished. 
Cajetanino went on set days to the convent of the Camaldules, to 
perform small offices for his old friend, and he repeated, with a more 
exulting air than before : ' When you shall be Poj?e, I will still be 
your barber, 1 

" But the protector and his dependant were subjected to severe 
trials. It was the time when Napoleon ruled Europe with an iron 
rod. He took the city of Rome, made the Pope prisoner, and the 
religious congregations were dispersed. Capellari left the convent 
of Camaldules, and sought an asylum in the Venetian states, his own 
country. This was a cruel separation, especially to the barber Caje- 
tanino, who was left exposed to the jests of his friends. They asked 
him ironically : ' Do you still think you shall one day be the Pope's 
barber?' What prospect was there, indeed, that an exiled monk 
would ever be called to mount the pontifical throne ? 

" Things remained thus till 1814. Then Pius VII. returned tri- 
umphantly into what is called St. Peter's domains. Father Capellari 
also left his retreat to resume the government of the monastery of 
Camaldules. He published a work on the miracles which had re- 
stored the pontifical authority, considered as motives to faith. This 
work, like all the other theological writings of Capellari contained a 
species of learning mixed with revolting superstitions and ridiculous 
reasoning. Such is the employment of professors of theology, and 
ecclesiastical dignitaries in Rome. Men of very low capacity can 
attain to these high stations provided they drily subserve the interests 
of the holy see. Capellari's conduct would seem extravagant in 
another country, but at Rome he was caressed and honored. He 
became councillor of the Inquisition and of the Propaganda, and in 
1826, he received a Cardinals hat. 

" The barber was not forgotten by his fortunate patron. He con- 

42 



654: SUPPLEMENT TO THE 



The barber's all-powerful influence. The silver-pigeon 

tinued to perform his office about his person, and when he saw the 
red cap upon the head of Capellari, he repeated with more assurance 
than ever : ' When you shall be Pope, 1 will still be your barber.'* 
But the last step in the ascent remained to be taken. Cardinal Ca- 
pellari was appointed Pope. It is easier to imagine than to describe 
the joy, the transport, the ecstacy, of the barber Cajetanino, when he 
saw his prediction fulfilled. He was at last, as he had' said so many 
times, called to the honor of being the Pope's barber. 

" Accordingly, when Gregory XVI. was installed in the palace of 
the Vatican, Cajetanino, with his wife and children, occupied splen- 
did apartments in the very dwelling of the Holy Father. The bar- 
ber was appointed camariero (servant of the bedchamber) ; he re- 
ceived the respectful homage of the bishops and other ecclesiastical 
dignitaries, who before had paid him no attention. He was loaded 
with riches by the Pope's munificence. A journal affirms that Caje- 
tanino now owns several domains of barons, counts, and marquises. 
He is become, indeed, the most important, most influential man in 
Rome.* 

" Gregory XVI. naturally timid, exchanging suddenly, the quiet 
life of a monk for the noise, intrigues, and perplexities of his govern- 
ment, sought for a favorite, a confidant in Cajetanino, and imparted 
to him all his thoughts. After figuring in public and pompous cere- 
monies, or delivering a speech in the council of Cardinals, he seeks, 
at night, the family of the barber, to rest from his fatigue and taste 
the sweets of" domestic life. Cajetanino seems to be a man of good 
sense, who has not become giddy by his great fortune. He is the 
confidant of the Pope in all his difficulties, his adviser, and the dis- 
penser of his favors. 

"Applicants soon discovered the barber's influence, and to him 
they address their requests, when they wish to obtain any important 
office, or any other favors of the Holy See. They are careful to 
add to their solicitations some rich present, or large sum of money 
to gain the concurrence of the Pope's servant. This is a very lu- 
crative business. I will mention but one example. 

'•Lately, the Jews of Rome, having been threatened with perse- 
cution by the Inquisition, felt that they absolutely needed the good 
offices of the barber Cajetanino for their security. They took sev- 
eral steps with him without success, because they did not offer money 
enough. At last they invented an ingenious method to soften the 
heart of the all-powerful favorite. One morning, when Cajetanino 
opened his window there entered an automaton-pigeon, a master- 
piece of mechanism. This pigeon was of massive silver ; its eyes 
were formed of precious stones ; it had in its beak a golden twig, and 
the petition of the unhappy. Jews was hung around its neck by a 
chain of gold. Cajetanino was enchanted, as you may well think, 
with this admirable manner of making him a magnificent present. 

* This correspondence was dated May 23, 1844. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 655 

Pope Gregory's death and funeral ceremonies. Ceremonies of a Pope's election. 

The petition of the Jews was immediately presented to the Pope, 
and they were rescued from the persecutions of the Inquisition. 

" I could relate to you several similar facts ; but this one is enough 
for my purpose. Here, then, you see the internal state of the court 
of Rome ; you see who is this pretended infallible Head of the Chris- 
tian world ! The Romanists regard him as the interpreter of the 
Holy Spirit, and they are not aware that there is one behind their 
idol, or rather above their idol, a favorite — sometimes a nephew, a 
more or less near relative — sometimes a barber, a domestic, who 
really governs the holy father, and controls all his purposes. What 
a strange religion is Romanism ! How shameful for intelligent beings 
to prostrate themselves before a feeble old man, who is himself un- 
der subjection to an obscure household servant ! Let us thank God 
that we, Protestants, acknowledge no other authority than that of the 
Lord and his holy Word !" 

§ 5. Pope Gregory's Death and Funeral Ceremonies. — Upon the 
death of Pope Gregory, which took place June 1st, 1846, the glory 
of Cajetanino of course departed, and the tonsorial favorite was glad 
to escape from Rome and to seek a refuge from the rage of an in- 
sulted and outraged populace, in the neighboring state of Tuscany. 

As soon as the death of the Pope was made known to Cardinal 
Camerlinque, that functionary, in accordance with the usual custom, 
proceeded to the Quirinal palace, raised the white covering over the 
face of the corpse, and struck three blows on the forehead with a 
small silver mallet. The Cardinal then proceeded to the window of 
the palace, and exclaimed in the hearing of the people, " 11 Papa 
realmente morto," that is, " The Pope is in reality dead." After 
this, he broke the fisfierman's ring and great seal of state. Prepa- 
rations were then made for burying the Pope's body in state. The 
corpse was embalmed, clothed in the pontifical robes, and afterward 
placed on a throne in a chapel in the basilica of St. Peter, with the 
feet projecting through a railing (in the manner represented in the en- 
graving on page 381) so that all the people who chose might kiss 
them as they passed through the chapel. After the funeral ceremo- 
nies, which are called Novcm Diali from their occupying nine days, 
the corpse was placed in a coffin and carried on a bier to the entrance 
of the vaults, where the body of Pius VIII. had reposed since his 
death in 1830 — there to remain till the death of his successor on the 
papal throne shall furnish another occupant for the temporary niche 
and consign his remains to their place of permanent sepulture. 

§ 6. Ceremonies of a Pope's Election. — The election of a new 
Pope is a matter of surpassing interest in the city of Rome. The 
whole city, during a conclave,* is under a strange excitement. Vast 
multitudes assemble within view of the building in the palace where 

* Conclave. So called from the fact that the cardinals during the election of 

a Pope are closely confined under lock and key. From the Latin con, and cla- 
vis, a key. 



656 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Election of Pius IX- 

the cardinals are confined, with their eyes fixed for hours upon the. 
chimney whence the smoke of the burning votes ascends, as a signal 
that no election has been made. 

The ceremonies connected with the election of the Pope — uni- 
formly observed on such occasions — were as follows. The day after 
the last of the Novem Diali, or nine days funeral solemnities, which 
in this instance was the 11th of June, the cardinals, after hearing 
mass, proceed to one of the pontifical palaces, where rooms have 
been prepared for each of them. Upon their entrance the door is 
locked and the passage to the palace walled up, so to remain till the 
election has taken place ; the keys of the palace, in the meanwhile, 
being intrusted to a prelate, previously chosen by the cardinals, and 
styled governor of the conclave. During their confinement, each 
cardinal is allowed a secretary, called conclavista, and two domestics. 
While the cardinals are in conclave, the utmost precaution is taken 
to prevent any communication with the people without. Even their 
meals are closely, examined by the proper functionary, to see that no 
writing is concealed therein. At a stated hour each day, the cardi- 
nals meet to count the votes, two thirds of which are necessary to 
secure an election. If no one is elected, the ballots are thrown into 
a small furnace, together with some combustible materials, and the 
smoke passing through a tube to the top of the palace, informs the 
multitude without that no election has taken place. Should the 
stated hour pass by, as soon as the last toll of the clock has an- 
nounced the fact, the cry bursts forth from ten thousand voices, Non 
tfefumo! — There is no smoke! which is equivalent to saying, A Pojpe 
is elected, 

§ 7. Election of Pius IX. — On the present occasion, the multi- 
tude had for five days in succession seen the smoke arising from the 
chimney, as a signal that Rome was still without a Pope. On the 
sixth day, however, the election was made. The hour passed and 
no smoke appeared. The closed aperture was broken down, and 
the master of the ceremonies came forth to the multitude, and bor- 
rowing the language of the angels at the birth of Christ, " I bring 
you tidings of great joy" — " Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum,''' an- 
nounced that Cardinal Mastai Feretti was elected to the dignity of 
Pope, under the name of Pius IX. Within the conclave, as soon 
as the fact of his election is ascertained, he is invested with the pon- 
tifical robes, and the cardinals — an hour before his equals — bow be- 
fore him with the lowliest reverence, and kneel to kiss his feet. With- 
out, the air resounds with the shouts of the populace, the beating of 
drums, the rattling of musketry, the ringing of bells, and the roaring 
of the cannon of Saint Angelo ; and all this to celebrate the suc- 
cession of another to the vacant chair of St. Peter the fisherman, 
another king elected to reign over the church of Him who said, 
" My kingdom is not of this world"— and to receive the homage and 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 659 

Early life of the new Pope. First reforms. 

prostrations of. the disciples of Him who said, " One is your master, 
even Christ, and all ye are brethren !" 

"§ 8. Early -life of the new Pope. — The new Pope, whose full 
name was Giovanni Maria Mastai Feretti, was 54 years old at the 
time of his election. He was born at Sinigaglia, in the march of 
Ancona, on May 13, 1792. While yet a child, he is related to have 
had a remarkable escape from drowning. He fell into a pool, and 
was drawn from the water by a poor countryman named Guidi, who 
has lived to see his little charge seated in the so-called chair of St. 
Peter, and to be substantially rewarded by him for the service he 
had rendered half a century before. At the age of 18, young Fe- 
retti visited the city of Rome, and soon after entered upon military 
life. It is related that he enlisted in the army of Napi^eon, but at- 
tained no higher rank than that of a lieutenancy. Upon recovering 
from a dangerous sickness, 'he exchanged the army for the church, 
and soon after becoming a priest, he was sent by Pope Pius VII. to 
Chili in South America, in the capacity of auditor to the (so-called) 
vicar-apostolic of Chili, Mugi, now the Roman Catholic bishop of 
Cita Castello. From Chili, Feretti afterward travelled to Montevi- 
deo and other parts of South America, as a missionary of the Pope. 

On the return of Feretti to his native land, he found that his for- 
mer patron, Pius VII. , was dead, and that he had been succeeded 
in the papal chair by Leo XII. The usual reward of the faithful 
servants of the papacy was not, however, withholden from the suc- 
cessful missionary. In the year 1829, he was raised to the lucrative 
post of archbishop of Spoleto ; three years later, in December, 
1832, he was transferred by the late Pope Gregory XVI. to the 
bishopric of Imola j and in 1840 he was raised to the dignity of Car- 
dinal. 

4 9. The first Reforms. — Suppression- of the Secret Tribunal, fyc, 
and Dismissal of Lambrvscldni. — Immediately upon his accession to 
the Popedom, Pius IX. surprised the world by the adoption of a 
policy as extraordinary as it was novel for an occupant of the Papal 
chair — a policy of political reform. 

'., Leaving, for the present, the discusssion of the motives which 
prompted this apparently liberal policy, we shall now proceed to re- 
late the principal reforms introduced by Pius, chiefly in the words of 
a vigorous writer who is himself an Italian and an exile.* We 
choose to borrow the words of this author, though sometimes a little 
too enthusiastic for our taste, principally because we believe the Huts 
to be correctly stated, and partly because we would not withhold from 
the Pope the meed of praise which is his due. 

At the commencement of the reign of the new Pope, the Italian 
writer referred to represents hi in as casting a look over the eternal 
city, and beholding it lying before him, a den of serpents, a desert 

* See an article on Italy and Pins IX., by (!. V. Seeelii de Casali, in the 
American Review for November, 1817. 



G60 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Suppression of the secret tribunal. Dismissal of Lambruschini. Amnesty for political offenders, 

— the people dying for food, or wandering in anarchy and poverty; 
thousands exiled in foreign lands ; the prisons crowded with political 
offenders ; the government held by the enemies of the people, and 
deaf to their cries. No public instruction ; no industry ; religion 
corrupted by its own ministers ; crime triumphing in every shape of 
depravity ; despotism showing its low and odious front at every step; 
justice unattainable ; the courts, which should be the schools of con- 
science, converted into offices of bribery and gross oppression ; the 
whole state reeling to its centre, and about to fall for ever, and be 
swallowed up. Rather than pass under a successor like Gregory, 
the Roman people would have preferred the dominion of Austria ; 
but Heaven had so favored them, that should their Pontiff perform 
his duty to himself and his officers, they might once again, and per- 
haps for ever, gain a footing among nations, and step forward boldly 
in the race of civilization. 

A few days after his election he suppressed the military warrants, 
a kind of secret tribunal for the seizure and condemnation of political 
offenders — analogous with the Council of Three of the Venetian 
government. 

He then called upon six cardinals to compose a council for delib- 
eration upon public affairs, and resolved upon giving, on a certain 
day of every week, a public audience to all comers, without distinction 
of rank or condition. 

He caused a private letter-box for himself to be placed in the entry 
of the Vatican. 

Lambruschini was still Secretary of State ; and while he continued 
in that office, there was no hope of amelioration for the people ; he 
saw only anarchy and license in the reform movements, and opposed 
giving a constitution to the state, as if it were a merely revolutionary 
policy. To oppose the injurious influence of this minister, Pius 
then conjoined the two offices of foreign affairs and the secretaryship 
in one, and conferred it upon Cardinal Gizzi — a man of liberal and 
enlightened views, who was prepared to sympathize and co-operate 
with Pius in his plans of reform. 

§ 10. Proclamation of the Amnesty for Political Offenders. — At 
the time of the death of Pope Gregory, the estimated number of 
Italian exiles driven from their native land for political offences- 
many of them for daring to whisper the name of liberty — was from 
five to six thousand. Letters containing supplications from the 
friends and families of the exiles, poured in upon the Pope. " Pius ! 
Pius ! have mercy upon us ! pity our families, our brothers, in exile 
and misery !" But, to call back and reinstate all, was an attempt 
serious, if not dangerous. He had been Pope only one month when 
he resolved upon this great act of justice. Cardinal Gizzi gave his 
support to the measure, and on the evening of the memorable 16th of 
July, the amnesty was declared for all political offenders. 

The Romans, notwithstanding all their hopes, were taken by sur- 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 661 

Encourages railroads. Dismisses Gregory's police. Preaches a sermon. 

prise by this new proof of magnanimity in their chief, and the city 
and country were filled with joy and mutual congratulations. A vast 
crowd assembled in the Colosseum and at the Capitol, and marched 
in procession, with wax candles, and singing joyful songs, to the 
Monte Cavallo, to return thanks to their chief, and beg his benedic- 
tion. Since the fall of the last of the Tribunes, there had been 
no such day in Rome. The houses throughout the city, and every 
palace except those of Cardinal Lambruschini and the Austrian am- 
bassador, were illuminated. The vast crowd moved to the ground 
under the balcony of the Pope's palace, and here he extended his 
hands and blessed them. 

On the morning of the next day, the Pope returning in his car- 
riage, the horses were taken from it by the people, who then drew 
him with songs of triumph to the Quirinal palace. No Pope was 
ever treated with an equal degree of attention by the Roman people. 
The festivals and illuminations continued for many days after the 
amnesty, both in the Roman states and hi other parts of Italy. 

The joy of the Bolognese was excessive ; they voted a marble 
statue to Pius IX., and kept up the festivities three days and nights. 
The bills of amnesty posted on the corners of the streets, were 
wreathed with flowers. Political parties throughout all Italy resolved 
themselves into the one party of the Pope. 

§ 11. Encourages Railroads, dismisses Gregory's Police, and 
preaches a Sermon. — To promote industry, commerce, and the ame- 
lioration of the country, on the 10th of November he invited private 
companies of citizens to submit projects for railroads in the Roman 
states. In the meantime he granted economical and other govern- 
mental reforms, and established new institutions for municipal and 
provincial legislation. 

The terrible police of the last Pope was discontinued, and a de- 
cree promulgated, threatening severe judgments against criminal 
offenders, but declaring that no person should be prosecuted for po- 
litical opinions. The employees of Gregory XVI. were discharged 
from office, and liberal and intelligent persons substituted. The se- 
cret and mysterious tribunals were abolished, and the judicial and 
penal systems of Beccari and Filangieri, which abolish capital pun- 
ishment and establish trial by jury, adopted by the compilers of the 
new code. 

On the 18th of November, a vast crowd being assembled from all 
parts, he preached in San Giovanni, in the Lateran, which is the first 
instance of a Pontiff's 'preaching in public. The congregation fol- 
lowed him to the Quirinal palace, on his return, with vivas and cries 
of joy. 

§ 12. Swiss Soldiers dismissed — Press partially liberalized — Jews 
relieved, Sfc. — Beside the above, the following reforms have been 
effected : — 



662 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Swiss soldiers dismissed. Jews relieved. Visit of the peasant Guidi to the Pope 

The six thousand hired Swiss soldiers have been sent home, and 
national and civic guards have been organized in their stead. 

The tariff on cotton and woollen goods, and the enormous internal 
duties on salt,* and other articles, have been reduced. 

Private companies have been authorized to construct four lines of 
railroad, having a total length of about four hundred miles. 

The law concerning the liberty of the press has been so altered 
that the rigid censorship which before existed was changed for a 
somewhat more liberal one, and the censors, except of works on 
religion, must henceforth be laymen. Still, it is a mistake to suppose 
that the freedom of the press exists in Rome. 

The Jews of Rome, who had been cruelly oppressed by the last 
Pope,t and confined to that miserable part of the city called the 
Ghetto, have been relieved from certain special taxes that had been 
imposed on them, and are now permitted to establish themselves 
where they please, in any part of the city. 

^13. Visit of the peasant Guidi to the Pope. — Several anecdotes 
have been related of the Pope, which, if true, are sufficient to show 
that he is not only politic and prudent as a prince, but kind and be- 
nevolent as a man. One of the most interesting is the following ac- 
count of the interview ^between the Pope and the poor countryman 
who, fifty years before, had saved him from a w r atery grave. 

The peasant, Domenico Guidi, was already some seventy years 
old — poor, and destitute of the means of subsistence for himself and 
his daughter. Incited by the fame of Pius IX., after many days of 
sufferings and hardship, the father and daughter arrived at Rome, 
quite destitute, and not knowing how to make themselves known to 

* Says a correspondent of the' New York Observer, in a letter dated Rome, 
April 27, 1848 — " The demoralizing effect of a single unjust law is great. For 
example, take the late government monopoly here of the manufacture of salt, 
and the enormous duty imposed on it. 'This profit/ says a writer here, 'is 
chiefly wrung from the poorer classes of the agriculturists. The most grievous 
consequences arise from the rigor with which it is protected. We have seen poor 
peasants inhabiting the seashore, expiate in a dungeon the crime of boiling sea 
water to obtain a little salt. We have seen saline springs destroyed, choked up 
with stones and earth, and soldiers placed to guard them, at the risk of conflict 
and bloodshed with the poor wretches who sought to profit by these gratuitous 
gifts of Providence.' " 

f Gregory XVI. in 1843, in connexion with the Holy Inquisition of Rome, 
published a cruel edict against the persecuted Jews. In this decree, they were 
forbidden to receive Catholic masses, or to engage Christians in th< ir service. 
The conclusion of this intolerant decree, conceived in the true spirit cf Popery, 
is as follows : " No Israelite shall sleep out of his Ghetto, nor induce a Christian 
to sleep in that accursed enclosure, nor carry on friendly relations with the faith- 
ful, nor trade in sacred ornaments, nor books of any kind, under a penalty of five 
hundred crowns, and of seven years' imprisonment. The Israelites, in interring 
their dead, shall not make use of any ceremony, nor shall they use torches, under 
penalty of confiscation. Those who shall violate our edicts shall incur the penal- 
ties of the Holy Inquisition. The present measure shall be communicated in the 
Ghetto, to be published in the synagogue. Dated from ' The Chancellary of 
the Holy Inquisition, June 24th, i843.' Signed, 

" Fra Vincenzo Salina, In quisitor- General." 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 663 

The soldiers bad bread. Opposition of Austria to the reforms of Pius. 

the Pontiff. Since his election Pius IX. had strictly forbidden pub- 
lic beggary, and at his own cost had founded splendid almshouses for 
the destitute. The officers arrested Domenico Guidi and his daugh- 
ter as vagrants, and took them to the police-office. After discovering 
who he was, and the intent of his journey, the commissioner informed 
the Pope of this story of Guidi and his daughter. Both were there- 
upon well dressed by the order of the Pope, and taken in a car- 
riage to the Vatican. On the 28th of March, 1847, accompanied 
by the physician of the government and by his daughter, Guidi en- 
tered the pontifical hall of the Vatican, to be admitted to audience, 
but fainted at the entrance, and fell upon the floor. The officers 
and prelates of the court, with the physician, relieved the unfortu- 
nate Guidi, and the Pope gave order that he should be removed to 
a comfortable room of the palace, and receive every attention. 

The next day, when Guidi had sufficiently recovered himself, he 
was admitted to audience. Nothing could be more interesting and 
admirable than the interview between the Pontiff and the saver of 
his life. Pius received him as an old friend, and with the kindest 
expressions. Guidi could neither speak nor show any demonstra- 
tions, so great was his astonishment and admiration. The Pope 
would not permit him to kneel before him, but embracing him, he 
said, " Guidi, you were the friend of my childhood, and the saver of 
my life. You shall surfer no more from want. You and your 
daughter shall go to Sinigaglia to my palace, and live with my friends." 
The next day Guidi left Rome, in a post-carriage. His daughter 
was placed in a house of education, and Guidi still lives comfortably 
in the Mastai palace. 

§ 14. The Soldier's bad Bread. — Another pleasing anecdote re- 
lated of Pius, is the following : It has already been mentioned that 
one of the early steps taken by the Pope was the granting of a pub- 
lic audience to all classes of his subjects, without distinction of rank, 
and without the common ceremonies of presentation. On these oc- 
casions the meanest of his subjects was allowed full permission to 
state his grievances and to prefer his petition. At one of these audi- 
ences, a common soldier brought to the Pope a loaf of miserable 
bread, and said it was a fair sample of their daily allowance. Pius 
took the loaf, invited the minister of war to dinner, and laid it on his 
plate. The astonished functionary turned pale when he saw it, and 
the Pope inquired if that was the kind of bread he furnished to his 
soldiers. After that he passed through the barracks, and having 
found some four thousand similar loaves, he ordered them to he given 
away, imprisoned the bakers who furnished them, degraded the min- 
ister of war from his office, and supplied each soldier with money to 
buy bread for himself. 

§ 15. Opposition of Austria to the Pope's V»\ forms. — During the 
reign of Pope Gregory XVI., the despotic government of Austria 
had exercised a controllinn: influence in the Roman states. The im- 



664 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Design against the Pope's life. Conspiracy of the anniversary of the amnesty. 

perious and tyrannical Prince Meiternich, then at the summit of his 
power, had more than once listened to the supplications of the Pope 
to protect him against the rising spirit of liberty among his own peo- 
ple. At the commencement of his reign the attempted revolution of 
1S31 had been quelled by Austrian armies, and Austrian bayonets 
alone had prevented the patriots of Italy from demanding and se- 
curing from the old Pope all and more than all the reforms that have 
been granted by his more liberal and politic successor. 

At the commencement of the reign of Pope Pius, Metternich saw 
himself in danger of losing the influence he had long possessed in 
the Roman states, and by means of the Austrian ambassador in 
Rome, used every means to turn Pius IX. from his course of reform, 
and to induce him to follow the policy of his predecessor. The 
ambassador exerted himself to the utmost to create a breach between 
the Romans and the Pope ; and failing in this, excited against him 
several of the cardinals, whose power had been much abridged since 
the death of Gregory XVI., besides a number of fanatical priests 
and friars, who resolved, if possible, to effect his destruction. 

The first conspiracy against the life of Pius IX. was to have been 
accomplished on the 5th of April, 1847. This diabolical plot has 
been shown by clear evidence to be the work of the fanatics and of 
Austria. The French ambassador, Signor Rossi, revealed their de- 
signs and names to the Pope. Instead of immediately arresting 
them, he followed the policy of a man confident of his position. 
The conspirators had put their names into a vase, and drawn the one 
who was to visit the Pope and kill him during the interview. A 
Capuchin, or religious friar, was the person whose name came out 
first ; and, followed by the other conspirators, he went to the Vati- 
can, and asked to speak with the Pope. Pius sent for the name 
of the friar, which was boldly given. His name was on the list. 
Orders were immediately given to arrest him. As he was admitted 
and entered the hall, two pistols and a poisoned dagger were 
found upon his person. He was then sent to the castle St. Angelo 
with the rest ; and many others were afterward arrested. The fact 
had to be kept secret for a short time, in order to avert the vengeance 
of the Roman people from the friars. Other conspiracies, in which 
ecclesiastics were engaged, have been discovered in the Roman states. 
Cardinal Delia Genga, nephew of Pope Leo XII., was arrested and 
sent to the castle St. Angelo, for not fulfilling the orders of the new 
government, while he was a legate in Romagna. Some priests 
preached in the churches against Pius IX. Of these, some Were 
arrested ; others, known to have been ultra-Catholic, were mur-dered 
by the irritated people. 

§ 16. Cofispiracy of the Anniversary of the Amnesty. — The 18th 
of July was the anniversary of the amnesty. To celebrate this 
epoch, the people were making sumptuous preparations, erecting tri- 
umphal arches, temples to Amnesty, illuminations, fire-works, and 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 665 

Plan of the conspirators. Austrian invasion of the Papal states. Seizure of Ferrara. 

pageants, as such things are done in Rome. Every one looked for- 
ward with joy to the approaching anniversary, when a population of 
180,000 inhabitants would unite in celebrating the election of Pius 
IX. and the Amnesty. But now the festival was to be made a car- 
nage ; thousands of people were secretly marked for slaughter, and 
the Pope was to be hurried off from Rome, while an anti-Pope was 
to be elected in his stead. The Austrian emissaries distributed 
money and granted favors to whoever would engage in the conspiracy. 
Arms, funds, all the necessary means were offered, and when the 
work was accomplished, the same day she made ready to send an 
army to invade the Roman states. As it was, her advance was no 
farther than Ferrara. A few days previous to the execution of the 
plot, by the boldness of some citizens of Faenza, and by the energy 
of Ciceronachia, a man of the people, all was discovered, and Pius 
triumphed again over his enemies. 

The plan of the conspirators was to attack the soldiers and gen- 
darmes on the evening of the 18th of July, while the people and the 
army were celebrating the anniversary of the Amnesty. They were to 
attack the troops with daggers, on which were carved the words, "Long 
life to Plus jTX," as if the authors of this massacre were the exiles 
and followers of Pius IX. The conspirators, mingled with the sol- 
diers, were to kill all the liberal citizens — to carry the Pope to Naples 
— to oblige him to abdicate, and to call for an Austrian intervention. 

As soon as this atrocious plot was discovered, Pius IX. said that 
" the time for clemency had passed, it was necessary to act with se- 
verity." He ordered the festival to proceed, as if nothing had hap- 
pened, and established the National Guard. The government used 
all the necessary precautions that the crisis demanded, and named 
his cousin, the cardinal Feretti, Secretary of State, instead of Gizzi. 
The National Guard was organized, and men of all ages and con- 
dition enlisted. The wealthy families offered arms and money, and 
their palaces to be used as barracks for the troops. The next day, 
after the nomination of Feretti, the advocate Morandi succeeded 
Grasselini as Pro-governor of Rome. Grasselini fled the same night 
to Naples. The active movers in arranging the plot, appear to have 
been a number of disbanded agents of a secret police of the late 
Pontificate. Nothing appeared directly to implicate the cardinal 
Lambruschini, who remained quietly at Civita-Vecchi, notwithstand- 
ing that the people believed him to be one of the conspirators. 

% 17. The Austrian Invasion of the Papal States, and Seizure 
of Ferrara. — If any proof were wanting that the conspiracy we have 
related was set on foot by Austrian agency and intrigue, the occupa- 
tion of Ferrara, a town in the Papal states, on the very same day, by 
Austrian troops, is abundantly sufficient. When the governor of 
Ferrara, Cardinal Ciacchi, protested against this invasion of a peace- 
ful state, the Austrian general calmly inquired whether he had not 
received special notice from Rome of the expected arrival of the 



666 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The Pope's reforms as a prince no guaranty for reforms as a piiest. 

Austrian army in Ferrara ; thus establishing the fact of a mutual agree- 
ment between the Austrian conspirators at Rome, and Austrian in- 
vaders at Ferrara. In the broad noonday, those barbarous hordes 
invaded the town, and compelled the pontifical garrison to surrender 
the different posts into their hands. To crown their insolence, they 
sent a guard of honor to the cardinal legate, who immediately aban- 
doned the government-house, and removed to the bishop's residence. 
On receipt of this intelligence at Rome a council of cardinals was 
assembled, and Pius IX., moved by the signal insult thus offered to 
him, declared that he would protest ; and that if that new protest 
was disregarded, he would decree a sentence of excommunication 
against the invaders, and that if that measure did not avail, he would 
hoist the Jabarum (the sacred standard of the Papacy), and march 
against the Austrians at the head of his people. Several of the 
Powers of Europe protested against this high-handed outrage on the 
part of Austria against Pius IX. ; and when the Austrians discovered 
the failure of the conspiracy at Rome, they shortly after evacuated 
Ferrara, and departed from the dominions of the Pope. 

§ 18. The Pope's Reforms as a Prince no guaranty for Reforms 
as a Priest. — It is not surprising that in America, and other lands 
that have tasted the blessings of freedom, a widespread sympathy 
should have been felt in the reformatory movements of the Pope, and 
a universal indignation at the efforts of Austrian despots to crush 
these movements toward political liberty, in the bud. Nor is it 
strange that some have fondly hoped that Pius was about to extend 
these liberal movements into the domain of religion, and that, per- 
chance, Popery itself might change its character, and instead of be- 
ing, as heretofore, a system of spiritual despotism, falsehood, and 
tyranny, that it was about to become a religion of truth, of gentle- 
ness, and of love. No mistake could be greater than this. Sooner 
might " the Ethiopian change his skin, and the leopard his spots." 
These reforms, such as they are, are political, not religious. Pius is 
a Papist still. 

The position occupied by a Pope of Rome is one which is entirely 
sui generis. It has no parallel among the sovereigns or dignitaries 
of the civilized world. He is at the same time a Prince and a Pon- 
tiff. In the former character, he is the head and monarch of the 
state ; in the latter (according to the creed of Romanism), he is the 
head and monarch of the church. As a Prince, he may alter, 
amend, or modify, the political institutions of the state over which he 
reigns ; while as a Pontiff he is himself bound by the infallible de- 
crees of his church, as embodied in the acts and canons and anathe- 
mas of preceding Popes and councils. Hence, it is a mistake, 
though many fall into it, to imagine that Pius IX. 's reforms as a 
prince are to be considered as any guaranty of reforms as a priest. 
The government of the Roman states, hitherto the most wretched in 
Europe, may perhaps be ameliorated by the adoption of a portion 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 667 

Pius no Protestant Pope. Testimony of Roman Catholics. 

of those liberal institutions and political rights which have been long 
enjoyed by every Protestant nation ; while Popery remains the same 
bible-hating, heretic-cursing system of bigotry, intolerance, and spir- 
itual despotism, as it ever has been. No mistake can be greater 
than to suppose that the present Pope's "political acts" are to be 
regarded as an index of his " ecclesiastical dispositions," that the 
reforms he has granted in the state are to be followed by any 
changes or modifications in the system of Popery itself. Infallibility 
and immutability are the boast of the Romish church. "It is a te- 
net of their creed," says one of their own writers " that what their 
faith ever has been, such it was from the beginning, such it is now, 
and such it ever will be." # 

§ 19. Pius IX. no Protestant Pope, Romanists being witnesses, 
— None are more strenuous than Roman Catholics themselves in de- 
nying that the liberality of the Pope as a Prince is to be regarded as 
any indication of his feelings as a Priest. "How widely," says the 
writer of an article lately published in Bishop Hughes' Freeman's 
Journal, "has the belief spread that Pope Pius IX. was in every 
sense of the word a liberal Pope : that his political acts, misread 
by infidels and revolutionists, afforded an index of his ecclesiastical 
dispositions : that his concessions to tJie spirit of the time fixed a deep 
gulf between him and the old Gregories and Innocents of the Pope- 
dom : that a new spirit was being breathed into the Catholic religion 
by the secular influences of the time. . . . How widely have these 
most delusive hopes spread ! How fondly have they been nursed 
and cherished ! In every country, amongst weak, or wicked, or ig- 
norant men, this thought has made its way — that in a liberal Pope 
was to be found a traitor to his own church, an apostle of some mad 
scheme of universal fusion, a destroyer of the antiquated dogmas of 
Christianity. . . . In Ireland, as elsewhere, the character of the Pope 
has been misconceived ; the nature of his liberality mistaken. There, 
as elsewhere, dreams have been nursed of a false peace — a peace, 
the characteristics of which were to be universal philanthropy, tolera- 
tion, charity— a peace, to attain and preserve which, the odious ex- 
clusiveness of Catholicity was to be abolished for ever ; and — not 
merely in civil laws — but in the language of its own claims, and the 
forms of its own institutions, it was to bring itself down to the mis- 
erable level of the sects. "t 

According to the admission of this Roman Catholic writer, the 
boasted reforms of Pope Pius are nothing more than " concessions 
to the spirit of the time ;" and every Protestant should know that 
this policy is as old as the Papacy itself. Popes have seldom rc- 

* Charles Butler, in his Book of the Church. 

f The article from which the above extracts are taken, was published in the 
Freeman's Journal, the week following the great meeting in the Broadway 
Tabernacle, in November, 1847, for the glorification of Pius l\. ; a fitting re 
ward for American Protestants who are willing to lick the dual beneath the feet 
of " his Holiness," the Pope of Rome. 



668 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The Pope's reforms dictated solely by policy. Pius IX. no Republi can*. 

fused, in secular politics, to commit themselves to the humor of the 
day ; but it was that they might always be Popes — spiritual despots, 
ecclesiastical tyrants, lording it over the consciences and souls of men. 
If any one doubts whether the partial political reforms of Pius were 
in reality demanded by the " spirit of the times," let him refer back 
to the secret manifesto which we have copied in section the second 
of this supplement, and then let him remember that that document, 
demanding all and more than the present Pope has granted, was in 
circulation before Pius had dreamed of the Papacy, and while he 
was simply Bishop of Imola. 

§ 20. The Pope's Political Reforms dictated by Policy alone. — 
After the caveat just quoted from Roman Catholic authority, it is to 
be hoped that there is but little danger that Protestants should in- 
dulge the vain hope of any essential change in the Antichristian sys- 
tem of Popery, or that they should mistake the true character, as 
political acts, of the reformatory movements of the present Pope, 
since his elevation to the sovereignty of the Roman states. True 
policy pointed to the course which as a temporal sovereign, he has 
hitherto pursued. Had Pius — as many minions of the last Pope 
fondly hoped he would — pursued a policy similar to that of Gregory 
XVI., the volcano of popular indignation, which was just ready to 
burst upon the old Pope and Lambruschini, would have poured forth 
its burning lava upon his own devoted head. Pius was too much a 
man of the world to suppose it possible that he could prevent the 
eruption of this volcano, unless he quenched its fires. The act of 
amnesty would cost him nothing, and would gain him thousands of 
friends. Nothing could be easier ; nothing could be more politic. 
His experience as a soldier, and, above all, his travels and observa- 
tion in America, had taught him some lessons relative to the difficulty 
of suppressing the spirit of liberty, and he was too politic and too 
prudent — perhaps he was too patriotic and benevolent — to neglect 
those lessons. Here, doubtless, was the secret of his movements of 
reform. 

§ 21. Pins IX. no Republican — His Royal Speech to the Roman 
Consalta. — It has been a very general error in America and else- 
where, that Pius IX., by the partial political reforms he has conceded 
to his people, intended to make some approach toward republicanism. 
Sufficient has already transpired to prove this hope fallacious. It is 
true that he may find it difficult to lay the spirit of liberty which has 
been evoked, and the Romans may ere long discover the folly of 
associating the spiritual and temporal power in the same individual ; 
but we may rest assured that a Pope of Rome will never voluntarily 
lay aside the temporal sovereignty which his predecessors have, for 
so many centuries, enjoyed. Pius IX. is no exception to this remark, 
and time will show, if it has not already, that nothing but absolute 
compulsion will ever induce him to resign the dignity of a Prince, 
and to return to the condition of a simple priest, though at the head 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 669 

The Pope's royal speech to the Roman Consulta. 

of the Romish church. The Pope has already begun to realize the 
danger lest he may soon be compelled to relinquish his political sov- 
ereignty, and has publicly uttered his rebuke of those "restless" 
spirits who have manifested a disposition to be satisfied with nothing 
short of a separation between the temporal and the spiritual power. In 
October, 1847, as a sort of compliance with the increasing demands of 
the Roman people for a Constitution, Pius IX. established at Rome 
a kind of Council of State, consisting of delegates from the different 
Roman provinces, called the Consulta. At the first session of this 
Consulta, or parliament (as it may be called), held on the 15th of 
November, after an address to the Pope from the President of the 
Consulta, assuring him, in the name of all the deputies, of their 
homage and obedience, Pius IX. replied in the following remarkable 
and significant language: — 

" I thank you for your good intentions, and appreciate them as tending to the 
public good. It has been with a view to the public good that, from the first 
moment of my being raised to the pontifical throne, I have done, under the in- 
spiration of God, all that I have been able to do; and I am ready, by God's as- 
sistance, to do as much in future, without, however, in anywise retrenching the 
sovereignty of the 'pontificate ; as I have received it full and entire from my pred- 
ecessors, so will I in like manner transmit it to my successors. 

" I have for my witnesses my three millions of subjects — I have all Europe 
for a witness of what I have hitherto done to bring my subjects near to me, and 
unite myself with them, that I might become acquainted with their wants, and 
make provision for them. It is with the object of better knowing these wants, 
and providing for the exigencies of the public welfare, that I have united you in 
a permanent council — it is to listen, in case of need, to your advice, and avail 
myself of its' aid in my sovereign resolutions, in which I shall consult my own 
conscience, and confer upon it with my ministers and the sacred college. 

" He will deceive himself greatly who shall see in the Consulta di' Stato, 
which I have just created, a realization of his own Utopian notions, or the germ 
of an institution incompatible with the pontifical sovereignty. " 

Pius IX. having delivered this speech with some warmth of em- 
phasis, paused an instant, and then resuming his natural mildness, 
continued to the following effect : — 

11 These words are not addressed to any of you, whose social education and 
Christian and civil probity, as well as the loyalty and rectitude of your inten- 
tions, were known to me from the moment at which I proceeded to your election. 
Neither do these words apply to the mass of my subjects, for I am sure of their 
fidelity and obedience. I know that the hearts of my subjects are united with 
mine in the love of order and concord. 

"But, unfortunatelv, there exist some persons (small in number, it is true, 
still they do exist), wfw, having nothing to lose, are fond of disorder and revolt, 
and even abuse concessions. It is to them that these words are addressed — let 
them well consider their signification. In the co-operation ol' the deputies I see 
only a firm support from persons who, divesting themselves of all private inter- 
ests, will labor with me, by their councils* for the public ^ood, and who will not 
be stopped by the vain wonts of restless and injudicious nun. You will aid me 
with your wisdom to find that which is most necessary for the, security of the 
throne, and for the real happiness of my subjects." 

The attention of the reader is particularly called to those portions 
of the above address which we have italicised. In these sentences 

43 



670 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

rfcfil zpe's proclamation. 

Pius IX. seems to have felt that he was a Kixg. How royally does 
he tell the representatives of the people why he has sent for them — 
"to listen, in case of need, to your advice, and avail myself of its 
aid in hi sovereig-x resolutions, in which I shall consult 
my own conscience !" Even the Autocrat of all the Russias 
could not have spoken more like a sovereign and a despot. — i; Re- 
member" (says the Pope, in substance), i; you are not to legislate, 
but to advise. Pius is Master still !" 

'. 22. The Pope's Proclamation. — Still. Pius IX. had granted to 
the Roman people no Constitution, and there were thousands of Ital- 
ians in the Papal dominions who had before suffered for the cause of 
liberty, who could not be deceived by this wretched shadow of a 
popular representation. The people were clamorous for a Constitu- 
tion. To allay this agitation, the Po:^e issued the following procla- 
mation, published at Rome, on the 10th of February. 1848. This 
document may be valuable for future reference, as it shows, in the 
Pope's own words, what he has done for his people, and what he 
intends to do for them, as well as what he does not intend to do. It 
bints, moreover, in no ambiguous terms, at what the Pope considers 
his safeguard in any future emergency, viz., the two hundred millions 
of Papists throusfhoift the world, who, to whatever nation they be- 
long, still regard themselves as his faithful subjects and servants. 

- Pius P. P. IX. — The Pontiff, who in the course of two years has received 
from you so many proofs of love and faith, is not deaf to your desires, to your 
fears. We never cease ::< meditate within ourselves how to develop most use- 
fully, .-''.: - duties to the church, those civil institutions which we 
esta lished, not forced by necessity, but- from the desire for the happiness of our 
pec le, -" the esteem we felt for their noble qualities. We also turned our 
thoughts to the r: eg :i:n of the army, before even public opinion demanded 
i: ; ... - . " > s nghtthe means of obtaining the service of foreign officers to 
aid those who honorably serve the Pontifical government. The better to extend 
the sphere of those who can bring their talents and experience to bear upon pub- 
rms, we have also taken measures tc increase the laical part of our Coun- 
cil of Ministers. If bhe unanimous will of the princes to .. :_. Italy owes the 
new reforms is a . : the reservation of those boons, received with so 
much gratitude and applause, we cultivate it by maintaining and. consolidating 
the most amicable relations with them. LN"othing, in short, which may be con- 
ducive to the tranquillity and dignity of tb :b ever be neglected. 

■• O. Roman* and Pontifical subjects, by your father, an § -i, who has 

given you the most certain proof of his affection for you. and is ready to give 
vou more, if he be worthy to obtain from God that he mav inspire your hearts 
and those of all the Italians with the pacific spirit of his wisdom : but he is ready 
at the same time :; resist, : ~ the istUutions already cone-:: 

orderly violence, as he rntrary to '... and to 

your happiness. L:s:e::. then, to the paternal voice which adm :u, nor 

be removed bv that crv that proceeds from unknown mouths, to agitate the peo- 
ple of Italv with the terror of a foreio bed and prepared by internal con- 
spiracies, or bv the malignant ignorance of those who govern. This is. indeed, 
: to impel you by terror to seek public safety hi disorder: to confound by 
tumult the cour:b.~ :: y or ruler: and to prepare, by creating confusion, pre- 
texts for a war that could never, by any other motive, be declared against us. 
Vrhat danger, in fact, can impend over Italy, so long as a bond of gratitude and 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 671 

Effects in Italy of the French Revolution. Address to the Pope. 

'confidence unites the strength of the people with the wisdom of princes, with the 
sacredness of right ? 

" But we principally — we, the head and sovereign Pontiff of the most Holy 
Catholic religion, should we not have in our defence, if we were unjustly attacked, 
innumerable sons who would defend the centre of Catholic unity like the house 
of their father ? It is, indeed, a great blessing among the many which Heaven 
hath imparted to Italy, that scarce three millions of our subjects have two hun- 
dred millions of brothers of every nation and of every tongue. This was, in more 
•dangerous times, and in the confusion of the whole Roman world, the safeguard 
of Rome. It is for this the ruin of Italy was never complete. This will ever 
be her defence, so long as this Apostolic See shall reside in her centre. 

" Oh, then, great God, shower thy blessings on Italy, and preserve for her thi9 
most precious boon of all, faith ! Bless her with the benediction that thy vicar, 
prostrated before Thee, humbly demandeth ! Bless her with the benediction 
that the saints to whom she gave birth, the Queen of Saints, who protects her, 
the Apostles whose glorious relics she preserves, thy Incarnate Son, who sent 
his representative upon earth to reside in this same Rome, ask of Thee !" 

§ 23. Effects in Italy of the French Revolution of 1848. — In 
the document just quoted, the Pope speaks of his resolution to 
** resist demands contrary to his duties and to the people's hap- 
piness. 5 ' By this, he unquestionably meant the demands which 
were everyday becoming louder and more frequent for a Constitution. 
In less than two weeks, however, from the issuing of that proclama- 
tion, an argument arose for concessions to the spirit of liberty, which 
the most despotic sovereigns of Europe, were unable to resist — this 
was the French revolution of February, 1848, by which Louis 
Philippe was driven from the throne of France by an indignant and 
outraged people. As soon as the news of this event, and the subse- 
quent proclamation of the republic was known at Rome, an immense 
crowd of people proceeded with banners, and amid cheers for t/ie 
Constitution and the French republic, to the Quirinal, where a depu- 
tation was chosen to present the following address to the Pope : — 

"Holy Father — The recent events of France are of such impor- 
tance that they must exercise the greatest influence in every part of 
Europe, and particularly in Italy. The subjects of your Holiness, 
with the strongest attachment to your person and throne, feel the ne- 
cessity of expressing their fears and hopes in this emergency. For 
the purpose of giving a wise direction to the movement of political 
passions which may rise in the present circumstances, your subjects 
think it urgent that a Constitution be immediately published, in har- 
mony with the institutions of the other Italian states, and that all the 
efforts of the nation be turned to the maintenance of interior order 
and exterior independence. Hence, if a homogeneous, compact, 
and liberal ministry, equal to the gravity of the case, was universally 
called for some time ago, it now becomes <</' tie utmost necessity, and 
every moment of delay might produce fatal and irreparable evils, 
which your generous heart has constantly striven to avoid. -Men 
able to support so great a weight, and who enjoy public confidence, 
are not wanting among the laity of your dominions, and public opinion 
has already called your attention upon them. You, who, bv giving 



672 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The Pope's address to the munici pality. Submission to princes. 

your benediction to Italy, have, in the face of the world, associated 
her cause with that of religion, will now perceive that your temporal 
power is directly involved in the destinies of our common fatherland. 
And it will be the greatest glory of your Pontificate, if, in the midst 
of the tempests now preparing in Europe, Italy, avoiding the evils 
that may result from them, is capable of preserving internal order, 
establishing her liberty, and regaining her independence. Such is 
the faith your subjects have in your intentions, that they are convinced 
you will confirm in this moment of trial the universal opinion of your 
wisdom and magnanimity." 

The journals of Rome publish the following reply of the Pope, to 
the address of the municipality, calling for constitutional institutions 
and guaranties : — 

*• The events which follow precipitately and in rapid succession, sufficiently 
justify the demand which you, Signor Senator, addressed to me in the name of 
the magistrates and council. It is well known that I am unceasingly engaged in 
giving to the government that form which you, gentlemen, demand, and which 
nations require. But every one understands the serious difficulty with which 
he who is invested with two great dignities, has to contend. What in a secular 
government may be done in a night, can not be effected in the Pontifical govern- 
ment without mature examination, since it is very difficult to trace exactly the 
line which shall distinguish one power from the other ; nevertheless, I flatter 
myself that, in a few days, the work being completed, I shall be able to an- 
nounce the new form of government, which will obtain general satisfaction, and 
more particularly that of the Senate and Council, who are more minutely ac- 
quainted with the circumstances and the position of the country. May God 
bless these my desires and labors ; and if conducive to the welfare of religion, 
I shall stay at the foot of the crucifix, to offer up thanks for all the events Prov- 
idence has allowed to take place: whilst I, not as much as Prince, but as head 
of the universal church, shall be content if they contribute to the glory of God.'' 

The feelings with which Pius IX. regards the recent revolts by 
which Europe has been distinguished against crowned oppressors, 
can not be mistaken, when the following extract from a speech of the 
Pope in a Consistory at Rome, is duly considered : " We are greatly 
afflicted at seeing, that in different places, men are met with among 
the people, who, boldly malting an unwarrantable use of our name, 
and being guilty of the greatest insult to our person and our supreme 
dignity, dare to deny to princes the submission which is due them, to 
raise multitudes against them, and to excite criminal movements ; all 
of which is so contrary to our thoughts, that, in our encyclical letter,* 
addressed to all our venerable brethren, the bishops, we did not fail 
to inculcate the obedience due to princes and powers, and which, 
according to the precepts of the Christian law, no one can cast off 
without crime, unless it be in the event of anything being ordained 
contrary to the laws of God and the Church." 

§ 24. Outlines of the (so-called) Constitution, granted to his sub- 
jects by the Pope. — At length, on the 14th of March, 184S, a proc- 
lamation was issued at Rome, authenticated by the sign-manual of 

* This encyclical letter will be found printed in full at the close of the present 
historical sketch. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 673 

Outlines of the new Constitution granted to the Italian people. 

the Pope, granting a Constitution to his subjects. The friends of free- 
dom throughout the world should read and study this stingy, forced, 
and contemptible concession to the people of Rome, which is called 
a Constitution, and which, be it remembered, is the ne plus ultra of 
a nation's rights, in the view of that Pontiff, who, even by Protestant 
Americans, in their mistaken sympathy, has been lauded to the 
skies as " the Apostle of Liberty." How would America, or any 
other nation that knows what liberty is, be satisfied with a Constitu- 
tion such as that of which the following is a brief abstract? We 
invite the special attention of the American Protestant admirers 
and worshippers of Pius IX. to those items which we have printed 
in italics. 

" The College of Cardinals (chosen by the Pope) is to be constituted a Senate, 
inseparable from the same, and two Deliberative Councils for the formation of 
the laws are to be established, consisting of the ' High Council' and the 4 Coun- 
cil of Deputies.' 

*'* The judicial tribunals are to be independent of the government, and no ex- 
traordinary commission courts are to be in future established. The National 
Guard is to be considered an institution of the state. 

u The Pope convokes and prorogues the Legislative Chambers, and dissolves 
the Council of Deputies, being required to convoke a new Chamber within three 
months, which will be the ordinary duration of the annual session. The sessions 
are to be public. 

" The members of the Senate are to be appointed by the Pope for life, and their 
number is not unlimited. The qualification of a Senator is the age of thirty years, 
and the plenary exercise of civil and political rights. 

" The Senate will be chosen, par preference, from the prelates, ecclesiastics, 
ministers, judges, councillors of state, consistorial lawyers, and the possessors of 
an income of four thousand scudi* per annum. 

" The Pope will appoint the President and Vice-Presidents. 

" The second council will be elective, on the numerical basis of one deputy to 
every thirty thousand souls. The electors are to consist of the gonfalon ieri 
^mayors), priors, and elders of the cities and communes ; the possessors of a cap- 
ital of three hundred scudi ; the payers of direct taxes to the amount of twelve 
ecudi per annum ; the members of the colleges of their faculties, and the titular 
professors of the universities; the members of the councils of discipline, the ad- 
vocates and attorneys practising in the collegiate tribunals, the laureates ad 
honorem in the state universities, the members of the chambers of commerce} 
the heads of factories and industrial establishments, and the heads of scientific 
and public institutions assessed for certain amounts. 

" The qualification of a deputy is the possession of a capital of three thousand 
scudi, or the payment of taxes to the amount of one hundred scudi per annum, 
and the members of colleges and professors of universities, &c, will be eligible 
ex officio. 

"A distinct electoral law will regulate the elections of deputies. 'The per- 
sons of the members of both councils are sacred, as far as their votes and 
speeches are concerned, but it appears that the privileges of freed. mi from ar- 
rest on civil and criminal process are limited to the actual session, and a month 
before and after. 

"All laws and new taxes must be sanctioned bv these two councils and assented 
toby the Pope ; but the councils are not to be allowed to propose hues which may 
affect ecclesiastical or mixed affairs, which may be opposed to thecanons and dis- 
cipline of the church, or which may tend to vary or modify the present statutes* 
They are also forbidden to discuss the ' religious diplomatic relations' if the Holy 
See to foreign countries. 

* The Roman scudo (plural scudi) is equal to one dollar 



674 SUPPLEMENT TC THE 



?;;:;::.:_ .: "i T . ;i v... . . - •-■ " ie err 7 — zz: ::' :. :1 r.;J::i r:^i~rir:~ t:: : .:. : L 

J he 3iscus3MHi of financial matters ex pes ::. . ; - the _ : Lof 

Dr IT'rS. T'.i ■' 2_ " " -. \ " " . f P/_"f ■.:''../ 

f&e College of Cardinals, and to ecclesiastic purposes ge teraUy, as well as to the 
p?;^;^; ;: :he ;.~":"-.> .::_.•;■: :.:: ::,.:. :.ie P i~~:- = . LT-ir^s. :.::- r:::::-rr/i::T :f 
the apostolical palaces and museums,, and various other purposes, is fixed at 
six hundred thousand scudi per annum, incluc:: :_ huid for contingen- 

cies. The canons, tributes, and dues, amounting to the annual sum of thirteen 
thousand scudi, are to remain at the enti disposal of die Pre-:. The aim r 
are responsible for their action? . i have a right to speak in both councils, 
whether members or not. „ 

The ~TS?ion of the Chambers will :? 5 :.r r : ':y : ".;-:- ~ti:'i :: :hr reir-iig 

P: :'.: :V .::: : '.. -:- ne~ P:re n"^?: rcivrie then 1 r:::r_:h i::er his elfirlon. X.f 

ministers are to be confirmed and chosen by die Soon loUege : Cardmafa]. 

The rights of temporal so?: _ Exercised a defunct Pontiff are 

tested in the Sacred College during the interregnum. 

44 There will also be a Council of State composed of ten councillors and a 
body of auditors not exceeding : v r-:r. This council will be leqim 
draw up projects of laws, and to give its 2 fivice on administrative affairs in - 

: : e m ergency. ME ::;s:erial f an : :: :: 3 m : ; also be conferred upon it by a special 
law. 

• The present statute will be enforced on the opening of the new Councils, 
which will- take place about the first M nday in The functions of the 

present Council of State will cease : ys rvious to the opening of the 

Councils; but it will, nevertheless, continue : . :. e such adrnini-: 
measures as mav be presented to it for con-i r . ati All the legislative enact- 

ments, not contrary to the decrees of the present statute, r7nain in force. 

" The prof ession of the F V ■ is indispensable as a qualification fay 

the exercise of civil and political rights" 

^25. Thh Cc r ~ ".': -:.: :v r AG.. — T':-: : - of t h 

vestt : the Pope and his Cardinals. — Such is an outline of the C : .- 
which Pius IX. after nearly twe years :: promise and eva- 
sion and delay, has it length presented to his subjects. Well may 
we apply to this worse than contemptible result :: the 
study and labor of the modfrr: " A" :: : " Libert ." the biting sar- 
casm by which the Latin poet rel ikes the ::;.::: or authoi whose 
labored openings and mighty promises result onlv in abortion and 
imbecility — 

"Pamri-i-r irenres: n=s::— r rllizzluz v:/:~ * — Horace. 

If anything were wanting :: convince the American people that 
then : . _-ratulations were premature, and that Pi us IX. is no more 
the friend of genuine liberty than the spiritual _.r ; : - and tyrants 

who have preceded him : n the Papal thro::: this miserable 

. :ion of a constitution is sufE ::: 
H: ' :.._T r.iousiy is this instrument constructed, sc :- : . while ap- 
parently making concessions to the people, to retain all ihe sd 
of powei where it has evei : :::: sin 3e the establishment of the 1 : >a] 
despotism — with the Pope. his Cardinals, and Priests. The mem- 
bers :: the Senate are to be a: minted :: :'.: Pope. The President 
and Vice-Presidents are to be appointed 65 the Pope. The Legisfct 
tive Chambers :.e to be convoked and prorogue* at Ens pleasure, 

* The mountains are in travail — and ■ hide moose is born. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 675 

All power with the Pope and Cardinals. Poor, priest-ridden Italy. 

by the Pope. The Council of Deputies, should they at any time 
pTove refractory or disobedient, may immediately be dissolved by the 
Pope. The discussion of financial matters belongs exclusively to the 
Council of Deputies ; but as though afraid to trust them for his own 
salary, Pius gives them to know that before entering upon the dis- 
cussion of other financial matters, six hundred thousand dollars per 
annum must be secured for the endowment of the Cardinals and the 
Pope, with his corps diplomatique, Pontifical guards, apostolic pal- 
aces, museums, &c, besides a neat little perquisite of thirteen thou- 
sand dollars more, from canons, tributes, and dues, to be "at the entire 
disposal of the Pope." The College of Cardinals is to be constitu- 
ted a Senate, and these " princes of the church" are to be chosen, 
of course, by the Pope. The Ministers are to be chosen and con- 
firmed by the Cardinals. Should a Pope die, then, lest the people 
should presume upon a little more liberty, the rights of temporal 
sovereignty are to be exercised, during the interregnum by the Car- 
dinals. Is any preference to be shown in the choice of members of 
the Senate ? That choice is to rest first on prelates and ecclesiastics ; 
after them, upon ministers, judges, councillors, lawyers, and rich 
men, with an income of at least four thousand dollars per annum.* 

It is true that in addition to this noble " High Council," there is 
to be a popular assembly, called the " Council of Deputies," but 
what they are to do, and what they are not to do ? Why they are 

* The baneful effects of the overwhelming influence of priests and nobles, 
throughout Italy, is forcibly exhibited in the following extract from a recent num- 
ber of Blackwood's Magazine : — 

" Italy has two evils, either of which would be enough to break down the 
most vigorous nation — if a vigorous nation would not have broken both, ages 
ago. These two are the nobles and the priesthood — both ruinously numberless, 
both contemptibly idle, and both interested in resisting every useful change, which 
might shake their supremacy. Every period of Italian convulsion has left a 
class of men calling themselves nobles, and perpetuating the titles to their sons. 
The Gothic, the Norman, the Papal, the i nouveaux riches,' every man who buys 
an estate — in fact, every man who desires a title — all swell the lists of the nobil- 
ity to an intolerable size. Of course, a noble can never do anything — his dig- 
nity stands in his way. The ecclesiastics, though a busier race, are still more 
exhausting. The kingdom of Naples alone has eighty-five prelates, with nearly 
one hundred thousand priests and persons of religious orders, the monks forming 
about one fourth of the whole! In this number the priesthood of Sicily is not 
included, which has to its own share no less than three archbishops arid eleven 
bishops. Even the barren island of Sardinia has one hundred and seventeen 
convents ! Can any rational mind wonder at the profligacy, the idleness, ami 
the dependence of the Italian Peninsula, with such examples before Li ! The 
Pope daily has between two and three thousand monks loitering through the 
streets of Rome. Beside these, he has on his ecclesiastical stall', twenty car- 
dinals, four archbishops, ninety-eight bishops, and a clergy amounting to nearly 
five per cent, of his population. With these two millstones round her neck, 
Italy must remain at the bottom. She may be shaken ami tossed by the politi- 
cal surges which roll above her head, but she never can he buoyant. She must 
cast both away before she can rise. Italy, priest-ridden, noble-ridden, and 
prince-ridden, must be content with her fate. Her only chance is the shock 
which will break away her encumbrance's." 



676 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The Pope's Constitution an insult to the people of Rome. 

" not to propose laws which may affect ecclesiastical or mixed affairs." 
Otherwise, poor priest-ridden Rome might, perhaps, be relieved from 
a portion of the misery and oppression which the Papal despotism 
has imposed on her for ages. They are not to meddle with laws 
which might affect the " canons or discipline of the church." Oth- 
erwise, the secrets of inquisitorial chambers might be brought to 
light, or the lust and cruelty of Roman nunneries might be exposed 
and denounced. They are not to do anything which may even 
" tend to vary or modify the present statues /" Otherwise, the hateful 
fabric of tyranny which ages of oppression have reared, might be 
seen crumbling beneath the rays of the sun of modern freedom which 
has just arisen upon the world. They are forbidden even "to dis- 
cuss the religious diplomatic relations of the Holy See to foreign 
countries." This, of course, is a matter which no profane hand 
must touch. The Pope is " God's vicegerent upon earth," and his 
plans of universal empire and control, must be left entirely to him- 
self and his priests. 

Thus fully does this Constitution tell the Council of Deputies 
what they must not do. If we ask what they must do, the answer is 
— They must provide for the Pope's salary — they must do the Pope's 
bidding — and when his Holiness needs their services no longer, they 
must be dissolved at his bidding, and return whence they came. To 
crown all, these obedient servants of the Pope, under the name of a 
popular assembly, are to be elected, not by the people, but by mayors, 
priors, and other privileged characters, and possessors of at least 
three hundred dollars — and these must be exclusively Papists, for 
" the profession of the Popish religion is indispensable for the exercise 
of civil and political rights!" Is any further proof needed that the 
Papacy and Liberty are entirely and utterly antagonistic ? or that the 
professed and loudly-vaunted liberalism of Pope Pius IX. is " vox, 
vox, prater eaque nihil" ? 

<§> 26. War with Austria. — The Pope's opposition. — The few 
months that have elapsed since the granting of the above Constitu- 
tion, have been chiefly occupied by disputes between the Pope and 
the Roman people relative to the question whether war should be 
proclaimed against the Austrians, the tyrants and oppressors of north- 
ern Italy Soon after the breaking out of the Revolution of 1848 m 
France, the people of Lombardy and Venice rose in arms against 
their Austrian conquerors, expelled the garrisons from several of their 
cities, and under the generalship of Charles Albert, of Sardinia, 
gained several signal victories over their oppressors. Encouraged 
by this temporary success, the people of the different Italian states 
formed the idea of national unity and independence of all foreign 
rule. The subjects of the Pope joined in the national enthusiasm, 
and longed to march against the Austrian invaders. Pius IX., fear- 
ful of offending the Austrian bishops, and thus creating a schism in 
the church — unwilling to offend or to alienate that mighty empire, 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 677 

War with Austria. Intense excitement at Rome. Pius IX. almost deposed, 

which had for ages been the great bulwark of the church, refused to 
second the wishes of his subjects ; pocketed the affront of the in- 
vasion of Ferrari, and exhorted his subjects to submission and to 
peace. In a secret consistory of the College of Cardinals held at 
Rome, April 29th, 1848, the Pope expressed himself as follows : — 

*' Everybody knows, Venerable Brothers, the words which we addressed to 
you last year, when we reminded princes of the paternal kindness and attentive 
care which they owe to the people placed under their power, and the people 
of the fidelity and obedience which they owe to their princes. Afterward, we 
neglected nothing to impress these same sentiments on all. Would to God 
that the effect had responded to our paternal exhortations ! But every one 
is aware of the public commotions which have taken place both in Italy and 
in other countries. If any one should wish to pretend that the path was opened 
to such events by the acts which our love and kindness prompted us to carry out 
at the commencement of our reign, that man certainly is mistaken, and can not 
justly impute such things to us, since we have done nothing but what appeared 
necessary for the prosperity of our temporary state. With respect to those who 
in our kingdom have abused our benefits, we shall, in accordance with the ex- 
ample of our Divine Master, pardon them from the bottom of our hearts, We 
call them back to better thoughts, and we pray God to turn away from theii 
heads the chastisements which fall on ungrateful men. 

"Besides, the people of Germany can not reasonably complain of us, because 
we were unable to contain the ardor of such of our subjects in the temporal order 
who have applauded what was done in Italy, who, inflamed with the love of 
their own nation, united their efforts to those of the other Italian populations. 
Many other princes in Europe, whose armies were more numerous than ours, 
beheld themselves eqally unable to oppose the uprising of their people. In that 
state of things, we, however, gave no other orders to our troops than to protect 
the integrity and security of the Pontifical state. 

" However, several persons manifest a desire to behold us, in accord with the 
other populations and princes of Italy, declare war on Germany ; in consequence 
we judge it our duty to announce in your assembly that nothing can be more dis- 
tant from our thoughts than such a course, which would be altogether unbecom- 
ing our position, as holding on earth the place of Him who is the author of 
peace. " 

§ 27. Intense Excitement in Rome. — Pius IX. almost, deposed 
from his Temporal Power. — The excitement produced in Rome by 
this address was intense. The Pope was virtually made a prisoner 
in his own palace. On Sunday, April 30tb, the whole general staff 
held a sitting. The municipality went in procession to the Pope, to 
demand explanations as to his policy, and recommend him to abdi- 
cate. The civic guard took possession of all the gates of the city, 
and had orders to let no one, whether priest, bishop, or even the 
Pope himself, leave the town. The ministry notified the Pope of 
their intention to resign, and all was in preparation for the formation 
of a provisional government, if the Pope did not yield. 

The morning came for the decision — the streets were filled with 
people waiting the answer of the Pope — the answer did not arrive ; 
and at eight o'clock in the morning, anew deputation was scut to the 
Pope, who asked till twelve o'clock to make his decision. At this 
moment the anxiety and agitation doubled ; the (luard took posses- 
sion of the fort Saint Ange, the arsenal and mint, the prisons, and all 



678 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The Pope's popularity gone. Extracts from Italian journals. 

the public establishments; Duke de Rignano declared to the Pope 
that he could not depend upon the National Guard ; there was not 
a moment to lose ; and yet the Pope remained firm. At noon, the 
Minister Mamiani tried one more effort ; the Pope yielded ; Mami- 
ani announced it to the people that the ministry had been sustained, 
and received a carte blanche for things temporal, and that it comprised 
a power to declare war. The joy was expressed in popular demon- 
strations ; the correspondence of the cardinals that was seized was read 
to the public on the capitol by a senator. The cardinals, seeing the 
impossibility of getting away, assembled round the Pope, who, it is 
said, had made every preparation for departing himself. The minis- 
try promised to co-operate with all the forces of the state in expelling 
the Austrians ; and the Austrian minister was sent away from Rome.* 

From that time to the last advices from Rome and Italy, the war" 
against the Austrians has been prosecuted with various reverses, though 
from recent defeats which Charles Albert and the Italians have sus- 
tained, and the recapture by the Austrian general Radetsky, of Milan, 
and several other cities, from which the Austrians had been expelled, 
there is too much reason to fear that the cause of Italian freedom 
will, for the present, be prostrated, and that Austria will regain her 
former authority in Lombardy, Venice, and other parts of Italy. 

§ 28. Reasons for the Pope's Policy. — His love for Popery stronger 

* The effect of this policy of the Pope has been almost entirely to destroy 
the popularity which he so lately enjoyed. " Eulogies to the Pope have now 
ceased ; the hymn of Pius IX. is forgotten ; reproaches and accusations take 
the place of applause, and the Pope is often stigmatized as a Jesuit" — a reproach 
which his reluctance to the recent expulsion from Rome of these intermeddling 
pests of society, seems to justify. A correct idea of the present state of the 
public mind of Italy toward Pius IX. may be formed by reading the following 
extracts from recent numbers of three well-known Italian journals. 

The Contemporaneo, published at Rome, says: "The Pontiff has saved the 
Prince, but in doing so he has compromised the glory of both, and the calamity 
of Italy will be his condemnation. There remains to this land only God and 
her rights. Let our Italian brethren be assured they do not deceive themselves 
in relying on the people — those are deceived who rely upon the Papacy for the 
redemption of Italy." 

La P atria, published in Tuscany, says: " The Pope is the friend of Austria's 
emperor — may God pardon him ! If repentance could be a reparation, Italy 
would rise once more from the abyss into which Pius IX. has plunged her. But 
repentance only expiates faults — it does not change their effects. As Prince, let 
him put himself at the head of his people, whom he has thrown like lambs into 
the mouth of wolves — as Pontiff, let him anathematize, instead of weeping over 
his throne and altar." 

The Courier Mercantile, published at Genoa, says : " We do not flatter our- 
selves that our words can reach the ears of him who has done everything to cast 
us back into the slavery of Babylon — to present us as a holocaust to the Austrian 
idol. But should they reach him, we would boldly say — ' You are not the vicar 
of God, but the vicar of the Austrian emperor. You fear the schism of the Aus- 
trian prelates, and heed not the curse of nations. Wait awhile, and you will 
reap such fruit as you deserve. Poor Italy ! whither has the dominion of the 
Pope led you 1 After this protest, what have we to hope for from our Pontiff? 
Nothing. "Mark well, O people! These are the terrible effects of 

THE TEMPORAL DOMINION OF THE POPES." 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 679 

The Pope's dilemma. Afraid of an Austrian schism in the church. 

than his Patriotism. — The position of the Pope since the declaration 
of war against Austria, has been extraordinary. Compelled by the 
force of circumstances to sanction the war, and yet fearful of cutting 
off the right hand of the Roman church, by creating a schism in 
Austria, with which he had been threatened by German priests and 
Jesuits, he has endeavored to escape from the dilemma — by keeping 
himself aloof from all connection with the w T ar — thus throwing his 
moral influence in the scale of Austria — and transferring all the re- 
sponsibility of the war to the ministry he had created, with these ex- 
traordinary powers. This strange posture of affairs in Rome has 
been so well explained in a recent article in an able religious journal,* 
that we can not better close the present sketch than by transferring 
the larger portion of it to our pages. 

To explain how the collision has taken place which has already, in 
effect, divested the Pope of his civil and secular power (says this wri- 
ter) nothing more is necessary than to look at the condition of the 
Italian people, and to recollect, in connection with the existing state 
of facts, some of the plainest principles of international right. 

1. Italy is in fact one country, and the Italians are one people. 
If it were an island, instead of being a peninsula, its extent, and the 
natural demarcations by which it is separated from all other countries, 
could hardly be more definite. Throughout its whole extent there is 
essentially one race, one language, one religion. The people have 
a common history, and a common literature. They have common 
sympathies and prejudices, and a common character, distinguishing 
them from all their neighbors, the French, the Swiss, the Spaniards, 
the Greeks, and the Germans. They are known and spoken of, the 
world over, as one people, with their own national designation, not 
as Lombards, or Tuscans, or Neapolitans, but as Italians.! Italy is 
one country, marked out and shaped into unity by the God of nature 
and of history, more completely by far than Germany or Switzerland. 

2. Italy then being a nation, with boundaries distinctly marked by 
Him who " hath determined the times before appointed, and the 
bounds of their habitation," has, by a charter from God, all the rights 
that belong to a nation. It has a right to its own national unity, and 

* The New York Evangelist. 

f The population of the different states of Italy is as follows : — 

Naples and Sicily, or the kingdoms of the two Sicilies - - - 8,566,900 

Piedmont and Sardinia 4,879,000 

Roman States 2,877,000 

Tuscany and Lucca -------------- 1,701,700 

Monaco ---- 7,580 

San Marina 7,950 

Modena 483,000 

Parma and Placcntia ------------- 477,000 

Venetian Lombardy 4,759,000 

Italian Tyrol 522,608 

Istria 458,000 

Total 24,739,738 



6S0 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 



Italian right to national independence. Orestes A. Brownson, 

to a complete national independence.* No Congress of kings at Vi- 
enna or Verona, chaffering, and bargaining, and bartering provinces 
and cities, with all their population, as speculators bargain village-lots, 
can take away such a right from the Italian people. The Italians 
have the same right to a complete national independence, and the 
same right to model their political institutions according to their wants 
that the French have — that we have. Foreigners have no more right 
to govern Italy, or any part of it, than the British have to govern 
France or any part of it. The Austrians in Italy are foreigners. 
Their only right to govern those parts of Italy which they have had 
in their possession, is the right of the sword ; and the moment the 
Italian people have it in their power to drive out the intruding gov- 
ernment, that right ceases. Whenever Italy, as a whole, has the 
power to assert her national unity and independence, she has a right 
to do so ; and in that hour every part of Italy has a right to protec- 
tion and support from every other part. This is the principle on 
which the Italians are acting. 

3. Whatever existing form of government in Italy is found to be 
an obstacle in the way of a combined effort to establish national unity 
and independence, ought to be reformed. The people under that 
government have a right, and it is their duty to reform it. If the 
government of any Italian state is so constituted that it must needs 
weaken the power of the entire Italian people to assert their national 

* There is one man, at least, in the world, -who dissents from these enlightened 
views, who looks with horror upon the awakened spirit of freedom in Italy, who 
groans in spirit at beholding the downfall of hoary despotism, and who stigma- 
tizes all who are sighing and daring for the deliverance of their native countries 
from royal and priestly despotism, as "miscreants — the spawn of hell — doing 
their best to desolate Europe." That man is an American, but he is a Papist. 
His name is Orestes A. Brownson. Here is an extract from a late number of 
his Quarterly Review : — 

" Nor have these Italian liberals been content with expelling Jesuits. They 
have proceeded farther, and at this moment the Holy Father is in a sort of du- 
rance — ' honorable imprisonment,' as it is termed — because he does not choose 
to violate faith, conscience, and duty, at the bidding of a graceless mob. And 
we have men among us — men passing for Catholics even — who are frantic with 
joy, throw up their greasy caps, and cheer them on with their loud hurrahs, as 
the genuine friends of freedom. Stupid dolts ! do these sympathizers not know 
that the foundations of liberty are never laid in injustice, never established in 
outraging law and religion — and that the men who know not how to obey, who 
will not respect the rights of others, and who demand freedom only for their own 
selfish purposes, can only be the assassins of liberty 1 These liberals, these 
miscreants, the spawn of "hell, who are doing their best to desolate Europe, and 
replunge the nations, civilized by Christianity, into the darkness of barbarism, 
deserve the execration of every man who has a human heart under his left 
breast ; and the man who calls "the Church his Mother deserves something far 
worse if he but dreams for a moment that there is the remotest possibility that 
the least conceivable good <ian be effected, even for the temporal condition of 
the people, by their exertions." 

For an extract from the writings of this same Brownson, relative to the designs 
of the Pope upon America, and his right to possess this country, and the aid 
afforded him in securing this right, by the Catholic prelates, priests, and Jesuits, 
see the foregoing History, page 643. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 681 

The Pope's interests as a Pontiff, and his duties as a Prince, incompatible. 

independence, and to establish their common liberty, then the com- 
mon necessity of all Italy requires that the constitution of that gov- 
ernment be changed. And when that necessity is felt by every Ital- 
ian heart from the Alps to the straits of Messina, the mischievous 
anomaly must be removed. 

4. Such an anomaly has been found to exist in the peculiar gov- 
ernment at Rome. The sovereign of that state is at the same time 
the religious head, the chief-priest of the Roman Catholic world ; 
and what he does in one capacity may be disastrous to his interests 
in the other. It so happens that Pius IX., whose wise and benefi- 
cent reforms in the administration of the civil government at Rome, 
were the beginning of the grand movement for the emancipation of 
Europe,* has found that his interests as a Pontiff and his duties as a 
ruler over a free people are incompatible. As head of the Roman 
government, which in many respects, aside from ecclesiastical influ- 
ence, is the most important government in Italy, though in military 
strength inferior to some others, he ought to insist on the independ- 
ence and federal union of all Italy, and therefore on the removal of 
the Austrian troops from Lombardy. All those patriotic feelings for 
which we give him fall credit, prompt him to this course. All those 
desires, which, as a true-hearted Italian, weary with the sight of the 
degradation which results from political oppression, he can not but 
cherish, prompt him to say to Austria, "The time has come when 
Italy will no longer endure the presence of your barbarian armies on 
her classic soil. Our divisions are at an end ; the day of our infirm- 
ity is passed, and the day of our deliverance is come." This is 
what Pius IX. would say if he was only a secular prince, and as 
such had nothing to regard but the welfare and the rights of his coun- 
try. And a bold demonstration on his part would unite all Italy, and 
would bring upon the plains of Lombardy such a force as would 
compel the Austrians to go home and mind their own affairs. But, 
unfortunately, Pius IX. is also " His Holiness," " our Lord the 
Pope ;" and as head of the church he must take care lest Austria 
become schismatic. The emperor of Austria is a dutiful son of 
the church. The Austrian empire has been for ages one great 
bulwark of the Papacy. Spain is fallen into ruins. France is no 
more to be depended on. Austria is undergoing political changes 
which predispose the minds of men to all sorts of novelties ; and 
if at such a time as this the head of the church should become per- 
sonally obnoxious to the Austrian government and to the people of 
Vienna, the church of Austria might declare itself independent of 
the Holy See. Expostulations and remonstrances from Austrian 
prelates have no doubt been addressed to His Holiness^ with all rev- 
erence and humility, and yet with an earnestness that could not be 

* Though this may be true in the order of time, yet we have seen that the 
Pope in his speech to the consistory (page 677) denies thai the path was open to 
these " public commotions" (as he terms them) by any act of his own. 



682 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 



Either Popery or Italy to be sacrificed. Continuation till 1853. 

disregarded. He must either sacrifice the unity and independence 
of Italy to the interests of Popery, or the interests of Popery to the 
welfare of his country. 

This was and is a painful dilemma. We give him credit for a 
hearty attachment to the Roman Catholic unity, and to those interests 
which are committed to him as the head of the church. We give 
him credit, also, for a true love to his country. Surrounded by his 
cardinals, he speaks as Pontiff. He tells them that he is a minis- 
ter of the gospel; that the Austrians are a portion of his pastoral 
charge ; that the emperor is a dutiful son of the church, and that he 
cannot make war upon Austria. 

But all Rome cries out that the Austrians must be expelled from 
Italy, and that Italy must bring her whole strength, undivided, to 
make the expulsion speedy, safe, and final And with an earnest- 
ness of tone in which there seems to be some echo of the voices 
that expelled the Tarquins, Rome tells him, " If your conscience as 
a minister of the gospel will not permit you to perform your duties 
to us and your country in your capacity as a civil ruler, resign that 
power into hands that can wield it for the welfare of Italy and of the 
world !" 

What the result is to be, does not yet appear. The Pope has 
made farther concessions to his people — concessions almost equiva- 
lent to the abdication of his secular sovereignty. That this is the 
end, who will say? 

New York, Nov. 12, 1849. 



§ 29. Continuation till 1853. — Flight of the Pope from Rome. — 
The foregoing portion of this Supplement was written previous to 
the flight of Pius IX. from Rome. The conduct of the Pope 
during his exile at Gaeta, and since his restoration by means of the 
French soldiery, up to the present date, A.D. 1853, has proved that 
the estimate we formed of his character in the preceding pages was 
literally correct. Pius IX. has proved himself no less a tyrant and 
a despot than his predecessors on the papal throne. — We shall now 
proceed to relate the particulars of the Pope's flight from Rome, and 
of other remarkable events, illustrative of the history and character 
of popery, that have occurred in the three or four years that have 
since transpired. — Pius IX. having resisted and frustrated for a time 
the Italian movement for nationality, was at length obliged to yield. 
His prime minister, Rossi, a pupil and imitator of Guizot, the late 
prime minister of Louis Philippe of France, on the 15th of Novem- 
ber, 1848, was assassinated, in spite of his guards, near the spot 
where Julius Caesar fell. The conspirators seem to have had much 
more generalship to take advantage of their bloody deed than Brutus 
and Cassius had. Since the revolution in Paris, it had become evi- 
dent that the ecclesiastical supremacy of Pope Pius IX. was seri- 
ously imperilled. The reconquest of Lombardy kept down, but did 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 683 

Assassination of Eossi, the Pope's Prime Minister. 

extinguish, the aspirations of the liberals for Italian unity. It was 
seen that the project, if allowed to assume a practical shape, would 
extinguish the spiritual claims of tbe Pontiff. Without means to 
stem the torrent, the Pope applied all his resources and every tem- 
porizing expedient to turn it aside. During the conflict, his per- 
sonal popularity melted away. His antiquated assumptions came to 
be regarded as the great stumbling-block to Italian nationality, and 
to the settled establishment of constitutional freedom. His govern- 
ment was despised and powerless. 

At length Count Rossi undertook the difficult task of reorganizing 
the papal government. A man of energy and experience, and a pupil 
of M. Guizot, he brought to the task much of the talent and unbend- 
ing austerity which distinguished his master, without the resources 
to carry his~ intentions into effect. His haughty spirit and con- 
temptuous bearing marked him out as the special object of popular 
enmity. On the 15th of Nov., 1848, he proceeded to open the Cham- 
ber of Deputies, and met the execrations of the populace by scowls 
of scorn and defiance. In a sudden outburst of popular fury, the 
prime minister was attacked, and, though surrounded by a military 
force, fell beneath the poniard of an assassin in the crowd. Like 
Caesar, he had been warned of, but disregarded his danger, and he 
fell within a few yards of the spot where the Roman dictator was 
sacrificed. The death of Rossi assured the triumph of the populace. 

After the death of the premier, a sudden pause ensued, though 
toward evening groups of mingled soldiers and citizens, with lighted 
torches, were heard singing in chorus along the streets, 

" Benedetta quclla mano die il tiranno pupialo !" 
(" Blessed be the hand that stabbed the tyrant !") 

On the morning of the 16th, the city was in commotion. A 
gathering began in the great square del Popolo, and symptoms of a 
menacing character to any one cognizant to Roman peculiarities 
were perceptible in the leading streets. The civic guards and troops 
of the line in fragmentary sections commingled with the people ; 
and carbineers, whose uniform had hitherto been invariably arrayed 
against the populace, were now for the first time seen to fraternize 
with the mob. From the terrace of the Pincian hill, the spectator 
could count nearly twenty thousand Romans in threatening groups, 
and mostly armed. Printed papers were handed eagerly about, all 
having the same purport, and containing the following " fundamental 
points: r l. Promulgation and full adoption of Italian nationality. 
2. Convocation of a constituent* Assembly, and realization of the 
federal pact. 3. Realization of the vote of the war o\ independ- 
ence given in the Chamber of Deputies. 4. Adoption in its integ- 
rity of the Programme Mamiani. 5. Ministers who have public 
confidence — Mamiani, Sterbini, Cambello, Saliceti, Fusconi, Lunati, 
Sereni, Galletti." 

The ostensible object was to proceed with these five points to the 



684 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Terrible threats of the mob to the Pope. 

Chamber of Deputies in a constitutional manner. But the chiefs 
finding themselves in such numbers, and many deputies being found 
mixed up with the crowd, the cry was raised to march to the Pope's 
palace, and accordingly the procession moved on orderly enough 
through the Babuino, and reached the Quirinal by the avenue 
opened by Sextus the Fifth. At one o'clock, the members of the 
chambers presented themselves as the mouthpiece of the multitude, 
and transmitted the five points to the monarch. In about ten min- 
utes, the president of the late ministerial council, Cardinal Soglia, 
came forth from the private apartment, and informed the deputation 
that Pius IX. would reflect on the subject, and take it into his best 
consideration. 

This answer was proclaimed to the people, but a general murmur 
of dissatisfaction gave evidence of its insufficiency to meet the crisis, 
and the crowd insisted on the deputation getting a personal audience 
with the Pope. This was obtained, and in about a quarter of an 
hour Galletti, the ex-police minister, appeared on the balcony to ac- 
quaint the people that the Pope had positively declined adhesion to 
their request, and had stated that " he would not brook dictation." 

At two o'clock, the position of the Pontiff began to grow, critical. 
All the avenues of the Quirinal palace were blocked up by dense 
crowds ; and as no preparation had been made for this unanticipated 
influx of visitors, there was but the usual small detachment of Swiss 
guards on duty. These men were known to be resolute, and, had 
there been but a few more of them, the monarch might have cut his 
way through the mob, and gained Subiaco, in the Apennines, whither 
it had often been a question of retiring from the rabble of Rome on 
previous outbreaks. As it was, one of the advanced sentinels having 
been seized and disarmed by the mob, the Swiss body-guard instantly 
flung back and barred the gates of the palace, presenting their mus- 
kets, in readiness to fire at once on the immense multitude of the 
populace which beleagured the Quirinal. 

At this stage of the proceedings, it was evident that the die was 
cast. From the back streets men emerged, bearing aloft long lad- 
ders, wherewith to scale the pontifical abode ; carts and wagons were 
dragged up and ranged within musket-shot of the windows, to protect 
the assailants in their determined attack upon the palace ; the cry was, 
" To arms, to arms !" and musketry began to bristle in the approaches 
from every direction : fagots were produced and piled up against one 
of the condemned gates of the building, to which the mob was in the 
act of setting fire, when a brisk discharge of firelocks scattered the 
besiegers in that quarter. The multitude began now to perceive that 
there would be a determined resistance to their further operations, 
but were confident that the Quirinal, if not taken by storm, must 
yield to progressive inroad. 

The drums were now beating throughout the city, the disbanded 
groups of regular troops and carbineers reinforcing the hostile display 
of assailants, and rendering it truly formidable. Random shots were 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 685 

The Pipe's secretary killed.— A shot fired into the Pope's room. 

aimed at the windows, and duly responded to ; the outposts, one after 
another, being taken by the people, the garrison within being too 
scanty to man the outworks. The belfry of St. Cariina, which com- 
mands the structure, was occupied. From behind the equestrian 
statues of Castor and Pollux a group of sharp-shooters plied their 
rifles, and at about four o'clock Monseigneur Palma, private secretary 
to the Pope, was killed by a bullet penetrating his forehead. A shot 
is also said to have entered the room where the Pope was. Of the 
people and troops, twelve were wounded, and none killed. Two six- 
pounders were now drawn up by the people and duly pointed against 
the main gate ; and a truce having been proclaimed, another depu- 
tation claimed entrance and audience of the Pope, which the mon- 
arch ordered to be allowed. 

The deputation were bearers of the people's ultimatum, which was 
a reproduction of the five points before stated ; and they now declared 
that they would allow the Pope one hour to consider; after which, 
If not adopted, they announced their firm purpose " to break into the 
Quirinal and put to death every inmate thereof, with the sole and 
single exception of his holiness himself." Pius IX. no longer hesi- 
tated. A popular ministry was at once appointed, and the other 
demands of the people were referred to the Chamber of Deputies. 

The week following this popular outbreak, the Pope remained a 
close prisoner in his palace. The business of the government went 
on in the Pope's name, but without his sanction or co-operation. At 
length, on the 25th of November, Pius IX. disguised himself as an 
attendant of the Bavarian ambassador, and made his escape from 
Rome to the city of Gaeta, where he was cordially received by that 
tyrannical and cruel despot, Ferdinand, king of Naples. 

The following curious particulars of the Pope's flight, which will 
be new to our American readers, are related in an interesting little 
work, recently published in Scotland, by a distinguished Italian 
officer, and participant in these stirring events, G. B. Nicolini, to 
whose graphic pen we shall be indebted for a portion of the follow- 
ing details of the noble struggle of the Roman patriots for freedom, 
and their final expulsion and defeat by the French army. While the 
Pope was amusing his too credulous counsellors with protestations 
of liberalism, says Nicolini, he was, with Madame Spaur, the lady 
of the Bavarian Minister, planning the means of flight, and medita- 
ting the ruin of Rome. 

The evening of the 25th of November was dark and cloudy. 
Rome was profoundly tranquil. Few persons were to be seen in 
the streets. Only at intervals was the silence of the night bro- 
ken by the watchword of the patrols; At the corner of the 
Via delle Quattro Fontane stood a carriage. At some little dis- 
tance were lurking several persons, apparently watching For its 
safety. Every other minute a gentleman leaned out of the carriage 
window as if impatiently waiting for some one. The coachman) 
too, often turned on his seat and looked anxiously about. At 

44 



686 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Curious particulars of the flight of Pius IX. 

length a person habited like a priest, approached the carriage with 
a circumspect demeanor. The door flew open, the priest stepped 
in and the horses started off at full speed. At the city gate the 
coachman shouted "Baviera," and was permitted to pass. The 
carriage rolled onwards by the Via Appia towards Albano. While 
this mysterious equipage is so rapidly advancing on the road, 
another is waiting in the middle of the wood between Albano and 
Gensano. The few passers-by are surprised to see it standing in 
such a place at such an hour. From the window of this carriage 
it is a lady who looks out in anxious expectancy. A wag, observ- 
ing that she had waited a very long time, cried out — " La belle 
has come too early to the rendezvous." At last two carabinieri 
who were patrolling the road, approached and inquired of the lady 
why she waited. — " I expect my husband and my chaplain," was 
her answer. They asked her name ; — she prudently gave it. 
They obligingly offered to stay with her as a protection till her 
husband arrived ; — to avoid suspicion she consented, and descend- 
ing from the carriage remained with them, still evincing the great- 
est impatience. At twelve o'clock, the other carriage arrived. 
The person in the priest's dress, on seeing the carabinieri, hesita- 
ted to dismount, but the lady relieved his embarrassment by 
exclaiming — " Well, Count ! what a time you have kept me wait- 
ing ! and you too, Signor Abbate !" added she, patting the priest 
on the shoulder. The courteous carabinieri assisted the lady and 
the " Abbate" into the carriage, which immediately dashed away. 

It was not an Abbot. It was the Pope ! It was the successor of 
St. Peter ! It was the shepherd who in its greatest need had 
deserted the flock committed to his care ! It was Pius the Ninth, 
— the religious Pius, who had thrown away the pastoral crook that 
he might resume a tyrannical sceptre! It was Mastai, who once 
a mild, charitable man, had become a cruel and vindictive despot I* 
Upon the arrival of the fugitive Pope at Gaeta, a seaport town of 
the kingdom of Naples, a messenger was dispatched to King Fer- 
dinand, who, upon the reception of the news, immediately sent two 
regiments of soldiers by steamer, as a guard of honor to the 
Pope, and soon followed himself in another steamer with the 
queen and the royal family ; and upon their arrival, did homage to 
the Pope, in the usual manner, by kissing his foot. 

§ 30. Consequences of the Popes flight. — The flight of the 
Pope was immediately followed by that of most of the prelates and 
cardinals, and caused, along with great joy, much apprehension 
and uneasiness. Peaceable and timid citizens feared that some 
great evil was about to fall upon their abandoned city. The priests 
secretly augmented this fear. Many there were who yet shrunk 

■*• History of the Pontificate of Pius IX., by G. B. Nicolini, of Rome, deputy to 
the Tuscan constituent assembly, and officer of the general staff of the Roman 
army, page 85. — Edinburgh, 1852. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 687 

A provisional government appointed. 

from the curse of Pius, whom they had regarded as the messenger 
of heaven. The more considerate and reflecting among the citi- 
zens were afraid lest the people should let loose their inveterate 
hatred against the priesthood, and drench the town with blood. 

The patriots, on the other hand, who now assumed the name of 
Republicans, were dissatisfied with the new Ministers, still govern- 
ing in the Pope's name. In such a state of affairs both the Par- 
liament and the Municipality of Rome sent a deputation to Portici 
to entreat the Pope to return to his own capital. Pius the Ninth 
would not even permit the deputies to fulfil their mission, and this 
still more enraged the Republican party, which now increased 
every day, and which was desirous that the Government should at 
once renounce all allegiance to the Pope. Yet it still persisted in 
its moderate policy, governing in the name of Pius the Ninth, 
and sent to him a second deputation to entreat him to return. This 
deputation met with as little success as the first. A third deputa- 
tion, with offers of still greater concessions, was dispatched to 
Gaeta, but Pius still refused to give them an audience. 

At last the people, growing impatient and clamorous, menaced 
the Ministry if they should persist any longer in acknowledging the 
Pope's sovereignty. Consequently, on the 14th of December, the 
Parliament named a Provisional Government, and called to Rome a 
Constituent Assembty. During this interval, — namely, from the 
flight of Pius to the nomination of the Provisional Government, — 
we behold the noble and gratifying spectacle of a people without 
rulers, governing themselves. Some of the provinces were still 
governed by prelates all devoted to the fugitive Pope ; others, on 
the contrary, were impatient to cast off entirely the clerical yoke. 
The priests were exciting civil war ; monks, priests, and Jesuits 
frightening the population and above all the more timid sex, with 
threats of a thousand different temporal and spiritual punishments. 
The people, thrown at once from a state of political slavery 
into a state of uncontrolled liberty, were the real and absolute 
sovereign. Yet this people, who had many wrongs to avenge, 
cannot be reproached with a single criminal act — a single day of 
tumult — a single transgression. Is not this, asks Nicolini, a noble 
and sublime spectacle ? 

It would have been strange if the populace of Rome, thus deliv- 
ered from the presence of their haughty oppressors, the prelates and 
cardinals, had not shown their joy by some imprudent, yet very 
natural manifestations. The wonder is that they were not guilty 
of more criminal excesses. The following two instances may be 
given of the feelings of the Roman populace towards the fugitive 
cardinals. — One day, a Roman passing through the Corso, saw 
exposed in a shop many cardinals' and bishops' bats ; and cried out, 
u What do these hats here? — let us send them to Gaeta by the 
Tiber." No sooner said than done. In three hours all the shops 
were denuded of their scarlet glories. The shopmen were offered 



688 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The feet of C ardinals' bats. Pins IX. to the Roman people. 

payment for them ; some accepted, but most refused. The people, 
who had now gathered by thousands, rushed to the banks of the 
Tiber, and cast upon the waters all those insignia of ecclesiastical 
vanity. Every one acquainted with the form of a Cardinal's hat 
may imagine what a comic appearance they made floating on the 
surface of the river. The flow of the Tiber is not very rapid, so 
that they moved on slowly and majestically, just as if their Eminen- 
ces were beneath them. It seemed a grand procession of Cardinals 
and Prelates, of whom the great crowd prevented more than the 
tops of their heads being seen. The shouts of jubilee w 7 ere deafen- 
ing. The multitude accompanied this flock of aquatic birds of a new 
species far on their way down the river, and the boys still farther. 

On another day was enacted a scene of an equally amusing but 
of a more serious and rather illegal character, and productive after- 
wards of very sad consequences. In a coach-builder's premises 
there was found by some of the populace a Cardinal's gorgeous 
carriage. " Let us burn this Eminentissimo!" shouted one, and 
immediately the equipage was dragged by the people into the pub- 
lic place, and consigned to the flames amidst their huzzas and 
laughter. On the two or three days following, all the Cardinals' 
coach-houses were broken into, the carriages abstracted and made 
bonfires of. 

§ 31. Manifestoes of Pius IX. — A few days after his arrival 
at Gaeta, the Pope addressed a manifesto to the people of Rome, 
under date of November 28, of which the following is an extract : 

PIUS IX. TO THE ROMAN PEOPLE. 

" The outrage in latter days committed against our person, and 
the intention openly manifested to continue these acts of violence 
(which the Almighty, inspiring men's minds with sentiments of 
union and moderation, has prevented), have compelled us to sepa- 
rate ourselves temporarily from our subjects and children, whom 
we love, and ever shall love. 

" The reasons which have induced us to take this important step 
— Heaven knows how painful it is to our heart — have arisen from 
the necessity of our enjoying free liberty in the exercise of the 
sacred duties of the Holy See, as under the circumstances by which 
we were then afflicted, the Catholic world might reasonably doubt 
of the freedom of that exercise. The acts of violence of which 
we complain can alone be attributed to the machinations which 
have been used and the measures that have been taken by a class 
of men degraded in the face of Europe and the world. This is the 
more evident as the wrath of the Almighty has already fallen on 
their souls, and as it will call down on them sooner or later the 
punishment which is prescribed for them by his Church. We rec- 
ognize humblv. in the ingratitude of these misguided children, the 
anger of the Almighty, who permits their misfortunes as an atone- 
ment for the sins of ourselves and those of our people. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 689 



Th e Pope's protest. Proclamation of the Eoman Republic. 

■ " But still we cannot, without betraying the sacred duties imposed 
on us, refrain from protesting formally against their acts, as we 
did do verbally on the 16th day of November of painful memory, in 
presence of the whole diplomatic corps, who on that occasion hono- 
rably encircled us, and brought comfort and consolation to our soul, 
in recognizing that a violent and unprecedented sacrilege had been 
committed. That protest we did intend, as we now do, openly and 
publicly, to repeat, inasmuch as we yielded only to violence, and 
because we were and are desirous it should be made known that all 
proceedings emanating from such acts of violence were and are 
devoid of all efficacy and legality. This protesting is a necessary 
consequence of the malicious labors of these wicked men, and we 
publish it from the suggestion of our conscience, stimulated as it 
has been by the circumstances in which we were placed, and the 
impediments offered to the exercise of our sacred duties." 

The Pope then proceeded to nominate several individuals as a 
"governing commission" in his absence, but the people of Rome 
contemptuously rejected these appointments, and to shun the dan- 
gerous honor, several of the functionaries named, escaped beyond 
the frontier as fast as they could. 

The Pope also issued the following protest against the validity 
of the acts of the existing authorities in the city of Rome : 

" We declare to be null and of no force or effect in law, the acts 
which have followed the violence committed upon us, protesting, 
above all, that this Junta of State, established at Rome, is a usur- 
pation of our sovereign powers, and that the said Junta has not and 
cannot have any authority. Be it known, then, to all our subjects, 
whatever may be their rank or condition, that at Rome, and 
throughout the whole Pontifical States, there is not, and cannot 
be, any legitimate power which does not emanate expressly from 
us ; that we have, by the sovereign motu proprio, of the 27th of 
November, instituted a temporary commission of government, and 
that to it belongs exclusively the government of the nation during 
our absence, and until we ourselves shall have otherwise ordained. 

"Pius Papa IX." 

§ 32. Proclamation of the Roman Republic. — These proclama- 
tions of the Pope, however, had lost their power to terrify or to 
persuade the people of Rome, and on the 9th of February, 18 li), 
the Constituent Assembly decreed the deposition of the Pope from 
his temporal power and the establishment of a Republic. The 
number of representatives present was 141. M. Arraellini, in the 
name of the Provisional Government, first came forward and re- 
signed into the hands of the Assembly, the powers \\ Inch ii had here- 
tofore possessed, when M. Savini moved, and the Assembly, by 
almost a unanimous vote, adopted the following decree : 



690 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Joy of the peo ple. A nobie Bom an boy . 

"Art. I. — The Popedom has fallen, in fact as well as in law, 
from the temporal government of the Roman States. 

"Art. II. — The Roman Pontiff will enjoy all the guarantees 
necessary to the independence of his spiritual power. 

" Art. III. — The form of government of the Roman State will 
be pure democracy, and will take the glorious name of the Roman 
Republic. 

" Art. IV. — The Roman Republic will have with the rest of 
Italy, the relations which a common nationality requires." 

A Triumvirate, or executive of three men, was appointed to admin- 
ister the new government, consisting at first of Armellini, Salicetti, 
and Montecchi ; but upon the arrival of the celebrated Mazzini in 
Rome, on the 22d of February, changed to Armellini, Saffi, and 
Mazzini. 

At the proclamation of the Republic, the city of Rome was in a 
state of apparent joy and enthusiasm. At two o'clock in the after- 
noon of the 9th, the flag of the republic was hoisted on the tower 
of the capitol, amid the cheering of thousands of spectators, and 
saluted by the firing of 101 guns from the castle of St. Angelo. 
The next day there was a civic demonstration in its honor, and the 
decree relating to it was read from the capitol; and on the 11th, a 
grand Te Deum was chanted in the church of St. Peter's on the 
occasion of its proclamation. 

The people of Rome, ground down for ages by the tyranny and op- 
pression of popes and cardinals, fondly hoped that the hour of their final 
deliverance had arrived, and that the temporal dominion of the Pope 
was ended forever. As an illustration of this feeling, a single inci- 
dent may be mentioned. While the cannon of St. Angelo was an- 
nouncing the formation of the republic, and a deputy from the 
battery of the capitol was reading to the assembled multitudes the 
decision of the members of the Assembly, for the abolition of the 
Pope's temporal government, at the same moment the funeral bell 
of the capitol, which only tolls on the death of a Pope, pealed forth 
its solemn knell. An English traveller, aware of this custom, asked 
of a Roman youth the question — " What means the sound of that 
bell ? — Is the Pope dead ?*' " No, Signore," replied the young man, 
his eyes gleaming with excitement and joy, " it is not Pius IX. who 
is dead, but the popedom." 

These expectations of the patriotic Romans, however, were prem- 
ature. They were doomed to the bitter disappointment of seeing 
a neighboring government, which had also just proclaimed itself a 
republic, send its armed battalions for the purpose of crushing the 
spirit of Roman liberty, and restoring to his throne the most imbecile, 
yet the most despotic of the crowned tyrants of Europe. It is a 
just retribution, that the French nation, who thus disgraced itself 
in the eyes of Europe and of the world, has since been compelled to 
exchange its boasted but short-lived republican government, for a 
despotism scarcely less degrading than that which they brought 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 691 

The Roman Inquisition opened. 

back to the Romans — the rule of that arch-traitor to his country, 
and to the cause of human liberty, who styles himself the Emperor 
Napoleon III. Yet although the expectations of the Romans have 
been for the present disappointed, the chains of papal despotism have 
been broken, and none can mend them. Henceforward an impass- 
able abyss yawns between the Pope and his Roman subjects. All 
mutual confidence is gone forever. The pontiffs will continue to 
fear their subjects as enemies, while the latter will perceive in the 
Pope nothing more than a usurper imposed upon them by foreign 
force, whose yoke they will gladly shake off, when the " tide of 
affairs" shall remove or weaken the force which has imposed it. 

§ 33. Exposure of the horrors of the Roman Inquisition. — One of 
the first acts of the Constituent Assembly of the Republic, was the 
abolishment of the Inquisition at Rome, which had been in full opera- 
tion up to the time of the flight of Pope Pius. By the same decree, 
which ordained the destruction of this iniquitous and terrible tri- 
bunal, the Assembly charged the triumvirate with the duty of erect- 
ing a lofty column, to commemorate the overthrow of one of the 
greatest evils that ever darkened the face of the earth. But the 
scenes of this world change. On the 1st of July, 1849, the Roman 
republic, after a brief existence of five months, capitulated to the 
French, and in May, 1850, Pius IX., after an exile of one year and 
six months, returned to his capitol, proscribed the triumvirate, and 
re-established the Inquisition in all its former power. 

The following particulars of the opening of the palace of the In- 
quisition at Rome are from the pen of an eye-witness of the scenes 
he describes.* " On Sunday last, the palace of the Inquisition was 
thrown open to the public, after some days devoted to an inventory 
of its contents, and investigations, which resulted in the discovery 
of some relics of the diabolical practices with which this tribunal 
has been associated. Curiosity had been whetted by the accounts 
which appeared from time to time of prisoners, bones, and tortures, 
and more recently by the proclamation announcing that the build- 
ing would be opened, which spoke of ' horrid prisons, skeletons, and 
instruments of torture.' 

" The people poured into it in crowds. I went with a crowd, and 
found my way at last into a quiet garden, with a bubbling fountain 
in the centre, which seemed the very spot for sacred meditation ; 
but around the garden was a low building with grated windows. 
The rough walls of the rooms within were covered with inscriptions 
marked with a bit of charcoal — some ascriptions of praise, some 
bitter and complaining. In one I read, c Let Us pray to God that 
the good people may have pity.' In another, ' Take away oppres- 
sion, O God.' — ' Too long have I been confined here at the caprice of 
calumniators, without admission to the sacraments.' — ' How much. 
have I suffered here V Here, beneath a death's head and cross-bones 

* The foreign correspondent of the New York Tribune. 



692 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Horrors of the modern Inquisition. 

was written, ' O mori !' Here, ' Scipio Gaetani — eight years have 
I been imprisoned, here.' There was one short but expressive sen- 
timent in the English language : 'Is this the Christian faith V In 
one prison a heavy trap-door was lifted from a dark opening, expos- 
ing a deep black vault ; below, in a corner, lay a mass of bed-clothes 
and tattered garments, among which I recognized a worn, dirty 
strait-waistcoat, apparently intended for a female. In several of 
the rooms were pipes, through which, probably, food was given to 
the wretched inmates. In another part of the building a dense 
crowd was assembled around' the entrance to a vault, which seemed 
to pass beneath the whole palace. I made my way through the 
mass and down the rough steps, and recognized, by the light of the 
torches upon the walls, heaps of human bones scattered over the 
floor. Others were protruding from the wall of earth at the sides, 
yet untouched ; and although it was difficult to distinguish in this 
confused mass, sex, age, or even the different parts of the body, one 
at least seemed to be that of a female ; and the seventeen thigh- 
bones which might be counted here and there, told the story of nine 
poor victims. 

" The excavations are yet unfinished, and it is not easy to conjec- 
ture how much the number may be increased. But even these few 
relics afford room for the darkest suspicions. How many years 
have passed since these vaults received their last victim ? Did he 
waste away slowly under torture and starvation, or did the holy 
fathers, more merciful than usual, give him the blessing of a sudden 
death ? But these are conjectures without limit. It is difficult to 
account for the presence of these relics upon any supposition favor- 
able to the holy office. They are found imbedded in earth, filling 
the brick arches which form the foundation of the building, and 
must therefore have been placed there since its construction — a fact 
inconsistent with the supposition that they belong to an ancient 
cemetery on this spot, if any existed : and it is but too clear, from 
the appearance of the bones, that their possessors were born long 
since the erection of the building. Perhaps the unfortunate nun, 
who was found in her cell, when recent events threw open the 
doors of the palace, might tell us something that would aid in ex- 
plaining these discoveries/' 

Another reliable witness, writing from Italy, published in the 
New York Journal of Commerce the following additional particu- 
lars of the horrors discovered in this den of papal cruelty and 
abomination. :: In Turin I met the American consul of Rome, who 
had passed through the entire revolution in the Eternal City, and 
who was present when the doors and dungeons of the Inquisition 
were opened by the decree of the Triumvirs, its prisoners released, 
and the building converted into an asylum for the poor. It was 
interesting to hear from the lips of an intelligent eye-witness, the 
most ample confirmation of the published statement relative to the 
condition and appearance of this iniquitous establishment. The 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 693 

The trap-door and pit of death. 

Holy Inquisition of Rome is situated near the Porta Cavalligeri, and 
under the very shadow of the sublime dome of St. Peter's Cathe- 
dral, and capable in case of emergency of accommodating three 
thousand prisoners. The consul was particularly struck with the 
imposing dimensions of the ' Chamber of Archives/ filled with volu- 
minous documents, records, and papers. Here were piled all the 
proceedings and decisions of the holy office, from the very birth of 
the Inquisition, including the correspondence with its collateral 
branches in both hemispheres. Upon the third floor, over a certain 
door, was an inscription to this effect — ' Speak to the first inquisitor/ 
Over another — ' Nobody enters this chamber except on pain of ex- 
communication.' They might as well have placed over that door 
the well-remembered inscription of Dante over the gates of Tar- 
tarus — ' Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.' That chamber was 
the solemn hall of judgment, or doom-room, where the fates of 
thousands have been sealed in death. Over a door directly oppo- 
site, another inscription read, ' Speak to the second inquisitor." 
Upon opening the door of the department, a trap-door was exposed, 
from which the condemned, after they left the hall of judgment, 
stepped from time into eternity. 

" The well or pit beneath had been built in the ordinary cylin- 
drical form, and was at least eighty feet deep, and so ingeniously 
provided with projecting knives and cutlasses, that the bodies of the 
victims must have been dreadfully mangled in the descent. At the 
bottom of this abyss, quantities of hair and beds of mouldering 
bones remained. Not only at the bottom of the pit, but also in 
several of the lower chambers of the building, were found human 
bones. In some places they appear to have been mortared into the 
walls. The usual instruments of torture in such establishments 
were likewise manifest." 

As the existence of this modern Inquisition in Rome is a fact of 
startling moment, when considered in connection with the efforts of 
Roman Catholics in America, we add the additional testimony of 
Dr. Achilli, given at a recent public meeting. 

" At a meeting in the Rotunda, Dublin, recently, in connection 
with the Italian Evangelical Society, Mr. Philip Dixon Hardy 
stated, that he was anxious to put a question to Dr. Achilli. It 
had been denied that some of the things alleged to have taken place 
had ever occurred. The question he wanted to put was this — 
Was it a fact that at the time Pio Nono left Rome the Inquisition 
was in Rome ? This had been denied, and he wished his friend to 
give an answer. 

" Dr. Achilli thereupon rose and said : Pius IX. on leaving Rome 
with his cardinals, left there the Inquisition, and he left it hoping 
that by means of its work he would bo the better able to return to 
Rome; and it is the fact the Inquisition is still in Rome, and was 
at work in Rome after the departure of Pius IX. Pius IX. left. 
Rome in the month of November, 1818, and 1 was in Rome in the 



694 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Bishop Cashur rescued from the Inquisition. 

month of February, 1849, and at this time the Roman Republic was 
proclaimed ; and eight days after the proclamation of the republic, 
the Te Deum was chanted in the cathedral of St. Peter's ; and on 
that occasion/I with some ten or twelve of my companions visited 
together the prison of the Inquisition, and this is what we found : — 
We found in this palace of the Inquisition, the Commissary of the 
Inquisition, together with his two companions, his secretaries, and 
his chancellors, and in addition to that we found the jailors of the 
Inquisition ; and I myself asked one of the jailors whether there 
were any prisoners in the cells ; because, I said, if there are jailors, 
we may naturally suppose that there are also prisoners. But the 
jailor, according to the laws of his order and of the Inquisition, was 
not at liberty to give me an honest answer ; and was satisfied with 
merely shrugging up his shoulders ; but for me that answer was 
sufficient, and I understood by the shrug of his shoulders, he meant 
to say there were plenty of them. And it was in consequence of 
this automatic answer that my companions, amongst whom were 
some French officers, were very much inclined to cause an uproar 
in the Inquisition. They wanted, right or wrong, to examine the 
cells and dungeons, and compel the jailors to open the gates ; but I 
begged of my friends to desist from such a thing, and I advised 
them rather to make known this state of things to the government. 
And that was done ; and the government sent officers to verify 
whether the Inquisition was still in operation, and they found mat- 
ters as I have described them. In addition to that, the government 
found three prisoners in the dungeons, and one of these prisoners 
was a bishop, who had been there in his cell for twenty-five years ; 
and this bishop, together with another prisoner, was almost carried 
in triumph through the streets of Rome ; and every child in Rome 
knows that Bishop Cashur, from Cairo, was carried about in tri- 
umph after having been delivered from the prison of the Inquisition. 
' : But I will tell you also of another case. There was another of 
the prisoners of the Inquisition, although he was not immured in the 
dungeon of the Inquisition itself; he was imprisoned in one of the 
convents of Rome, and whoever has been at Rome will know the 
convent of Franciscan Friars, called the Convent of Aracoeli. This 
prisoner was a wretched monk of about sixty years of age ; he had 
been for twelve years immured in a most horrible hole. This un- 
fortunate man was not a Roman, he was not an Italian — you will 
be surprised to find that he was an American ; he was not an in- 
habitant of the United States, but a man from the republics of the 
South. This wretched monk, when he heard that the republic was 
proclaimed in Rome, and that the Inquisition was thrown open, 
contrived by some means or other to let it be known that he was 
there, and the messenger brought the news to the Xational As- 
sembly, that this man was a prisoner in the Convent of Aracoeli. 
A deputation was at once sent to the superior of the convent, in 
order to ascertain the truth of the matter, but the father abbot 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 695 

A twelve years 1 prisoner of the Inquisition released. 

strenuously denied it. However, they compelled him by threaten- 
ing him, and at last he condescended to open the door of his cell. 
The monk was drawn out, and the wretched man, after twelve 
years' immurement there, was almost reduced to blindness, and he 
was scarcely able to stand on his legs — and they had to support 
him to enable him to go along. In this state he was brought before 
the National Assembly, and I was there myself. I have seen him 
with my own eyes, and if any one would deny it, I appeal to Rome, 
to every one in Rome, to confirm the truth of what has been said. 
On arriving at the National Assembly he was an object of curiosity, 
and every one hastened around to examine him, and every one was 
anxious to hear something from him, and he had but one answer 
for them all, ' I have not the most remote idea why I was for twelve 
years kept in that dungeon ; and I had always settled in my mind, 
and was at peace with myself, never having the slightest hope of 
seeing the daylight again/ 

" He turned round and thanked them one after another, for he 
said it was to them he owed his life. He then asked for some as- 
sistance to return to his own country, and on that same evening a 
collection was made among us, and we gave him a small sum to 
enable him to return to America, and I believe, at this moment, the 
monk is in South America, thankful for his deliverance. There- 
fore, there is no doubt the Inquisition existed in Rome up to the first 
days of the Roman Republic ; and that the Inquisition was restored 
with the return of the Papal Government, I am," said Dr. Achilli, 
" myself a living proof — and when you will consider that the Papal 
Government itself has not the hardihood to deny that I was in the 
Inquisition — when the government has confessed and acknowledged 
it — you will scarcely find any one to deny it. Therefore you may 
well conclude from this, that the Inquisition is still in existence at 
this present moment in Rome ; and if I were rash enough to go to 
Rome now, I will just tell you what would happen — though you 
may guess it — I don't think I ever would see the face of the sun 
again."* 

* The name of Dr. Achilli has of late become familiar to the Protestant world, 
from the remarkable adventures through which that gentleman has passed. 
Formerly a Romish priest in Italy, the land of his birth, of high distinction and 
honor — he was led to renounce the errors of Popery, and to avow himself a Pro- 
testant believer. His persecutions and sufferings in the Inquisition at Rome 
and elsewhere, have been detailed by himself in an interesting volume entitled 
" Dealings with the Inquisition." 

After his providential escape from the dungeons of the Inquisition, he took ref- 
uge in England, and became a preacher of the gospel to his Italian countrymen 
in London. A desperate and unprincipled at tempi, was there made to ruin the 
reputation of Dr. Achilli, by charges of immoralities, alleged to have been per- 
petrated by him, long before he abandoned the Romish priesthood ; but the author 
of these charges, Dr. Newman, formerly of Puscyite notoriety, and now a most 
bigoted and zealous Papist, has been convicted by a British jury, and brought to 
punishment for his vindictive and disgraceful libel. 

In the attempt to establish these infamous charges, the whole power, influ- 



696 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Sensation produced by the Pope's flight. Achilli, and the cry of "'wolf!"' 

§ 34. Effect of the Pope's expatriation upon the Catholic world. — 
The sensation produced by the flight of the Pope from Rome upon 
the whole Catholic world was most intense and exciting. In France 
and other European countries, the Ultramontane party confidently 
proclaimed that Pius IX. would triumphantly re-enter his capital 
at the end of a few days from his banishment. They said in their 
journals : " The Romans will speedily repent of their ingratitude. 
It is an act of madness which cannot last \ they cannot do without 
their Sovereign Pontiff. You will see that they will fall upon their 
knees, strike upon their breasts, before the most Holy Father, and 
that with many tears they will beseech him to return to the Vati- 
can ! Pius IX. is as necessary to the Romans as the air they breathe, 
and they will renounce all their vain political liberties rather than 
consent to part with their spiritual and temporal head !" xAfter the 
lapse of a few months, however, these prophets came to the con- 
clusion, that more forcible arguments were needed to bring the 
refractory Romans to submission, than their reverence for the man 
who had deceived and abused them. They then came to the con- 
clusion that the Pope's temporal subjects were very bad Catholics. 

enee, and wealth of the Romish priesthood were enlisted ; and yet, whether they 
were false or true, the conclusion was equally disgraceful to the Romish church. 
If the charges are false, then the facts reveal a most infernal and deep-laid plot, 
such as could be hatched only in the brain of a Jesuit, to crush and ruin a good 
man, for no other reason than that he had forsaken their communion. If they 
are true, then the fact is established, that a Romish priest may be guilty of the 
grossest licentiousness, without injuring his standing as a priest; nay more, that 
in spite of this conduct, he can make his way to honor and distinction in the 
priesthood, and need fear no exposure, unless he should forsake the Romish 
church. This latter conclusion, whether applicable in the present case or not, we 
are perfectly satisfied is literally true. As a proof, see an extract from Rev. Pierce 
Connolly's letter, Appendix 10. 

The fact is well known and admitted, that long after Achilli's alleged offences 
against chastity and morality, he was not only regarded as a good Catholic priest, 
but was honored, and appointed to various important ecclesiastical posts and 
duties. When Achilli left the Roman church, his popish accusers denounced 
him as " a wolf," who had long been devouring the flock. In allusion to this 
epithet, and upon the supposition that some of the alleged charges might be true, 
the Christian Remembrancer, for October, 1852, very pertinently says : "Talk of 
the ' wolf,' then, as much as you please; but what if the shepherds pulled in the 
wolf by the head and shoulders ; what if, when the wolf had eaten two or three 
of the sheep, the shepherds gave him a comfortable kennel in the midst of the 
fold, ' in the hope of reclaiming him ;' what if his reformation was under such 
circumstances slow, and he ate several more of the sheep ; what if the shepherds, 
still bent upon a kindly reformation of the wolf, in order to melt and captivate 
him by an act of unqualified trust in his sincerity, send him on a commission to 
bring in some stray sheep ; and what if the wolf concludes an affectionate appeal 
to these wanderers, with a meal made out of some of them'? In that case, the 
fact is certainly too evident, that he is a wolf; but neither are you good shep- 
herds. The good shepherd does not stand by, while the wolf, time after time, 
devours the sheep, and reserve his indignation till the time when the wolf has 
taken it into his head to leap over the walls of the fold, and is off elsewhere — 
then, and not till then, when all the mischief has been done, and a controversial 
end is to be gained, with pious horror to shout, Oh, wolf! dreadful wolf!" 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 697 

Bishop Hughes and the Pope's two hundred million subjects. 

Then they loaded the Roman patriots with the most abusive epithets. 
In the vocabulary of these slaves of the Pope, they were " infernal 
beings, vile radicals, disgusting wretches, infamous creatures ;" 
and since threats and promises, abuse and flattery, excommunica- 
tions and exhortations, had all failed to induce them to abandon 
the struggle for liberty, these journals invoked the assistance of 
Catholic princes and Catholic bayonets to compel the "rebels" to 
submission. 

In America the excitement among the Roman Catholics was 
scarcely less intense than in Europe ; at least, among those whose 
residence in a free country had not yet been sufficiently long to wean 
them from the notion so zealously taught by Romish priests every- 
where, that Catholics all over the world are still subjects of the 
Pope, and that their allegiance to him is of a higher and more im- 
perative character than that which they owe to any earthly gov- 
ernment. Said Bishop Hughes, in a sermon preached in New York 
soon after the Pope's flight, upon " the present position of Pope Pius 
IX. :" " It is necessary for Christendom, that the Pope should be free, 
and if there be no middle state between a subject and a secular 
sovereign, then I say that for him to be a sovereign is necessary." 
And again he says : " If necessary, the Church has resources. 
There is no sovereign on earth that counts so many subjects as 
Pius IX., independent of those petty states of Rome. Two hun- 
dred millions of men cherish him in their hearts, all of whom direct 
their best wishes towards his sacred person. Sooner than we should 
see him subject to any sovereign, or president, or petty prince, or 
king, we should have recourse to the old institution, and Peter- 
pence from every point of the compass would constitute a treasury 
to raise him above that subjection, even though he should occupy 
an island in the Mediterranean Sea a single square mile in extent." 

Some Catholic writers warmly proposed that the expatriated 
Pope should be invited to make America his future home, and the 
city of St. Louis was frequently named as the future Rome of 
America, and the throne of the Pope upon the western continent. 
Others opposed this project upon the ground that America was as 
yet not sufficiently civilized, to give him a suitable reception. 
Among the Catholic journals who took this ground was the organ 
of Bishop Hughes in New York ; edited by a renegade Protestant 
named McMasters, and misnamed the Freeman's Journal. The 
following extract from this paper, is worthy of record, for future 
reference as one of the curiosities of American literature, and as an 
exposition of Catholic views of papal man-worship and American 
civilization. 

"Exile of His Holiness. — In the touching pastoral of Bishop 
Maginn, in another column, will be found an allusion to the asylum 
that his Holiness might find in the Republic of the United States. 
This is all very well as a poetic hypothesis ; as a proposition, how- 
ever, it makes our blood thrill with horror. No! Sooner than that 



693 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

A:.".i-r - - - .-.'■:-'':' re r;"e ::.e p.-.pe. 

impracticable absurdity should occur — sooner than the consecrated 
foot of the Vicar of Christ should bear him to a soil where more 
than half of the public press would insult him, and more than half 
the remainder exhaust themselves in efforts to make political capi- 
tal out ot him : sooner than he should come to a land where more 
than one half the Catholic population, ignorant of the etiquette that 
so distinguishes even the poorest peasantry of a Catholic land, 
would gape at him with their hats on. or sit in his presence with their 
heels up in the air. — we would exclaim with the ■' Cercle Catho- 
lique' of France. -'Rather we will go to you ; our arms, our wealth, 
our lives are at your service ; yes, we love you far more than we 
love our country or our homes ; we are ready, at a sign from you, 
to chase out these robbers from the Patrimony of St. Peter, and to 
re-establish your throne in the Vatican ; — but, Holy Father, do 
not afflict our Catholic hearts by seeing you in a land which is so 
unworthy of you. and which is too little advanced in the race of the 
Christian civilization to know how to receive you becomingly !' 

••Such would be the language that we would address to the Sov- 
ereign Pontiff. But we shall have no opportunity of doing so. There 
are too many nations baptized by the Church, who vie with each 
other to do honor to the Pope, to afford us the necessity of meeting 
him on these shores.'"'' 

§ 35. The Pope's appeal to foreign powers. — While these specu- 
lations and conjectures were circulating throughout the world, in 
reference to the probable future home of the expatriated Pope, 
Pius himself was planning with his cardinals at Gaeta, the most 
effectual means of being restored to the throne from which he had 
been driven in the city of Rome. In order to the accomplishment 
of this object, a Pronunciamento addressed to the European pow- 
ers was drawn up by Cardinal Antonelli, the Pope's prime minis- 
ter, dated February IS. 1849, calling, in the Pope's name, upon the 
Catholic kingdoms and sovereigns ot' Europe, and particularly upon 
Austria. France. Spain, and the kingdom ol the two Sicilies, for 
their armed intervention to conquer his rebellious subjects, and to 
restore him to the throne from which he had been driven. As this 
document is an able and compact statement of the papal view of 
the events we have detailed, it is worthy of being placed on record, 
as the most powerful argument and plea on the papal side of the 
question : 

THE PRONUNCIAMENTO OF THE POPE TO THE EUROPEAN POWERS. 

From his accession to the popedom, his Holiness had only in view to lavish on 
all his subjects benefits in a .- with the epoch, by providing for all their 

welfare. In fact, after having pronounced words of pardon for those who, in 
consequence of political offences, were in exile or in prison — after having estab- 
lished a Council of Srate and instituted a regular ministry — after having accord- 
ed, by the imperative force of circumstances, the institution of the civic guard, 
the new law for a fair liberty of the press, and finally, a fundamental statute for 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 699 

The Pope's appeal to foreign powers. 

the states of the Holy See, he had a strong title to that gratitude which subjects 
owe to a prince who looked on them as his children, and who promised them 
only a reign of love. But very different was the recompense of so many bene- 
fits and concessions which he had lavished on them. After brief demonstrations 
of pleasure then excited by those who had already in their heart the most culpa- 
ble intentions, he soon reaped the bitter harvest of ingratitude. 

Violently urged by an unbridled faction to engage in a war against Austria, 
he was obliged to pronounce, in the consistory held on the 26th of April, 1848. 
an address, in which he declared that his duty and his conscience did not permit 
him to consent to such a course. That was sufficient to cause machinations, 
prepared beforehand, to burst out in open violence against the exercise of his full 
and free government, in forcing him to divide the ministry into two parts, one lay 
and the other ecclesiastical, a division which he never admitted. However, the 
Holy Father hoped that, in placing at the head of the various ministerial depart- 
ments men of ability and friends to order, matters would have assumed a better 
appearance, and that the evils which already forebode so many misfortunes, would 
be in part arrested. But a homicidal steel, directed by the hand of an assassin, 
destroyed, by the death of the minister Rossi, the hopes which he had conceived. 
That crime, cried up as a glorious act, imprudently inaugurated the reign of vio- 
lence ; the Quirinal was surrounded by armed men ; an attempt was made to burn 
it; shots were fired against the apartments of the Sovereign Pontiff, and one of 
his secretaries was killed. In fine, efforts were made to besiege his palace with 
cannon and enter it by force, unless he consented to admit the ministry which was 
imposed on him. 

In consequence of such a series of atrocious acts, being obliged to yield, a3 
every one knows, to force, the Pontiff saw himself under the necessity of quit- 
ting Rome and the pontifical states, in order to recover that liberty which was 
forced from him. Thanks to Providence, he withdrew to Gaeta, and there received 
the hospitality of a prince eminently Catholic. There, surrounded by a part of the 
Sacred College and by the representatives of all the powers with which he was 
on friendly terms, he did not delay a moment to cause his voice to be heard, and 
to announce by the pontifical act of November 27, the motives of his temporary 
separation from his subjects, the nullity and illegality of all the acts emanating 
from a ministry formed by violence, and he named a commission of government 
to take the direction of affairs during his absence from his states. 

Without paying any attention to his wishes, and seeking to extenuate their in- 
fluence with the inexperienced classes by the aid of false pretexts, the authors of 
these sacrilegious acts of violence did not fear to commit greater crimes ; arroga- 
ting to themselves, rights which belong only to the sovereign, they instituted an 
illegal form of government, by the title of Provisional Junta of State. By an- 
other document of December 17, the Holy Father protested against this new and 
grave sacrilege, announcing that this Junta of State was only a usurpation of 
sovereign power, and could not, consequently, have any authority. He hoped 
that such protests would have recalled his misled subjects to their duty, but a new 
and more monstrous act of open felony, of absolute rebellion, crowned his meas- 
ure of bitterness. Such was the convocation of a National General Assembly 
of the Roman State to establish new political forms to be given to the States of 
the Holy See. 

It was then, that, by another document of Jan. 1, he protested against that act, 
and condemned it as an odious and sacrilegious crime, committed againsl Ins inde- 
pendence and his sovereignty, deserving of the chastisements denounced against 
such acts by both divine and human laws, and he forbade all his subjects to take part 
in it, warning that whoever dared make any attempt againsl the temporal sover- 
eignty of the Sovereign Pontiff, rendered himself liable to the censures and ex- 
communication of the church — a punishment which he declared to be incurred 
by those who in any manner whatever, and under false pretexts, had usurped and 
violated his authority. How did the anarchical party recch e such a protest, and so 
imperative a condemnation? It will be sufficient to state, that every possible 



700 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 



The Pope's appeal to foreign powers. 



effort was made to prevent its divulgation. Severe penalties were threatened 
against whatever person should dare to inform the people of it, and against any 
that should not second the views of the anarchists. However, notwithstanding 
such unheard of violence, the majority of his subjects remained faithful to their 
sovereign, exposed themselves to all sacrifices, even to the extent of their lives, 
rather than fail in their duty as subjects and Catholics. The anarchical party, still 
more exasperated to see their designs thwarted, redoubled in a thousand ways 
their violence and their reign of terror, without any regard for rank or condition ; 
but, being anxious at any price, to consummate this access of crime, they had 
recourse to the vilest mercenary means. 

Proceeding from excess to excess, they abused even the benefits accorded by the 
Sovereign Pontiff particularly in converting the liberty of the press into the 
most revolting license. After the most unjust appropriations of property, in 
order to recompense their accomplices, and not to tolerate the presence of honest 
and timid men, after so many assassinations committed under their eyes, after 
having everywhere disseminated the seeds of rebellion, immorality, and irreli- 
gion ; after having led away the imprudent young men of the capital, without 
respecting even the places consecrated to public instruction, in order to convert 
them into barracks for the most undisciplined soldiers, composed of fugitives 
and offenders from foreign countries, the anarchists desire to reduce the capital 
of the Catholic world, the seat of the pontiffs, into a seat of impiety, destroying, 
if they can, all idea of sovereignty in him, destined by Providence to govern the 
universal Church ; and who, in fact, in order to exercise freely his authority over 
the whole Catholic world, enjoys a state as patrimony of the Church. 

At the sight of so manifest desolations and massacres, the Holy Father can- 
not be but profoundly afflicted, and at the same time moved by the cry of his 
faithful subjects, calling for his assistance to be delivered from the most dreadful 
tyranny. His Holiness, as is known, a short time after his arrival at Gaeta, on 
the 4th of December last, raised his voice to all the sovereigns with whom he 
was in relation. On making known to them his departure from his capital and 
the pontifical states, with the causes which compelled him to take this step, he 
invoked their aid in defence of the domains of the Holy See. He has a pleasing 
satisfaction in declaring that all, answering his appeal in love, have taken a most 
lively interest in his griefs and painful situation ; have offered to intervene in his 
favor, and at the same time testified the most lively sentiments of devoted attach- 
ment towards him. In the expectation of such happy and generous dispositions, 
while her Majesty, the Queen of Spain, with so much solicitude, promoted . a 
Congress of the Catholic powers to concert the means of promptly re-establish- 
ing the Holy Father in his states, in full liberty and independence, a proposition 
in which several powers acceded, and to which the accession of others was expect- 
ed, it is painful to have to recall to mind that the papal states were a prey to a 
devastating incendiarism, the work of a party subversive to all social institutions, 
and which, under the specious pretext of nationality and independence, has not 
abstained from any effort to accomplish its criminal designs. 

The decree, called fundamental, which emanated on the 9th (February) from 
the Roman Constituent Assembly, constitutes an act which exceeds the blackest 
felony — the most abominable impiety. In this, principally, the Pope is declared 
de jure et de facto, deprived of the temporal government of the Roman state, and 
the republic is proclaimed ; and by another act the arms of the Holy Father are 
decreed to be taken down. His Holiness, seeing his dignity as pontiff and sover- 
eign degraded, protests in the face of all the sovereigns and nations, and of all the 
Catholics upon the earth, against this access of irreligion — against a violent 
attempt which despoils him of his most sacred and imprescriptible rights. If a 
prompt remedy be not applied to this state of things, succor will not arrive until 
the states of the Church, now a prey to their most cruel enemies, will be reduced 
to ashes. 

_ The Holy Father, having exhausted all the means within his power, obliged by 
his duty towards the Catholic world to preserve in its integrity the patrimony of 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 701 

Address of the Roman patriots to France and England. 

the Church and the sovereignty whieh is annexed to it, so indispensable for main- 
taining his liberty and independence as Supreme Head of the Catholic Church, 
moved by the groans of his faithful and devoted subjects, who implore with loud 
voices the succor which is neeessary to relieve them from the yoke of iron and 
tyranny they can no longer endure, he once more turns towards the foreign powers, 
and especially towards the Catholic powers, who, with so much generosity of soul, 
and in a manner so marked, have manifested their firm resolution to defend his 
cause. He feels convinced that they will be anxious to co-operate, by their moral 
intervention, in re-establishing him in his See, in the capital of those domains 
which have been piously constituted to maintain his full liberty and independence, 
and which have been guaranteed by treaties forming the basis of the public right 
of Europe. And since Austria, France, Spain, and the Kingdom of the two 
Sicilies, are, by their geographical position, in a situation to efficiently co-operate 
by arms in re-establishing, in the domain of the Holy See, the order which has 
been destroyed by a horde of sectarians, the Holy Father confiding in the reli- 
gious interest of these powers, demands with full confidence their armed interven- 
tion to deliver principally the States of the Holy See from that faction of wretches, 
who, by all sorts of crimes, exercises there the most atrocious despotism. 

It is the only means of succeeding in restoring order in the States of the 
Church and in giving back to the Sovereign Pontiff the free exercise of his su- 
preme authority, as his sacred and august character, the interests of the Church, 
and the peace of nations, require. It is in that way that he will be enabled to pre- 
serve the patrimony which he received in accepting the pontificate, in order to 
transmit it in its integrity to his successors. It is the cause of order and Catholi- 
cism, and it is on that account that the Holy Father indulges in the hope that, whilst 
all the powers with whom he is on friendly terms, and who, in the situation to 
which a factious party has reduced him, have in so many ways manifested to him 
the most lively interest, will give a moral assistance to the armed intervention 
which the gravity of circumstances forces him to apply for, the four powers men- 
tioned above will not lose a moment in accomplishing the work which he 
demands from them, and thus will be sure to merit well of public order and 
religion. CARDINAL ANTONELLI. 

Gaeta, February 18, 1849. 

§ 36. The appeal of the Roman Patriots to France and England. — 
In order to counteract, as much as possible, the force of the Pope's 
appeal for armed intervention, the Constituent Assembly of Rome 
prepared the following bold and manly address to the governments 
and parliaments of France and England : 

The Representatives of the free Roman people confidently appeal to the 
Governments and to the Parliaments of the two freest and most powerful nations 
of Europe. 

It is well known that we have been for many years governed by the Church, 
with the same special and absolute authority in all' matters temporal as in spiri- 
tual, whence it happened that, amid the enlightenment of the nineteenth century, 
we are surrounded by the darkness of the middle ages. Civilization was com- 
bated at times with open warfare, always with the force of inertia, to such a 
degree that it was considered a crime in us to feel and call ourselves Italians. 

It is well known that we have on many occasions attempted to achieve our 
own liberty ; but Europe lias made us expiate by a harder slavery these very 
attempts by which other nations have been rendered glorious. At Length, after 
our long martyrdom, the day of redemption appeared to have arrived, and we 
trusted to the power of ideas as well as to that of events, and to the mild char- 
acter of the prince. We desired above all things to be Italians; this was a 
crime. We believed ourselves free; thin was an illusion. The day came when 
the Prince abandoned us, and we were left without government; all attempts at 

45 



02 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 



Appeal to France and England. 



conciliation failed ; messengers and messages from Parliament and the munici- 
pality were rejected ; the people awaited their time with patience, but the emi- 
grated government no longer proffered a single word of liberty or of love ; it 
stigmatized three millions with the guilt of an individual, and when we delibera- 
ted on employing the only means which remained to us for constituting an 
authority which the Prince had, in fact, abdicated, the Priest pronounced a male- 
diction upon us. 

It is well known that our Assembly had its origin in universal suffrage ; that 
Assembly, exercising of necessity an imprescriptible right, decreed the dethrone- 
ment of theocracy forever, and proclaimed the Republic. 

No one opposed it. The only voice of complaint arose from the theocracy 
which we had overthrown. And yet it is to this voice that Europe is willing to 
listen, and seems to forget the story of our woes, and to confound what lies with- 
in the province of spiritual authority with that which is purely temporal. 

The Roman Republic has sanctioned the independence and the free exercise of 
the spiritual authority of the Pope, and has thereby demonstrated to the Catho- 
lic world how profoundly deep is its conviction that the liberty of religious action 
should be inseparable from the Supreme Head of the Church. To maintain this 
liberty in the fullest integrity, the Roman Republic adds to the moral guaran- 
tee afforded by the devotion of all our Catholic brethren the material guaran- 
tee of all the force at its disposal. But Europe is not contented with this, and 
it is repeated that the existence of the temporal power of the Pope is essential to 
Catholicism. 

For this reason we invite the Governments and Parliaments of France and 
England to consider what right can be alleged by any power to impose any 
form of government whatever on an independent nation, and where is the wis- 
dom of attempting to restore a government, by its very nature irreconcilable with 
libera' and civilization — a government long since morally abolished, and actually 
so far, upward of five months, without any one among the clergy having attempted 
to set up its fallen standard ; or where is the wisdom of resuscitating a govern- 
ment universally detested, incapable of a long existence, and on the contrary, 
certain to provoke continual conspiracies, disturbances, and revolutions. 

And if we assert that such a government cannot be identified and reconciled 
either with liberty or civilization, we have surely good grounds for such an 
assertion, since the experiment we have lately made of a Constitution has proved 
how much the attempt to establish an affinity and combination between the tem- 
poral and spiritual concerns has impeded its working and development. Here 
ecclesiastical canons nullified civil statutes ; under the empire of Theocracy pub- 
lic education and instruction were the privilege and monoply of the clergy — the 
ecclesiastical privilege of mortmain impeded the transmission of property. Ec- 
clesiastics were exempted by privilege from appearing before the civil tribunals, 
while the laity were subject to the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical tribunals, all 
which constituted a condition of things so far removed from real liberty or civili- 
zation, that any free nation must prefer the alternative of waging ten wars to 
enduring a single one of them. And how can Europe — so often thrown into 
commotion by the sacerdotal power which launched the thunder of the Church 
against her states — how can she expect three millions of men to submit at the 
present day to an authority which not only exercises its political right of temporal 
punishment against the offender, but even threatens damnation to his soul ? Europe 
cannot reason herself into the belief that free institutions can be fitly carried out 
under a prince who can, under cover of his political power, turn the enormous 
authority of the priest to perplexing and disturbing consciences. 

We trust that England and France, so justly jealous of their own independ- 
ence will never willingly consent that there should exist in the centre of Italy a 
people neutral with respect to other nations, made serfs for the sake of the rest 
of toe Catholic world, excluded from the rights of nations, made a mere appanage 
for the clergy. The Roman people claim to be masters of the Roman States. 
And if* Catholic nations may interfere in behalf of their religious affairs, surely 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 703 

Eesponse to the Pope's appeal. 

they have no right to interfere with our political rights, or our social compact. 
However neutrality may be imposed on a whole nation, it surely cannot be im- 
posed on the central district of a country with regard to the rest, it being impos- 
sible for the centre to have by itself a national life by the mere force of treaties 
or protocols. 

The representatives of the Roman people would consider it an insult to the 
political wisdom of the Governments and Parliaments of France and England, 
were they to doubt their acknowledging the importance of the rights and argu- 
ments herein slightly touched upon, no less than the advantage to Europe her- 
self, who must insure its own lasting tranquillity by securing the abolition of the 
government of the priesthood. 

Undoubtedly it can never be expected of us that we should not oppose the res- 
toration with a bold, determined, and irrevocable will; nor can Europe impute to 
us the threatening catastrophe that may ensue, nor the inevitable injury that a vio- 
lent and bloody restoration would occasion, even to the Catholic authority of the 
Papacy. We are convinced that England and France will lend us both aid and 
counsel in order to avert such evils, and to draw closer the bond of amity in which 
all free nations should now be united. 

For the National Assembly. 

G. GALLETTI, President. 

§ 37. Response to the Pope's appeal. Invasion of the French. — 
The appeals from the Pope to the priest-ridden kingdoms of Austria, 
Naples, and Spain, were promptly responded to ; and at the com- 
mand of their sovereigns, the armies of those countries prepared to 
array themselves on the side of papal tyranny and oppression ; and 
the cloud seemed to darken that hung over the prospects of the 
Roman patriots. They knew well that they had nothing to hope 
from Austria, or Naples, or Spain. All that they could reasonably 
expect from Protestant England, which would probably be unwilling, 
by interference, to embroil herself in a general European war, was 
what they succeeded in obtaining, the sympathy and approval of 
her greatest and wisest men, and that moral influence which words 
of encouragement and cheer could afford to champions and martyrs 
for liberty. From the newly-born republic of France, they might 
well hope, either for active and efficient aid in their noble struggle, 
or, if reasons of state should forbid that, they might certainly be 
assured that "La Grande Republique" would, at least, be deaf to 
the summons of the banished oppressor, who called upon them to 
rise and crush their brother republicans of Rome. In this, how- 
ever, they were doomed to a painful disappointment. The acting 
President of the French Republic, at that critical time, was an 
unprincipled and needy adventurer, whose ambition could rest 
satisfied with nothing short of establishing himself as Emperor u\)on 
the ruins of the republic, and who would hesitate at no acts of 
meanness or baseness which might further his views. The story o{ 
the invasion of Italy, by the French troops, and of their eventual 
success, after a terrible and bloody struggle, in crushing the liber- 
ties of the Romans, and restoring the Pope, must be told in the 
simple but graphic words of one who was an actor in those scenes. 
The Austnans were menacing the Roman Republic on its northern. 



704 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

and the Neapolitans on its southern frontier; and. says l\:colim.* 
"All tne energies oi the government were directed against tne for- 
e:~- enemies who threatened us. The most extraordinary efforts 
j being made :: iefend ourselves to the last, when a rumor 
beg -- to circulate, which, though certainly believed by few. filled 
the country with still greater alarm — the rumor that we were in- 
vaded by a new enemy — one. alas ! whom we had been used to re- 
gard as a friend. Louis Napoleon, thirsting for empire, perceived 
the necessity oi ingratiating himself with the French priests and 
Jesuits whose great induence over the peasantry might secure his 
re-election as President, and also of making friends oi Austria and 
Russia, whose : position he deprecated ; and knowing that nothing 
would tend more to conciliate all these parties than the destru 
of the Roman Republic, offered his services for that purpose to the 
Holy Father. 

1 : wards evening oo the '24th of April, the news that the French 
army had landed at Ciwita Vecchia reached Rome, and threw it 
into a state oi feverish excitement. Various were the opinions 
concerning the event. Few were those who would believe that the 
French Republicans came to ficjht for the Pope against t: 
brethren. Some pretended that they had taken possession of Civita 
Vecchia only as a ' station in the expectation of a for::.: : st- 

ing war. Some, that they had come upon the invitation oi the 
Tnumvirs. The conduct of Oudinot gave plausibility to all these 
3tures. The French general announced that he came to op- 
pose the Austrian and ^Neapolitan armies, which were then advan- 
cing upon Rome. The military and civil authorities held a council 
of war :td after being satisfied oi the impossibility oi resistance, 
granted what they could not refuse. The moment Oudi:. 
foot in the town, he published an order of the day. rather alarming 
to the existing government: but when he saw the irritation it pro- 
duced, he immediately issued another, written with exquisitely Jes- 
uitical art, according to which he appeared to be the friend of every 
one. The Triumvir se^nt Rusconi, the minister oi foreign affairs; 
and Pescantini. a deputy, to ascertain the general's intentions. 
They came back in high glee, with the report that the French came 
as their friends. Yet as they had received but the equivocal word 
of Oudinot, and not any written declaration, Xicolini. al 
two officers of the national guard and two members of tne Roman 
sipality, went mi a second deputation. •• We presented our- 
selves," says iXicolini, "at the eeneral's residence. He received us 
with French eourtesVj and at our first word of complaint, he feigned 
t: be still more :-tonished than indignant, and said. ' How is tnis ? 
An Austrian and a Neapolitan army march against you. I come 
to protect you. and you grumble at it, and threaten to oppose my 
coming! Ma fids .' taut j:is pour vous! — So much the worse 

* Xi;-:i::;:. Er::h me Fourth, p. 112. occ. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 705 

Preparations of the Eomans for defence against the French. 

for you.' It would take too long and be tiresome to repeat, word 
for word, ail the evasive answers, the circuitous locutions, by which 
the general tried to deceive us. He took the greatest possible pains 
to avoid coming to the point, or giving a direct answer. After an 
hour's fencing, during which he was always parrying, being pressed 
too hard, he exclaimed — ' Nom de Dieu ! Eh Men ! oui ; nous venons 
pour remettre le Rape sur le trone! — ' Well, then — I answer yes — 
we do come to restore the Pope to his throne.' ' Ah ! that is clearly 
spoken,' answered I, ' and I as clearly tell you that we shall receive 
you at our sword's point.' ' Well, gentlemen,' replied Oudinot, ' it 
may be that you will ere long require my protection from your own 
people, eager for your blood. You are but a handful of despots, 
who impose your republic upon an entire population, and that must 
not be.' We replied, that he would become aware of his mistake 
to his own cost — and departed. The account of our interview dis- 
sipated all doubt in Rome. The French came as enemies ! — we 
must fight them ! Next morning, by order of the Triumvirs, the 
national guard passed in review before the Assembly, The Presi- 
dent addressed to them, from a balcony in the Piazza di Seiarra, a 
few patriotic words. Then Sterbini put to them the following 
simple question — ' Shall we, or shall we not, receive the French T 
a loud, thundering, and prolonged ' No !' was the answer. ' Shall 
we yield or defend ourselves ?' ' Defend ourselves to the last !' 
answered again the civic militia. At these words the deputies 
threw themselves into the arms of their brethren of the national 
guard, and many were the tears shed upon the occasion." 

This happened on the morning of the 28th of April. From that 
moment all indecision ceased. One thought, one wish pervaded the 
entire population — to fight to the last ! The walls were as far as 
possible at once repaired, and mounted with cannon. Barricades 
were erected with prodigious rapidity both within and without the 
gates. The streets of the city were unpaved, and the materials 
piled into ramparts. Pikes were forged, guns repaired, ammunition 
distributed. Men of all ranks — of all ages — were incessantly en- 
gaged in these different tasks. The gentler sex were preparing lint, 
washing linen, carrying mattresses to the hospitals, erecting beds, 
and preparing medicaments for those to whom the fortune of the 
day might prove injurious. And all this was done with such good 
will, such unanimous concord, that the beholders were moved to 
tears. 

§ 38. The French beaten by the Roman patriots. — "On the even- 
ing of the 29th, we heard that the French had hailed for the night 
at a distance of fourteen miles from Rome. Next morning all 
Rome was on the walls. Garibaldi, who had arrived by forced 
marches from Riesti on the previous evening, posted himself with 
about fifteen hundred men at Villa Pamlili. a mile from the gate. 
Towards noon the enemy had advanced almost within musket-shot 
of Garibaldi's position, and the fire began. Garibaldi, jealous of the 



706 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

T..c Frer.:-".. 'criren by toe Romans. 

French military renown., attacked them furiously. The French 
stood the attack bravely., but our young soldiers and national 
guards, unable to contend with the military skill of the enemy, 
charged at once with the bayonet, and put their opponents to the 
route. Long before the evening closed., the French had retired in 
disorder, leaving two hundred and seventy-eight prisoners., and 
some hundreds dead. The Roman troops under Garibaldi had dis- 
plaved prodigies of valor. Of killed and wounded altogether they 
lost scarcely one hundred men. Garibaldi's red mantle had been 
pierced by thirteen bullets, ye: only one had touched himself hav- 
ing: but slightly grazed his little finger. The townspeople, who had 
at first fought from behind the walls, seeing the French retire, 
rushed out with the greatest impetuosity, and it was not without 
great exertions they could be prevented from pursuing the enemy. It 
had been said by some of their officers at Civita Vecehia, and the 
same was now repeated by all the prisoners, that when they em- 
barked they had been informed that they were soing to fight against 
the Austrians ; — that in Rome they would as a matter of course 
support the republic, after expelling a few of the ultras. Next 
morning, at the enemy's request for medical assistance, the Romans 
sent to their camp nearly all their surgeons : the greater number of 
theirs had been lost in the attack. They then offered to exchange 
their prisoners for the five thousand suns which the enemy had re- 
tained at Civita Vecehia while on their way to Rome. The offer 
was not accepted. Notwithstanding this, however, the Triumvirs 
issued the following decree : — 

c Roman Republic. 

'In the name :/ God and the Pc&pU : 

1 Whereas Rome and the French people are not, and cannot be, at war with 
::ier; 

• Whereas Rome, in virtue of hei rig il and duty, defends her inviolability, but 

deplores every attack .. gainst the two republics as a crime against their 

common faith: 

• Whereas the Roman people does not regai 1 soldiers, wfro fought from obe- 

responsible ::: Sie actions of a mistaken government: 

• The Triumvir. ite lecrees — 

' Art. 1. The French, made prisoner; on the : )th ■:: April, are tree, and shall 
be sent back to the French Camp. 

1 Art. _. T::e Roman people will, at noon, bid a fraternal adieu to the brave 

soldiers of the French Repnl i ii sister. 

; The Triumvirs, 

• Abmkt.t.to, MAzgiwT 3 Sarin. 
'jRome, the 7ft of May t 1849. 5 

" So we," says Xicolini. " if not wisely, at least very generously, 
released our prisoners, whom, after banqueting their officers, we 
accompanied on their way back, for some miles beyond the gates — 
our bands playing the Marseillaise. The poor deceived fellows, 
overcome by our generosity, shed tears of gratitude. The prudent 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 707 

Indignant rebuke of the French by the Eomans. 

Jesuit, Oudinot, in order to prevent their telling their comrades 
what they had witnessed in Rome, immediately sent them off to 
Africa." On the 10th of May, the French renewed their attack 
upon Rome, with more regularity and order than before, and were 
again repulsed. Soon after Garibaldi, with a much inferior force, 
ignominiously defeated the cruel and dastardly Ferdinand, king of 
Naples, and chased him and his army of 14,000 men back into the 
heart of his own dominions. 

About this time an eloquent and indignant remonstrance was 
sent by the Romans to the French, rebuking, in burning words, 
their dastardly intervention to crush the liberties of Rome, and to 
restore the dominion of the Pope and the priests. The following is 
an extract : " Frenchmen, your ancestors brought us liberty, but 
you bring us slavery. In destroying the Roman Republic, you de- 
stroy your own. Oh shame ! You stood by during the misfortune 
of Lombardy. You had not a word of consolation for the fall of 
Piedmont. Your venal writers calumniated the heroic efforts of 
Hungary. On this day, with an impudent mockery, you come to 
destroy Roman liberty. Are you indeed soldiers ? If you are, choose 
a foe worthy of your courage. Do not come to defy the rising 
strength of a petty state. If you wish to combat against republican 
arms, cease to be republicans yourselves. Frenchmen,- answer 
truly, whom do you wish to restore to power ? Are they the 
priests ? That hereditary race who have caused so much blood to 
flow and occasioned so many woes to France itself? Study your 
own history, and you will see what you are about to do for us. 
We have an implacable hatred to sacerdotal domination. You wish 
to impose it on us by force. You are about to place us on a level 
with the Chinese. Frenchmen, before undertaking so detestable a 
work, ask of the sky above you, and it will answer that it has been 
polluted by sacerdotal iniquities in all ages. Ask your youth and our 
women, and learn an uninterrupted tale of seduction, of debauchery, 
and of venality. Ask of your farmers, for whom they have labored ? 
They will answer — 'for the priests !' Ask to whom belong the 
most luxurious abodes, for whom are the most exquisite delicacies, 
and who are those obeyed by thousands of menials. The reply will 
be — 'the priests !' Frenchmen, your mission is the work of hell!" 



§ 39. French treachery. The Sunday battle. — Soon after these 
events, the French government dispatched M. Lesseps, a member 
of the Assembly, to Rome, to inquire into the true state of affairs, 
and to act accordingly. He arrived on the 15th of May, and soon 
discovered that the struggle of the Roman patriots was not, as had 
been reported, and as General Oudinot had said, a scheme of "a 
handful of despots," but, as Lesseps wrote to his government, "a 
whole town in arms — a population determined to resist — and reject- 



708 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

• The Sunday battle. 

ing all exaggerated estimates, at least 25,000 determined combat- 
ants:"* So favorably was Lesseps impressed with the young re- 
public, that he agreed upon a suspension of arms between the French 
and the Romans, and drew up a convention between the two gov- 
ernments, the most important article of which was a recognition of 
the Roman Republic, on the part of France, and agreed that if the 
French government should refuse to ratify that convention, the 
armistice should remain in force fifteen days after that refusal. This 
agreement, however, was shamefully and perfidiously broken, 
Louis Napoleon telegraphed an order to General Oudinot, giving 
him full power to disregard the convention of M. Lesseps, and to 
proceed at once to take the city of Rome : and, accordingly, the 
French general informed the Roman Assembly that he, being the 
sole representative of the French government, disapproved of the 
arrangements of M. Lesseps, and should recommence hostilities on 
Monday, June 4th. At this announcement, the Romans were very 
much alarmed. Their best troops were away from the city ; some 
with Garibaldi on the Neapolitan frontier, and others had been sent 
in the opposite direction against the Austrians. The Romans, how- 
ever, made the best preparation they could. Garibaldi was at once 
recalled, and came back to Rome, June 2d. " During the short time 
allowed us." says Nicolini, " we made the best preparation that we 
could, and impatiently awaited the dawn of the Monday, when the 
fighting was to recommence. But Oudinot, forgetful of all military 
honor, and regardless of the infamy which he brought upon him- 
self and his country, began the assault on Sunday the 3d, an hour 
before daybreak. Our troops on the advance posts, confiding in 
the word of honor of a French commander, were not on their guard, 
and were surprised and made prisoners. Almost all our outposts 
were thus treacherously taken. Among others there was an isolated 
villa called the Casino del Quattro Venti, which commanded the 
road, and which we had fortified to intercept the march of the 
French. The soldiers who garrisoned it were surprised like the 
others, and the house fell into the hands of the enemy. It was in 
the attempt to retake this villa that we lost so many of our noblest 
and most courageous soldiers. Twice was the house retaken and 
lost. From dawn till nightfall we fought as only those will, who 
fight for their homes and their country. No one deserted his post 
— no wound was received in the back. We contested our ground 
inch by inch, but were at last obliged to yield. Neither the pro- 
digious valor of the general, nor the devoted gallantry of the five or 
six thousand soldiers under his command, could withstand the assault 
of six times that number of the best troops of Europe. The French 
remained masters of the outposts. We retired into the town, sad- 
dened by our many losses, indignant at the treachery of the enemy, 
but neither daunted nor discouraged, and determined to fight to the 
last. 

* Ma Mission a Rome, par Ferdinand de Lesseps, p. 23. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 709 

Mazzini's noble r eply to Gen. Oudinot. 

" The French, who had found to their cost what determined men 
can do, saw at once how imprudent and hazardous it would be to 
storm a town so defended. Consequently they commenced a reg- 
ular siege, daily battering our bastions with cannon, and showering 
on the town a perfect storm of bombshells. Still we were not dis- 
mayed. Who can ever relate the many proofs of heroism which 
were given by the people of Rome ! who can describe the ardor and 
intrepidity of the men — the devotedness and charity of the women ! 
From the boy of twelve years to the white-haired man, all w r ere 
on the wall. Servants and masters, professors and scholars, friends 
and foes — all united with one accord in defending the city." 

A few days after this battle, a conference was proposed between 
the patriot Mazzini and the general of the French. The following 
reply of this " noble Roman" to the perfidious Frenchman, is wor- 
thy of the best days of the ancient Roman Republic — of a Brutus, 
a Cincinnatus, or a Regulus : 

Rome, June 13. 

Sir, — It is impossible for me to go to the advanced posts to see 
you. Our conversation besides, unfortunately for us, could have no 
issue favorable to your views and ours. I have the conviction that 
we have exhausted all possible means of conciliation, and that it 
only remains for us to fight. We will do so — we will do so, you 
may be assured, from wall to wall, from street to street, from bar- 
ricade to barricade. We may be conquered, but not put down. We 
had flattered ourselves with the hope that France would at length 
feel how much there is noble, sacred, and worthy of herself in our 
attitude, and what there is — permit me to be frank — contradictory 
and tyrannical in the part that she plays here with us. 

We have proclaimed towards France, not a state of war, but a 
state of defence ; we have sent back your prisoners ; we have re- 
jected all the occasions which presented themselves to us to com- 
bat your troops with advantage ; we offered healthy cantonments 
to those who could not be accommodated at Civita Vecchia, and 
we declared that we were ready to concede all, one thing excepted 
— the occupation of Rome. And yet that is what is required. 
France, after having fought against us, blockaded us, disarmed us, 
deprived us of all our resources, condemned us to see, with arms in 
our hands, our territory invaded by Austria, now says to us, "I will 
have Rome. I will have it without conditions, without a programme, 
or I will endeavor to crush it, to bombard its monuments, which are 
venerated by all Europe, and to massacre its brave population/' So 
that you must perceive, sir, there is only one reply to make, and we 
shall make it. I know not whether we shall fall, but I know that 
there are falls which confer honor. Joseph Mazzini. 

§ 40. Rome taken by the French. — All this patriotic and valiant 
opposition of the Romans, however, availed nothing against the hosts 
of their perfidious assailants. The odds were too great. On the 



710 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The Komans, at length, compelled to yield. 

22d of June, in the middle of the night, the French made a desperate 
attack. They showered upon the town thousands of shells, and 
vigorously assailed the walls, hoping that in a sudden and general 
panic the Romans would yield. " They forgot," says Nicolini, " that 
we were no mercenary soldiers, but citizens fighting for home and 
liberty. The tocsin was sounded from the capitol, and in an instant, 
roused from her agitated slumbers, Rome was on foot. Men and 
women prepared to fight. Neither wife nor mother attempted by 
tears or entreaties, to stay her husband or son, but with a blessing 
and a kiss sent him forth against the enemy. 

" O glorious Rome ! O my noble country ! when I remember thy 
heroic deeds, the joyful readiness with which thou didst sacrifice thy 
children to achieve thy liberty, hope lends me patience to endure 
the longing and misery of exile ! Such a people cannot long re- 
main under the ignominious yoke of the priests ! 

"At last we could no more. Four armies beleaguered us now 
still closer. We had only a few thousand soldiers ; the rest of our 
defenders were but inexperienced citizens. Our bastions were bat- 
tered into breaches, our houses in flames, our hospitals crowded, the 
flower of our bravest hourly being cut off — the necessaries of life 
few, the necessities many. No resource ! no hope ! Garibaldi him- 
self, the bravest of men, from whom every one received an inspira- 
tion of courage — w r ho w 7 as everywhere, dared every thing — even he 
began to despair of the possibility of a longer resistance. On the 3d 
of June the Assembly declared that the heroic defence could be no 
longer maintained. All that a brave people could do had been done. 
Our honor was saved^ Such a defeat was more glorious than many 
victories. To protract the siege would be to sacrifice many use- 
ful lives and brave men to no purpose. The Assembly therefore 
gave orders to the triumvirate to come to terms with the enemy. 
The triumvirs, unwilling to comply with that order, resigned. An- 
other triumvirate w r as named, but it too refused the disagreeable task. 
The Senate of Rome then sent a deputation to the French general, 
not to enter into any formal capitulation, but simply to declare that 
we withdrew from the contest, and yielded only to superior force, 
but that we protested to the last against the shameless invasion of 
our national rights. On the 1st of July our troops were withdrawn 
from the wall, and on the 2d, the French entered the city amidst 
the hootings and execrations of the citizens." 

§ 41. Rejoicings at Gaeta and the Popes address to the Romans. 
— The French general Oudinot immediately repaired to the Pope 
at Gaeta, where he was received as an angel of deliverance, and 
rewarded with the title of Duke of St. Pancrase. In the mean time, 
the Pope gave orders that a solemn Te Deum should be chanted in 
all the churches of the state, for the victory of the French over his 
Roman subjects ; and a few days later he addressed his " beloved 
children," whom he had been so long treating with confections, in 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 711 

Affectionate parting of the Pope and the "Butcher of Naples." 

the shape of bullets and cannon-balls,* in the following hypocritical 
letter : 

PIUS IX. TO HIS BELOVED SUBJECTS. 

" God has raised his arm and has appeased the stormy waves of anarchy and im- 
piety. He has guided the Catholic armies in sustaining the rights of humanity, 
which were trampled under foot, of public faith which was attacked, and in restor- 
ing the rights of the Holy See and of our sovereignty. Glory to God, who in the 
midst of his anger has remembered his mercy. 

"Beloved subjects, if, in the midst of the hurricane of the past frightful events, 
our heart has been filled with bitterness in reflecting on so many wrongs suffered 
by the Church, by religion, and by yourselves, it has not felt less of that love for you 
it has always had, and ever will have. We anticipate with pleasure the day that 
shall see us once again in the midst of you, and when that day shall come we shall 
re-enter with the earnest desire to afford you consolation, and with the desire to 
use all our energies for your true interests, applying the proper remedies to cure 
the various ills that afflict you, and consoling our loyal subjects who, while de- 
siring institutions in accordance with their wants, yet, above all, desire, as we 
do, to see guaranteed the liberty and independence of the Sovereign Pontiff, so 
necessary to the Catholic world. 

" In the mean while, in order to organize public affairs, we are about to appoint 
a commission, which, armed with full powers, and assisted by a ministry, will reg- 
ulate the government of the state. 

" We implore to-day with the greatest fervor that the blessing of the Lord may 
descend upon you. It is a great consolation for our soul to hope that all who by 
their errors have forfeited his blessing, may render themselves worthy of it, by a 
sincere return to the paths of right. Pius IX. 

« Given at Gaeta, July 17, 1849." 

The Pope was too well pleased, however, with the flatteries and 
homage that he was enjoying at Gaeta, to be in any great haste to 
return to Rome. Perhaps the thought, also, of the miseries which 
he had inflicted upon the Roman people, and the feelings that this 
treatment must have awakened towards himself, tended to delay 
that event. It was not till the 12th of May, 1850, that the Pope 
returned to Rome, after an exile of about one year and six months. 

§ 42. The Pope's entry into Rome. — When the Pope determined 
to leave the Neapolitan territory, he was accompanied to the fron- 
tier of his own dominions, by King Ferdinand, generally known, for 
his tiger-like cruelty to his subjects, as " the Butcher of Naples/' 
and the Duke of Calabria. When the Pope descended from his 
carriage, the King and the Duke immediately prostrated themselves 
at his feet and embraced them, and implored the pontifical blessing. 
The Pope replied — " Yes, I bless you, I bless your family, I bless 
your kingdom, I bless your people. I cannot express my gratitude 
for the hospitality I have received from you." He then caused the 
King to rise from his knees, and embraced him with the greatest 
affection; and after the Pope had remounted his carriage, the King, 
the Duke, and all their attendants, devoutly kissed his foot. The 



* During the bombardment of Rome, the cannon-balls fired into the city were 
borne in procession through the streets of Rome, witli the words inscribed upon 
them — " Confetti di Pio Nino mandati a suoi JitjH" that is— u The sweetmeats 
sent by Pius IX. to his children." 



712 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Illuminations at Home. ~ ~~~~~ Renewed l'rospt-rity I 



Pope arrived at Rome at four in the afternoon of the same clay, 
May 12th, 1849, and was received with presented arms by the 
French and papa] troops, while the merry pealing of the bells and 
the booming of the cannon from the French artillery and the castle 
of St. Angelo, were intended to give the appearance of joy to his 
return to his devastated and humble capital. In the evening the 
cupola of St. Peter's, the capitol and other public buildings were 
brilliantly illuminated, and all who were too timid to brave the 
anger of the priests or the coarse brutality of the French soldiery 
deemed it. prudent to put a candle in their windows. As the pyro- 
technic displays that followed the Pope's return to Rome were about 
to terminate, and the cannons of St. Angelo were hushing the roar, 
and the stars, and birds of paradise, and roses, and showers of gold 
on the battlements, had already paled away, there suddenly arose, 
like the creation of magic, before the bewildered eyes of the Roman 
people, a silver palace, blazing with the inscription — 

11 Pius IX., author of the renewed prosperity !" " A scenic sar- 
casm !" said an eye-witness. "A glittering mockery! — With a 
bankrupt treasury, an exhausted credit, a worthless currency, taxa- 
tion increasing, confiscations multiplying, domiciliary visits without 
number, arrests and commitments without end, the Inquisition re- 
established, the Jesuits restored, spies and informers everywhere, 
30,000 men within twelve months proscribed, driven away, killed, 
or imprisoned — 11,000 languishing in dungeons, and a legion of 
them within the very walls that upheld the glaring figment — a 
Ruler, stripped of all his pristine glory, shielded by 12,000 foreign 
bayonets, and tremblingly awaiting but the first dark tidings from 
the North, to flee away from his capital, a miserable fugitive — a 
people penniless, hopeless, godless, priest-ridden, shirri-hunted* 
janizary-crushed, their mouths sealed, their intellects shrouded, 
and their souls abandoned; and notwithstanding all this, the muni- 
cipality of Rome impudently blazoned the air with a boast of Re- 
newed Prosperity !" 

A more faithful index of the true popular feeling, and a singular 
commentary upon all this brilliant pageantry of external joy, was 
seen in a printed sheet, which was secretly but largely distributed 
throughout the city on that day, of which we append a few para- 
graphs as specimens of the whole : 

" Rejoice, O Tope ! Thou art at Rome ; thou art on the throne ; 
thou art King. 

" Thou hast poured out blood, thou hast caused to be poured out 

* The Roman 8&im,B0 often employed as the instruments of papal and priestly 
tyranny and cruelty in Rome, are armed policemen in plain clothes. It has been 
stated in English journals, upon the authority of letters from Koine, that since 
the Pope's return, Rome has been infested with eight hundred spies and two 
thousand abirri. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 713 

1: >lce, P'^pe! thou art Kinz! 

the blood of men whom thou hast called, whom thou still callest 
thy sons. 

"But rejoice, thou art King! 

'•' Thou, Pope, like other popes, hast delivered the fatherland to 
enemies, to foreigners. 

'•'But rejoice, thou art Kino-! 

" Pius IX., dost thou remember the crowd* palpitating with 
love for the fatherland, which watched all night, deliberating how 
to applaud thee at sunrise — thee, the future Saviour of Italy ? The 
poor man sold his last garments to buy torches to make thee a per- 
petual ovation. Where now is that crowd ? Where? In prison, 
in exile, or dead upon the Janiculurn ! The remainder, terrified, 
trembling with patriotism, flee thee, detest thee. 

" But rejoice. Pope ! thou art King ! 

" But thou trembiest at the Vatican ; thou durst not go forth and 
visit the miserable Rome which weeps and curses thee. The Car- 
dinals tremble with thee, and repeat that Rome is a nest of assas- 
sins. Tremble not for that, Pope! A King is wed upon his 
throne, and is worth more than another who may succeed him. 
Thy presence augments the confusion, the uncertainty, the fear. 

* O behold, and rejoice! 

' : For thy ruin we are not impatient. Thou ruinest thy succes- 
sors, and we rejoice at it. We mock at thee, Pope! — at thee, a 
new Pharaoh, who to destroy thy people, escaping from o] 
sion, hast plunged thyself blind and furious, into a sea of blood. 
The sacred college, inundated with blood, will remain barren ; it 
will never bring forth another Pope. The people hate the priests ; 
hate them so much as to have a horror of touching them, o: 
ing them. The people mock at them, and at thee, at you all, who 
would sell us Paradise by force, and keep for yourselves the felici- 
ties of this earth. Your end, O Priests ! will be that of parricides 
— the earth will refuse to bear you. Like Nero, you will find 
neither friend nor enemy to put an end to your li 

'•'Rejoice, therefore, Pope! and be King!" 

§ 43. Blow to the papal power in Sardinia. The Siccardi law. 
— About the time of the Pope's return to R trans* 

piring in the kingdom of Sardinia, well calculated to undermine 
the air aipotent influence which the | R< me had for 

centuries wielded in that country ; ever since the' time when the 
Dukes ot" Savoy, the ancestors of the presi i l1 K ■ . 5 lima, had, 
at the bidding of ' ; d his valleys and moun- 

tain- with the blood of the faithful Waldenses. 

The cause of thi I ! ly in the 

1850 ; a bill had been in d into the Sardinian 

the abolition of ecclesiastical courtf which w< 

variance with the new Constitution of the Sardinian S 
glorious fruit of the revolution oi 1848. This law, which rei 



714 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The Siccardi law in Sardinia. 

the priests amenable for their crimes to the civil tribunals of the 
state, the same as other citizens, and abolished several other abuses 
which had arisen from the unrestrained influence of the priest- 
hood, was enacted April 9th, 1850, and was called by the name of 
the Siccardi law, from the name of its principal originator. The 
following were the articles of the law, which were chiefly objec- 
tionable to the papal clergy, and their master at Rome : 

Vittorio Emanuel II., &c. 

The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies have adopted, and we have ordained 
and ordered as follows : 

"Article 1. Civil causes between ecclesiastics and the laity, or between ec- 
clesiastics alone, shall be referred to civil jurisdiction, whether the actions are of 
a personal nature or of a real or mixed character of whatever kind. 

" Art. 2. All causes concerning the right of naming, either actively or pas- 
sively, to ecclesiastical benefices, or to the property of them, or to any other 
ecclesiastical establishment whatever, shall be regarded as other professions, and 
shall be placed under the civil jurisdiction. 

" Art. 3. Ecclesiastics are subject as the other citizens to all the penal laws 
of the State. Under these law T s it is contemplated that causes shall be adjudica- 
ted in conformity with the forms established by the law of procedure in the lay 
tribunals, without distinction as regards crimes, offences, and contraventions. 

" Art. 4. The punishments enacted in the laws of the State shall not be 
applied unless through the civil tribunals, saving always to the ecclesiastical 
authorities the exercise of its attributes to the application of spiritual penalties 
in conformity with the terms of the ecclesiastical laws. 

" Art. 5. If the causes contemplated in the preceding article (the 4th) appear, 
in reason of person or matter, to be of an ecclesiastical character, they shall be 
referred in the first instance to the cognizance of the judge of appeal, so that care 
shall be taken to sustain the stability of the existing laws. The judge of appeal 
shall have the cognizance of the cause, and shall determine as to its nature. 

" Art. 6. In cases of refuge in churches, or other places which were consid- 
ered places of immunity, such persons who are under orders for capture under 
the proper process may be immediately followed and arrested, as in other places, 
in conformity with the rules established in the code of criminal procedure. In 
arrests, however, regard must be had to the character of the place, so that the 
necessary caution is taken that no disturbance is excited during the exercise of 
Divine worship, but in the shortest possible time application should be made 
to the rector of the church in which it is proposed to execute the arrest." 

Among the ecclesiastical privileges abolished by this law, one of 
the most scandalous and demoralizing, was the right, claimed by 
the priests, of asylum to criminals in churches. It was everywhere 
grossly abused in the Sardinian States, but worst of all in the 
island itself. Nor was this privilege a nuisance to the subjects of 
the House of Savoy alone. Clerical criminals from foreign coun- 
tries took refuge in Sardinia, or in Piedmont. The famous or 
infamous cure Mingrat found an asylum there, and the instances 
of the French government, whether made in good faith we know 
not, were insufficient to procure his extradition. He was for a 
long time concealed in the very fortress of Fenestrelle where Arch- 
bishop Franzoni himself was recently a prisoner. Another case of 
clerical impunity almost equally notorious, was that of the Frate 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 715 

Professor Nuyts condemned by the Pope for denying the right to persecute. 

Monghero, who murdered the husband of the woman he had se- 
duced. In this case not only did the monk escape punishment, but 
likewise the guilty wife who aided him in the murder ; so that not 
only the clerical assassin but the lay murderess, were shielded by 
ecclesiastical privilege.* 

This law gave universal satisfaction to the people, but was open- 
ly opposed by the popish clergy ; and Franzoni, Archbishop of Tu- 
rin, on the 18th of April, issued a circular to his clergy virtually 
advising them to disobey the law. For this offence the Arch- 
bishop was tried, condemned, and on the 23d of May, sentenced 
to pay a fine and the costs of the court, and to be imprisoned for 
one month. Soon after the expiration of the Archbishop's sentence, 
another cause of collision between him and the government took 
place. One of the ministers of the King of Sardinia, Santa Rosa, 
a supporter of the late revolution in Rome, and an advocate of the 
Siccardi law, being at the point of death, Franzoni forbade the 
priest of his parish, and all other priests, to administer the last rites 
of the Romish Church to the dying man, although he professed to 
be a faithful son of that Church and to die in her communion. The 
archbishop also attempted to deprive the deceased statesman of the 
rites of burial, and whatever of priestly service was performed was 
extorted by force. This instance of prelatical arrogance and vin- 
dictiveness was copied upon the model of Thomas a Becket, Pan- 
dulph, or Anselm, and was worthy of the darkness of the middle 
ages. The refractory ecclesiastic was tried a second time, and, 
together with the Archbishop of Cagliari, who had joined with him 
in his resistance to the law, was banished the kingdom of Sardinia, 
and the law was sustained. During this controversy the Arch- 
bishop was sustained by the Pope with the whole weight of his 
authority, and flattered and glorified as a champion and a martyr. 

Soon after the events we have just related, another circumstance 
of great significance occurred in the capital of the Sardinian king- 
dom, which affords abundant and cheering evidence that times 
have greatly altered since the Pope had power to command and 
compel the princes o£ Savoy to deluge the neighboring valleys 
of Piedmont with Protestant blood. Professor Nuyts, of Turin, 
published a book in which he took such a view of the Canon Law, 
as denies the right of the Church to persecute, or to use the temporal 
power to enforce its edicts. The Pope issued a bull against it, on 
the ground that it destroys the constitution of the Church by taking 
away its coercive power, a virtual acknowledgment that the very 
existence of Popery depends on its retaining the power to persecute. 
This bull was utterly disregarded. The Sardinian ministry refused 
to depose the offending professor. The people received him with 
enthusiasm at his lectures, which were attended by the (lower of 

* See a Review in the London Daily News of a volume containing the Debates 
in the Sardinian Parliament upon the Siccardi law. 



716 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The Po pe's address to his Cardinals upon the recent events. 

the city. In his introductory lecture, Professor Nuyts said, if the 
government should disavow the principles of religious freedom it 
would commit suicide. In closing, he said, " My young hearers, fear 
not the excommunications lately launched by Pope Pius Ninth 
against the doctrines taught by me. These excommunications are 
valid neither at home nor abroad. They are also null, because 
not founded in justice ; and they are but an attempt to maintain a 
division of Italy. My young hearers, we are religious, but of an 
enlightened religion, and not of religion corrupted, darkening, and 
superstitious." Universal shouts of applause followed these em- 
phatic words, and the speaker was followed by the whole audience 
through the streets to his dwelling with cries of "Long live the 
Professor!" " Long live his doctrines!" 

It is a significant fact that Turin is close to the Piedmontese val- 
leys where the simple-hearted and pious Waldenses have for ages 
maintained the doctrines of the gospel uncorrupted, though in so 
doing they have been obliged to shed their blood like water. 

§ 44. The Popes address to his Cardinals. — Eight days after 
the Pope's return to Rome, and during the progress of this quarrel 
in Piedmont, the Pope convened his Cardinals in solemn con- 
clave, and pronounced before them a discourse, in which he ex- 
pressed his views relative to the recent revolution, his own restora- 
tion to his temporal power, and his obligation to the Catholic sover- 
eigns and armies, by whose aid he had been replaced on his throne. 
In this address he also expressed his views of the events we have 
just related, transpiring at that time in Piedmont. The document 
was published in. the journals of France, and for the following analy- 
sis and review of it, the author would acknowledge his indebtedness 
to one of the ably written articles of the Rev. G. De Felice, the 
well-known French correspondent of the New York Observer. 

In this document, the Pope begins by returning thanks to the 
wonderful providence of God, who, in these last two years, has 
vouchsafed " a wonderful assistance to the apostolic see." For after 
quitting Rome with incredible grief, Pius IX. has "returned amidst 
the joy of the people and the applauses of the world. God, in an- 
swer to the prayers and tears of the whole Church, has deigned 
to lay this frightful tempest raised by hell, and to baffle the prince 
of darkness, who had vomited all his rage against the chair of St. 
Peter." 

You see that the Pope has not in the least mended his style. His 
adversaries are of course " children of Satan," — " wretches who 
speak and act under the instigation of hell." The same language 
which the bishops of Rome held in the sixteenth century, against 
Luther, Calvin, and Zwingle, they employ now against the poor 
democrats who have asked for a little liberty. 

We admit with the Pope that nothing happens here below with- 
out God's permission, and if the Pontiff is returned to Rome, it is 
surely under the will of Divine Providence. But we do not 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 717 

The Pope thanks Ferdinand of Naples, and " the very noble French nation." 

believe at all that the Lord has granted his special aid to the 
Romish Church. God allows the accomplishment of evil as well 
as of good, in his mysterious wisdom, and it is impossible for us to 
see the fatherly hand of the Prince of Peace in the bloody conflicts 
which have brought back the Pope to his see. This victory can 
easily be explained without the intervention of a miracle. Four 
armies— 30,000 French, 20,000 Austrians, 12,000 Spaniards, 10,000 
Neapolitans — rushed at once upon the unhappy inhabitants of the 
Roman States, as vultures upon their prey; and, killing some, and 
imprisoning others, they led back Pius IX. to his throne after sur- 
rounding him with a wall of bayonets. All this is very simple, very 
natural ; and no person of good sense will see here the marvellous 
blessings of which the pontiff speaks. 

As to the joy of the people and the applauses of the world, that 
is another thing. The great majority of the Roman people have 
not rejoiced at all at the return of Pius IX., and the world, far from 
applauding, have been indignant to see the pretended vicar of 
Jesus Christ re-enter his States over heaps of dead bodies. If Pius 
IX. supposes that such conduct has elevated his moral character, he 
is greatly mistaken. Popery has received a mortal blow by the 
means used for its restoration, and experience will show once more 
the truth of this word of Jesus Christ, that they who take the 
sword shall perish by the sword. 

After returning his thanks to God, the holy father gives his most 
sincere thanks to the Roman Catholic powers who aided him in his 
troubles. And first comes the illustrious king of Naples, Ferdinand 
II, "our very dear son in Jesus Christ," says the pontiff. This 
Ferdinand II. possesses "a singular piety, a rare devotedness ;" he 
is "generous, hospitable, virtuous, worthy of admiration, as well as 
his august wife, Maria Theresa." " These especial favors of a 
very pious king towards the holy see," says Pius IX., " are so en- 
graven upon our hearts, that the sweet remembrance can never be 
effaced." It is happy that the Neapolitan prince obtains the Pope's 
praises ; for we doubt much if he can find on earth another pane- 
gyrist. Ferdinand II. is generally regarded as a false, cruel, per- 
jured man, an enemy of all progress, despised and detested from 
one end to the other of his kingdom. But he enjoys the affection 
of Pius IX. : this must be a precious consolation for him. 

Next, the pontiff thanks the very noble French nation and the 
illustrious President of the French Republic. This is very proper. 
The French soldiers shed their blood, and the government of France 
spent its money, to restore the Pope. But, alas, this very noble 
French nation is very far from being devoted to Romanism. Vol- 
taire has more influence in France than the Council of Trent, and 
our President Louis Napoleon, is not possessed of greal piety. If a 
French army was sent into Italy, it was lor politidal reasons rather 
than from religious motives. Our soldie.s tbughl bravely, because 
they received orders; they obeyed the rules of discipline, and 

4G 



718 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

fj Pius IX. thanks his bishops asd cardinals. 

maintained the honor of their flag. But they laughed at the Popish 
superstitions ; and if to-morrow orders were given them to drive 
Pius IX. from Rome, they would show probably as much good-will 
as they had to overthrow Mazzini. 

Austria is not forgotten in Pius IX. 's thanks ; for the Austrian 
troops invaded Bologna, Ancona, all the territory of the Legations, 
and shot without mercy hundreds of democrats. These services 
well deserved honorable mention. 

The little queen, Isabella, obtained in her turn the cordial felici- 
tations of his Holiness. " We owe also," says Pius IX,, " a very 
grateful remembrance to our dear daughter in Jesus Christ, Maria 
Isabella, Catholic Queen of Spain . . . . ; for, so soon as she learnt 
our misfortunes, she earnestly aroused the Catholic powers to main- 
tain the cause of their common father, and she sent brave troops 
to defend the possessions of the Church of Rome." We presume 
that the innocent Isabella will attach little importance to these 
pontifical compliments: she prefers balls, concerts, and the theatre. 
Her popish zeal is quite suspicious, and those who know her affirm 
that her heart is not at all inclined to bigotry. 

The holy father next turns to the bishops and cardinals, upon 
whom he bestows the most fulsome eulogiums. The bishops of the 
Catholic world have shown a faith, a love, a piety, a liberality, a 
generosity, a courage, a zeal, and a thousand other virtues, above all 
praise ! They are indeed angels upon earth ! They fought heroical- 
ly for the good cause, and their sublime devotedness great]y com- 
forted the heart of Pius IX. " We will express also," says the Pope, 
"our profound gratitude to you, venerable brethren, cardinals of 
the holy Romish Church, who have given us so much consolation, 
have shared our sorrows, have breasted adversity with an invinci- 
ble courage, and being ready to suffer all things for the Church of 
God .... have not neglected to come to our aid by your counsels 
and your labors." 

This is very well ; Pius IX. could not fail to extol his ministers, 
and the intrepid defenders of his triple crown ; but the public voice 
— even in Roman Catholic countries — will not second these fine 
eulogiums. The cardinals, for example, far from affording a model 
of all that is good and noble, show for the most part contemptible 
qualities. They are intriguing, greedy, avaricious, dissolute in their 
private life, and scandalous stories circulate at Rome of the loose 
lives of these high ecclesiastical dignitaries. 

In general, it is evident that the members of the popish clergy, 
especially in Italy, are below the common standard of morality. 
As they are very wealthy and have almost nothing to do, they lead 
immoral lives, and, instead of practising what they preach, many 
of them give themselves up to the indulgence of their passions. 
The law of celibacy which is imposed upon them is a constant 
source of corruption. The priests are devoted faithfully to the 
interests of popery, but certainly they do not serve those of true 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 719 

The Pope's opinion of affairs in Sardinia and Belgium. 



religion, or of good manners ; for the most depraved people are the 
very ones who are most under the influence of the clergy. 

The news from Piedmont of the passage of the Siccardi law, and 
the punishment of the refractory archbishop, occupies a place in 
the sovereign pontiff's allocution. It inspires in him "cruel grief." 
Pius IX. pretends that the sacred rights of the holy see have been 
trampled under foot. " A law has been promulgated," says he, 
" contrary to the rights of the Church and to the solemn covenants 
entered into with this apostolic see. All good men at Turin and 
elsewhere are in mourning ; for, in these last days, the illustrious 
pontiff of Turin, our venerable brother, Louis Franzoni, was taken 
by an armed force from his episcopal residence, and led to the cita- 
del." The pope adds, that " in the bitterness of his heart" he has ad- 
dressed to the Piedmontese government earnest remonstrances 
against the law, and against the insult done to the archbishop of Turin. 

Pius IX. also turns his attention to the " illustrious nation of Bel- 
gians." He says that it has ever been distinguished by its zeal for 
the Catholic religion, but that of late, it has weakened the force and 
authority of the holy Roman see. The Pope deems it necessary 
to express publicly his grief. What then has happened in Belgium ? 
Let us see. 

The Jesuits and priests had usurped the control of all the col- 
leges and classical establishments of education. They appointed or 
deposed the professors according to their good pleasure, presided at 
examinations, and prevented obstinately all kind of progress in the 
national schools. The liberal party which is now predominant in 
Belgium, felt the great evils of such a state of things, and tried to 
correct them. A law was passed, according to which liberty of 
public instruction is fully secured. Every citizen, affording evi- 
dence of capacity and of good moral character, will have the right, 
like the priests, to set up schools and colleges. This is what excites 
the complaints and remonstrances of Pius IX. ! 

Observe how the priests change their principles, language, con- 
duct, according to times and places. What did they ask in France 
under Louis-Philippe ? Nothing more than freedom of national in- 
struction, an equal right to teach. They opposed monopoly, and 
asked only for leave to open schools as members of the University. 
But in Belgium, this is precisely the mode established by the new 
law. The free and equal right to instruct exists for all ; and the 
Pope is angry! and the Belgian bishops protest to the government! 
What a farce! Why, then, does nut that which suffices for the 
Romish clergy in France seem sufficient in Belgium ? 

The Pope continues his harangue, addressing compliments to the 
emperor of Austria. " It was a great, joy to us in the midst of so 
much anguish, when we learnt the decrees made by our very dear 
son Francis-Joseph, emperor of Austria, apostolic king o[ Hungary, 
king of Bohemia: — decrees by which, following the inspirations of 
his piety, fulfilling our wishes and requests, the wishes and requests 



720 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The Pope's joy at priestly rule in Au- 

of our venerable brethren the bishops of his vast empire, to the 
glorv of his name, to the delight of all good men. he has., in concert 
with his ministers, and with an ardent heart decreed in his States 
the liberty so desirable for the Catholic Church. This conduct, so 
worthv of a Catholic prince, deserves the praises which we award 
to this illustrious emperor and king." 

What are then the famous decrees which excite to so high a 
pitch the enthusiasm and gratitude of the Pope ? Let us briefly 
explain them. The emperor Joseph II... towards the end of the last 
century, had introduced into Austria something like the liberties of 
the Gallic an Church. The bishop could no longer correspond with 
the holy see, nor publish letters from the Vatican, without obtaining 
leave of the civil government. They were constrained to ask the 
same leave to convene provincial councils. 6zc. But. the new 
monarch. Francis-Joseph, undid this work of Joseph II. All the 
barriers set up by the government against the episcopal body were 
broken down. The bishops now have the right to decide and to do 
as they please. They can., if it suits them, be completely subject 
to the Roman pontiff, set up again the inquisition against members 
of the Catholic Church., refuse to sanction mixed marriages ; in a 
word, they are omnipotent in the domain of religion. This is 
what Pius IX. calls liberty for the Church : the priest will govern 
the people despotically. 

It is easy to understand why the Pope is so perfectly satisfied ; 
but it is well to add. that the Austrian people do not share at all in 
this satisfaction. On the contrary., the German journals are unani- 
mous in attesting that the inhabitants of Vienna and of all Austria 
felt highly indignant on learning that the laws which Joseph II. had 
made were cancelled. A number of Romanists have embraced 
Protestantism; others declare openly that they will not submit to 
the priests' new demands., and the opposition is so strong that there 
would be open insurrection in Vienna., if the presence of a numer- 
ous army did not prevent. We shall watch the result of this affair. 
Popery will not congratulate itself loner on the complaisance of 
her very dear son Francis-Joseph. It is not prudent, in the nine- 
teenth century, to set- before the nations the hated notion of a 
theocracy. 

But if Pius IX. is gratified by the affairs of Austria., he is dis- 
quieted by other events. The anti-Romanists, the socialists, the 
revolutionists., who abound in Italy, leave him not a moment's 
repose. :; You know, venerable brethren," says he, i: the frightful 
and inexorable war which exists between light and darkness, — be- 
tween truth and error, — between vice and virtue. — between Belial 
and Christ. You are not ignorant by what artifices and by what 
manoeuvres our enemies attack and seek to trample under foot 
the things of our holy religion, to pluck up the germ of every 
Christian virtue, to propagate everywhere unbridled licentiousness, 
to infect with fatal errors the mind and heart, to destroy all human 
and divine rights, and — if this could happen — to overthrow effectu- 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 721 

Wretched condition of Rome under the restored Pope. 

ally the Catholic Church and the chair of St. Peter." After sketch- 
ing this dark picture, the Pope exhorts all ecclesiastics, great and 
small, to contend with all their might aginst the evil, in order to 
bring back perverse men into the pale of Roman Catholicism. 

Such language reveals sufficiently the anxieties of Pius IX. and 
his cardinals. They have returned to Rome with the aid of cannon, 
bombs, and bayonets ; but the antipathies of the people remain, and 
even increase. In vain the holy father declaims against darkness 
and against Belial. Popery is under the judgment of God, and 
this judgment will be executed. She has filled the measure of her 
Iniquities. She has, for ages, resorted to wicked impostures, sold 
salvation for money, corrupted souls, degraded and oppressed the 
conscience, transformed the divine religion of Christ into a vile 
traffic, and defended her usurpations by brute force. Popery will 
bear the penalty of her crimes before God and before men. We 
do not apologize for revolutionists and socialists. They have com- 
mitted great iniquities and adopted detestable errors. But in com- 
bating Romanism, they discharged a duty imposed by Providence. 
Their constantly growing numbers prove that the nations are tired 
of bearing the popish yoke, and that the hour is nigh when the 
pontifical see will fall under the blows of mankind. Socialism is 
like a w r ar-engine, designed to beat down the fortress of popery ; 
and then when the ground is cleared, the Gospel will come forward 
to impart its treasures of instruction, of deliverance, and of hope 
to all the earth. Bishops of Rome, your days are numbered ; sen- 
tence is pronounced against you, and your violent clamors will not 
retard the ruin which threatens you. Your power will perish, 
your crown will be broken in pieces ; and a grateful world stand- 
ing over your grave, will bless the Lord for having granted so 
necessary an emancipation." 

§ 45. Condition of Rome since the Pope's restoration. — No 
events of very special importance have occurred in Rome since 
the Pope's restoration to his temporal throne. Pius IX. has taken 
no measures to win back the alienated love of his subjects. Not 
the slightest amelioration of their miseries has been made, nor a 
single grievance redressed. The French garrison of Rome cannot 
help perceiving that they themselves, and the Pope whom they have 
restored, are alike objects of bitter hatred and disgust to the Roman 
people. To awe the vanquished Romans into submission, the most 
exemplary vengeance was taken, and the dungeons were soon lull 
of the proscribed. Thousands of political prisoners arc even uow 
pining in prisons, or toiling in the galleys of Rome. On the regis- 
ter of the prison of Monte Citerio alone, were inscribed the names 
of 3,745 prisoners who were sent there in the lew months that fol- 
lowed the Pope's return. Calandralli, the colonel of artillery who 
so bravely conducted the defence of Rome against the Frencn, and 
who became a triumvir for a lew days after the resignation of 

Maz/Jni, was taken and condemned f<» death, hut in consequence 
of the interest of the Prussian government on his behalf, his sen- 



722 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 



The Guillotine rebuilt in Home, Yzo BassL 



tence was commuted to 20 years of slavery at the galleys, and he 
was mercifully spared from death to be chained to another officer 
named Ripari, and sent to Ancona like a common thief, to a bond- 
age more cruel than death. 

Among the devastations laid to the charge of the republicans 
during their temporary sway in Rome, was the destruction of the 
guillotine. The Pope and the priests upon their return, however, 
very soon re-established it. and in order to prevent it from being so 
easily demolished again, they rebuilt it of iron. They had hoped, 
doubtless, to see the blood of the brave and noble Mazzini and 
Garibaldi, and the eloquent Gavazzi, flowing beneath it. In this, 
however, they were disappointed, a kind Providence conducted 
these patriotic men to an asylum of freedom, and the priestly 
tyrants of Rome thirsted in vain for their blood. 

Not so favored., however, was the noble and lamented Ugo Bas- 
si, the friend and associate of Gavazzi. in the work of encouraging 
the Roman patriots, in their noble struggle against papal despotism 
and slavery. The following narrative oi the life, and the barbarous 
and horrible death inflicted upon this great man, for loving his 
country better than the Pope., is communicated to us from the pen 
of Colonel Forbes, who was himself a soldier in this Italian war for 
freedom : 

•'•' Among the many martyrs whose blood has been shed by the 
merciless papal and imperial governments, there are none whose 
memory is held in greater veneration than Ugo Bassi — the friend 
and chaplain of Garibaldi. He was born at Bologna, on the 8th 
of August, 1806, and was placed at a seminary with a view to his 
following religion as a profession. Having completed his studies 
and being admitted to the order of the priesthood, he was no sooner 
directed to preach, than the power of his eloquence became mani- 
fest, and he was sent, as is customary with eloquent preachers, 
to various parts of Italy. His peregrinations conducted him to the 
principal cities in Italy, from Venice to Palermo, and on every 
occasion in which he addressed the people, the churches were sure 
to be completely filled. Thus he procured the means of mixing 
with the world, more than he would have done if he had remained 
secluded in his convent, and he soon became known among the 
liberals as one of the ardent supporters of the cause of progress. 
His sermons prior to the revolution were deeply tinged with liberal 
sentiments, but they were introduced in so masterly a style, that 
the clerical authorities could not accuse him of having deviated 
from the strict exemplification of his text, and of Christian duties. 
The purity of his life (so extraordinary in a priest), and his popu- 
larity, rendered it imprudent to interdict his preaching, and he con- 
sequently continued to travel to various parts, truly performing the 
mission of an apostle. 

The first visit oi Ugo Bassi to Palermo was in the year 1835, as 
a preacher. In the year 1837, at the time when the cholera laid 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 723 



The eloquent patriot-priest TJgo Bassi. 



desolate the Island of Sicily, Bassi volunteered to visit Palermo to 
attend the sick. His indefatigable exertions, heedless of all per- 
sonal danger or fatigue, acted as a stimulant to others to imitate his 
noble example ; his words of comfort and encouragement raised 
the drooping spirits of the dismayed population — the good effected 
by him during this mission of charity was incalculable. 

On the commencement of the popular agitation in 1846, when 
the people began to make their voices heard and their will respect- 
ed, Ugo Bassi was frequently called upon to address the people in the 
open squares or market-places, when being no longer controlled by 
that secret inquisitorial influence which had in previous years 
checked the flow of his eloquence, he contributed not only to the 
diffusion of progressist ideas among his fellow-countrymen, but 
likewise he strenuously urged the propriety of the people restrain- 
ing themselves from any acts of violence or of reprisal. His dis- 
courses were especially directed to the working classes, on whom 
his religious character gave him a great influence — for then the 
priest, when good, was respected, and that class was not, as now, 
hated and mistrusted merely from the frock they wore. 

On several occasions when, during the revolution, the excitement 
of the betrayed people made the papal authorities tremble, they 
hastened to fetch Ugo Bassi, that by his persuasive discourse he 
might preserve public order — and how was their gratitude display- 
ed ? — On the first opportunity, the monsters took his life ! 

When, in the spring of 1848, the patriots flew to arms to expel 
the invader from their country, Ugo Bassi did not abandon the 
youth whom he had encouraged to take the field, but he accom- 
panied the Bolognese Volunteers in the quality of chaplain. Until 
then, he had owed his influence on his fellow-citizens to his ex- 
emplary morals, to the purity of his exhortations, and to his elo- 
quence — but from the time when he joined the camp, his previous 
titles to esteem, great as they were, became eclipsed by his cour- 
age in the hottest of the fire, and his untiring attention to the 
wounded. 

When Treviso was attacked by the Austrians under Nugent, the 
garrison under the command of Guidotti made an heroic resistance. 
Having repulsed the assailants, General Guidotti made a sortie, 
which he led in person, and in which he fell pierced by a bullet 
in the breast. Ugo Bassi was by his side encouraging the \ olun- 
teers by his example and his words, till he was struck by a ball 
almost at the same instant that Guidotti was killed. The wound, 
though serious, was not fatal — the ball had pierced his arm and 
lodged in his side, breaking a rib. Before hia wound was properly 
healed, he was at his post, and continued his duties till the end of 
the campaign. 

Upon the occupation of Bologna, by the Austrians in August, 
1848, the National Guard and the population were disarmed ; but 
the Austrians presumed upon the defenceless condition of the in- 
habitants — they renewed their usual exactions and insolence — and 



r24 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 



Ugo Bassi, the chaplain of Garibaldi, taken. 



the people, armed merely with common knives, but encouraged by 
the appeal of Ugo Bassi, rose upon the Austrian troops and drove 
them ignominiously from the city, with the loss of their cannon and 
equipage. 

When the French expedition against Rome occurred, Bologna 
hastened to send assistance to the capital, and Ugo Bassi again 
found himself called upon to assume the functions of chaplain to 
the Bolognese Volunteers. On the 3d of April, when Garibaldi, at 
the head of his Legion, repelled the attack and captured 350 of the 
Chasseurs de Vincennes, the elite of the French army, Ugo Bassi, 
regardless of danger, and only caring about the wounded to whom 
he was administering assistance, was, while occupied in this work 
of charity, captured by the French. Oudinot, the commander of 
the expedition, having taken no prisoner but Ugo Bassi, allowed 
him to go to Rome on parole, to propose the exchange of the 350 
captured by Garibaldi's Legion, in lieu of the Italian battalion 
which Oudinot had arrested at Civita Vecchia. The Roman gov- 
ernment, however, refused to put the prisoners of Oudinot upon the 
footing of prisoners of war, since they had not been captured 
in battle, but had been arrested by surprise, while Oudinot was 
actually making professions of peace and friendship to them. 

Having failed in his mission, Ugo Bassi returned to the French 
camp to give himself up as prisoner, in accordance with his parole, 
which so surprised Oudinot that he gave him his liberty — which 
was the only good action he performed in Italy. 

Upon the retreat of Garibaldi from Rome with the wreck of the 
patriotic troops, July 3d, Ugo Bassi accompanied him as his chap- 
lain, suffering during that long march all the privations of the 
meanest soldier. When the remnant, not amounting in all to 300 
men, embarked in a few open fishing-boats at Cesenatico, on the 2d 
of August, 1849, Ugo Bassi was in the same one as Garibaldi, Ci- 
ceroacchio, and other patriots. 

The thirteen little boats sailed for Venice, to endeavor, under the 
cover of the night, to enter that port notwithstanding the blockade. 
But having been discovered, attacked, and dispersed by the Aus- 
trian squadron during the night, some of the boats were run 
aground, some were captured, and some have not since been heard 
of. The boat in which was Ugo Bassi and some twenty others 
regained the shore, and the handful of patriots, finding that the 
firing at sea had given the alarm to the Austrian land forces, disper- 
sed in twos and threes to facilitate escape, till circumstances might 
enable them to recommence the struggle with adequate means. 

Ugo Bassi, with a single companion, took the direction towards 
Bologna, where, in the centre of devoted friends, his chance of pro- 
curing a secure temporary asylum was probable. On the way, 
however, he fell in with a party of papal police and Croats, by 
whom he was conducted to Bologna. The commander of that 
patrol was, shortly afterwards, killed in open day in Bologna by a 
patriot. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 725 

"" Ugo Bassi first sc alped and flayed to unpnest him, and then shot. "~ ' 

Without loss of time he was brought before an Austrian court- 
martial. He did not attempt to make any defence — he avowed 
that he had done his duty as a man, and asserted that he was quite 
ready to die, if death were the penalty they attached to honor. The 
sentence of death was passed upon him instantly, but before it could 
be carried into execution, the Cardinal Legate interfered in the 
name of the Church, declaring that no priest could be put to 
death, and that he must first- be handed to the clergy to be desecra- 
ted. To this the military made no objection, and the papal authori- 
ties proceeded to perform the desecration in the most horrible man- 
ner. The crown of the head, where the tonsure of the priests 
exists, the forehead, where the cross is made with holy oil, and the 
fingers and insides of the hands, which on the performance of Mass 
had touched the Holy Wafer, being considered sacred, the skin was 
flayed from the flesh ! In this state did the Romish priests, whom 
Ugo Bassi had protected from popular vengeance, hand over their 
brother and former protector to the military to be executed, after 
having performed thus an act of barbarity even more revolting 
than the savage Indians, who before scalping their enemy have the 
humanity to kill him. 

On the morning of the 8th of August, Ugo Bassi was brought 
out of his cell at an early hour, and was conducted to a field out- 
side the city, where his grave had already been dug. Looking his 
murderers calmly in the face, he fell — one bullet piercing his breast, 
and another his shoulder. His comrade who had been arrested 
with him suffered death at the same time, with that resolution 
which perfect consciousness of innocence can alone give. The 
few persons who at that early hour became apprised of the com- 
pletion of the tragedy, hurried to the spot to take a last look at their 
friend. Their handkerchiefs, dipped in the blood of the murdered 
patriot," says Colonel Forbes, " will one day serve as banners to 
lead the people against the assassins." 

Many instances might be given of the merciless tyranny that is 
at present exercised under the papal government of Pius IX. at 
Rome. Let the following one suffice as a specimen of the whole. 
A young man, named Ercoli, was sentenced to the galleys for ex- 
tinguishing the allumette of a companion, and preventing him from 
smoking, upon the ground of hostility to the duty reaped by the 
Pope from tobacco; while the master of a cafe, who witnessed the 
affair, was sent to the galleys for five years for deposing that the 
whole affair was only a joke between the two young men. 

And now the city which witnessed so noble and patriotic a 
struggle for liberty, is wretched and priest-ridden as before. IViesis 
in flowing robes sweep along the walks with portlier mien, and 
cardinals in princely equipages roll through the avenues with 
prouder state than ever. The Inquisition having been re-established, 
hypocrisy has resumed its guise, and despotism its sceptre. Strong 
in the protection of 25,000 French and Austrian bayonets, Pius IX. 



7'26 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Wretchedness of the RonutD people under the Pope. 

and his cardinals exercise an imperious and heartless sway. The 
people are stripped of the little means long adversity had spared, by 
extraordinary contributions. The functionaries of the fallen gov- 
ernment are subjected to severe penalties, and the members of 
the Constituent Assembly are not only banished, but their property, 
to a large extent, is laid under confiscation. Domiciliary visits are 
frequently made; business, in all of its departments, and society, in 
all of its relations, are placed under the strictest espionage. True 
to their old policy, the priests seek to put the public mind asleep by 
shrouding it with darkness. Foreign journals are excluded with 
Argus-eyed vigilance, and the only paper of the city is an official 
sheet, made up of proclamations and edicts, and directions con- 
cerning the cut and color and trimmings of cardinal robes, and of 
edifying accounts of festas and indulgences, and masses and prayers, 
and relics and miracles. The Jesuits have returned, and are fast 
re-establishing their malign influence. In short, every thing in 
Rome, political, ecclesiastical, and social, is lapsing into a state 
worse than the first. The people meantime are suffering with 
mute despair. In one respect, at least, they are more degraded than 
the helots of Sparta ; for their masters are not warriors and states- 
men, men trained by noble pursuits and manly deeds, but bigots, 
and cowards, and profligates, and imbeciles. 

Beneath all this apparent despair and submission to the existing 
order of things, there is, however, in the hearts of the Roman people 
a deep-seated abhorrence of the priestly tyranny under which they 
groan, and a longing desire for the day of deliverance to arrive ; 
and the quiet that reigns is only like the calm that precedes an 
eruption of Vesuvius. Let the French and Austrian troops that 
awe the people into submission but remove, and this volcano would 
in a moment burst forth. Rome, the boasted metropolis of Chris- 
tendom, and the Papal dominions around it, constitutes the most 
wretched of all the civilized nations of the earth, and in the scale 
of modern improvement, is at least a century behind them all. Says 
a shrewd and keen observer,* who has lately been an eye-witness of 
the effects of Papal rule in Rome, "Italy, beautiful, bounteous land! 
is everywhere haggard with want and wretchedness, but these 
seem nowhere so great and chronic as in the Papal territories. 
Every political division of Italy but this, has at least some section 
of railroad in operation ; Rome, though in the heart of all and the 
great focus of attraction for travellers, has not the first mile of rail- 
road, and no prospect of any ; though it would seem a good specu- 
lation to build one, if it were to be used only in transporting hither 
the foreign troops absolutely essential here to keep the people quiet 
in their chains. ' And this, too, shall pass away.' " 

§ 46. The Bible in Rome and Italy. — During the temporary ex- 
istence of the Roman Republic, the friends of the Bible in England 

* Horace Greeley, of New York. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 727 

Captain Pakenbam's account of the seizure of Bibles in Tuscany. 

and America took advantage of the absence of the Pope to employ 
efforts for the dissemination of the Scriptures in Rome and Italy. 
The following extract from a speech delivered at an anniversary of 
the British and Foreign Bible Society, at Exeter Hall, London, by 
Captain Pakenham, giving an account of his labors in this cause, 
furnishes some interesting and important facts : " It was in the 
early part of last year that the munificence of your society in- 
trusted to me a considerable sum, for printing the New Testament 
at Florence and at Rome — for we have at least established this little 
fact before we go further, that when the Pope leaves Rome, we can 
print the Scriptures there, and when the Pope comes back again, we 
must lock the Scriptures up. But I am happy here, in the presence 
of his Excellency, the American Minister, to express my thanks to 
the Consul of that free state, who has himself impounded, and not 
left it to the Pope to impound our Testaments. We have now here 
and there, threading all the by-ways of Italy, more than one citizen 
of the United States preaching peace through Jesus Christ. And I 
recommend the Sovereign Pontiff, whatever liberties he takes with a 
'British subject, not to meddle with these- gentlemen. It was in the 
beginning of January, last year, that we began the New Testament 
printing at Florence. We began with the edition of Martini. 
Martini was an Archbishop of Florence, and although his transla- 
tion comes not exactly up to all the points of our Protestant trans- 
lation, it is, nevertheless, such as the British and Foreign Bible 
Society have consented to distribute. And more than that, it is 
such as a previous Pope has put his approbation upon. It will seem 
strange to a set of English people, who consent to be guided only 
by common sense, how one infallible Pope can give his approval to 
a translation, which another infallible Pope sends and seizes. But 
this infallible Pope did send and did seize this edition of Martini, 
which was approved of by another infallible Pope, and it is now 
in the top story of a very high palace in Florence, the bottom story 
of which is the common prison. 

" Well, the books were seized, and then I was subjected to an 
interrogatory, and knowing what they wanted, I made very short 
work of it ; for I said to them at once, ' Yes, I am the culprit, I ac- 
cept all the responsibility of it, and I am ready to meet you before 
any Tuscan tribunal, and we will have the thing out fairly.' ' 

The government, however, declined prosecuting Captain P., and 
arraigned the printer in his stead, and the latter was not deserted 
by the former. The captain determined to see him defended to the 
utmost of the Tuscan law. 

" It pleased Providence," said Captain P., " to direct us to a very 
good Tuscan lawyer, who told them some home truths when the 
process came on — a process which, I believe, they are now wry sorry 
they ever brought on. Turning to the judges, he said, ' It is very 
unusual to institute trials of this kind. This is a cause which is 
closely linked with civil liberty ; and 1 am going to give you. who 



728 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The Bible seed has taken root in Italy. _ Striking proof of this. 

are lawyers, a piece of sound law, as it respects Tuscany, and that 
piece of law is this — ' The Decrees of the Council of Trent have not 
the force of law in this country.' That was well received by the 
audience, who did not know it before. ' And more than that, the 
prohibitory Index, issued by the Supreme Pontiff at Rome, may have 
effect in the territories of Rome, but must not come across the 
Tuscan frontier, for here it has no force.' After disposing of these 
two things, he said : ' In the name of common sense, I appeal to 
your worships on the bench. Here we are in a country where our 
churches are very much admired, and the decorations of them, it 
would not be too much to say, adored. Those decorations are taken 
— from what ? All the subjects which are represented by your high- 
est art, are subjects taken from the Scriptures, or avowedly or pro- 
fessedly so. You call upon our people to fall down before these sub- 
jects in admiration, if not in adoration ; but the printed words which 
were given by inspiration of the Spirit of God, you will not let them 
be distributed. You will not let them come before the public eye. 
You will not let them be read at the domestic altar. You will not 
let the children of Tuscany be taught in this blessed book. No ; 
they must go and look at your pictures and statues. That is the 
way they are to learn religion. But this blessed word of God's rev- 
elation, which can make us " wise unto salvation," that must not be 
read, that must be confiscated, burnt, and torn. I appeal, in the 
name of common sense,' he exclaimed, ' can you stand by that ?' 

" But after all that was said and done, for reasons of state, and by 
superior orders," said Captain P., "the case went against us." 

It is a cheering fact, however, that the Bible has been circulated 
in Italy ; the seed has been sown, and all the efforts of Pope and 
priests to root it entirely out will be in vain. As a striking evidence 
of this fact, we will relate an incident, upon the authority of the 
London Standard, which vouches for the honor and the truthfulness 
of the relator, who was' one of the party. A small company of 
young Englishmen of evangelical principles, happening to meet at 
Rome last summer, determined upon an excursion into some of the 
neighboring mountains, carrying with them fowling-pieces, to take 
from their expedition the appearance of mere idling, and perhaps 
for defence. Benighted in the mountains, and not indisposed to see 
something of the domestic life of the mountain peasantry, they asked 
for shelter in a cottage, which had an appearance of comfort, and 
found a hospitable reception. From some remarks made by one of 
the young men as to their conscientious scruples against indulging 
in wine, the aged cottager was led to conclude that they were re- 
ligious men, and exclaimed, " What ! you Englishmen, and will not 
drink wine in opposition to your religious principles ? You must 
be the Englishmen that I love, because you love this book.' He 
then opened a crypt beneath the floor, and produced a Bible in the 
Italian language, for the production of which it was plain the whole 
family of the cottage, children and grandchildren, had been waiting 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 729 

Protestants in Italy. Persecution of Count G-uic ciardini. 

with manifest impatience. The patriarch then read two or three 
chapters of the New Testament ; and the astonished visitors asked 
him how he dared to do so, when, though he, of course, had nothing 
to fear from Protestants like themselves, any neighbor coming in 
might detect and betray him. " I am not afraid of my neighbors," 
replied the old man, with a smile. " Climb the top of this hill to- 
morrow morning — and it is a high one — look round as far as your 
eyes can reach, a very wide prospect, and you will not see a cottage 
in the range in which this book (laying his hand on the Bible) is not 
to be found." " Then," said one of the visitors, " you are in fact all 
Protestants ?" " We are," replied the old man emphatically, " but 
we dare not own it ; that is, in the country we are all Protestants, 
but in the towns, may God forgive and convert them, they are noth- 
ing." We have but to add that the same party, having passed from 
Rome to Naples, found the rural peasantry everywhere substantially 
Protestant, the town population too generally infidel; but found 
genuine Popery throughout the whole extent of Italy nowhere, if not 
under the priest's frock. 

§ 47. Imprisonment and banishment of Count Guicciardini for 
Protestantism. — The feelings of the whole Protestant world have 
been recently aroused to a high pitch of excitement, by the recent 
instances of persecution for conscience' sake, in different papal 
governments, by which a most conclusive proof has been furnished 
that the persecuting spirit of Popery remains unchanged. It is cer- 
tainly a significant fact, and one which American freemen should 
never forget, that the recent cruel imprisonment and banishment of 
the exiles of Madeira, already related, and the no less inhuman 
treatment of the noble Count Guicciardini, and of the two Madiais 
in Tuscany, have been everywhere excused and palliated, or else 
openly justified by Roman Catholic editors and priests, not except- 
ing Archbishop Hughes of New York, — a most conclusive proof that 
they would do the same in this country, and in every other, if they 
possessed the power. 

Before closing this supplement, we shall place on record for future 
reference, the facts and documents relative to those most recent 
instances of papal intolerance and persecution. 

Count Guicciardini — descended from one of the oldest and noblest 
families in Florence, and who boasts the historian of that name for 
one of his ancestors — had been a Protestant for at least three or 
four years past. He had regularly attended the Swiss church, and 
communicated there, and until lately was never interfered with. 
He was no politician, and took no part whatever against the gov- 
ernment in 1848-49. He is a man of the mildest and gentlest spirit 
imaginable, and a true Christian. After the Italian preaching was 
put down by the Tuscan government in the Swiss church in Flor- 
ence, Count Guicciardini was called up before the delegate of 
police and examined, and afterwards had an interview with Lan- 
ducci, the Minister of the Interior, in which he recalled to his re- 



730 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

G-uicciardini and other Bible-readers thrown into prison. 

membrance the change which must have taken place in the minis- 
ter's opinions within two years, as in 1849, the count had a conver- 
sation with him about liberty of conscience, in which, at that time, 
Landucci fully agreed. This interview, however, ended in Guic- 
ciardini being told that there were laws against apostacy still unre- 
pealed, and that these must be put in force. He was also served 
with an inhibition preventing him from attending the Swiss church. 
The count, however, was a man of too high character and standing 
to be easily and summarily disposed of, and it was intimated to him 
that if he would keep quiet, and not interfere in the cases of other 
Florentines — his fellow- Protestants against whom they might pro- 
ceed — all proceedings against him would be stopped. This he most 
manfully refused to do, and declared his determination to leave his 
country, and to publish to the world that his only reason for doing 
so was, because in it there was not liberty to worship God according to 
his conscience ! The following week it was his intention to have 
left, and he had gone one night to the house of one of the Protest- 
ant Italians, to meet a few who were of like precious faith, when 
gendarmes fully armed burst into the room, seized their Bibles, and 
marched them all off to the Bargello, or common prison. Applica- 
tion was made next day at the prison by some English gentlemen, 
who knew the count, to be permitted to see him, which the delegate 
of police refused. These gentlemen proceed at once to Mr. Sheil, 
the English minister, who acted most promptly and kindly on their 
behalf. He expressed his deep regret and decided conviction of the 
impolicy of such conduct on the part of this government, and 
through his kind interference they obtained admission to the noble 
prisoner. 

The gentlemen found Guicciardini looking very ill — he had not 
slept, from the stench and the vermin of the cell into which he 
had been thrust. They found also eight persons in the Bargello, for 
no offence whatever but that they wished to read the word of God, 
and hear it preached. Some of them poor, and depending on the 
sweat of their brow for their daily bread, and their families in des- 
titution. 

After being imprisoned for some time in this loathsome cell, the 
excellent Count Guicciardini was sentenced to banishment, and at 
the last advices, was in Scotland, living under a Protestant govern- 
ment, where liberty of conscience is enjoyed by all. 

§ 48. Trial and sufferings of Rosa and Francesco Madiai for 
Bible-reading. — The most recent instance of popish persecution, and 
one which is still agitating the public mind, throughout all Protestant 
Christendom, is that of Rosa and Francesco Madiai, two humble 
but deeply-pious disciples of Jesus, who at the moment we write are 
pining in the dungeons of Tuscany, for no other crime than that of 
reading and inviting others to read with them the blessed word of 
God, and to love and trust in that Saviour whom it reveals. The 
following account of their trial and imprisonment is taken chiefly 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 731 

Trial and sufferings of the Madiai for Bible-reading and teaching. 

from a translation from the Buona Novella, an Italian journal pub- 
lished at Turin. Upon their apprehension, they were put in separ- 
ate cells at the Bargello prison ; and after several weeks of strict 
confinement, the government notified them that their trial would 
take place on the 4th of June, 1852. Being too poor to employ- 
counsel in their defence, Signor Odoardo Maggiorani, one of the 
most learned jurists of Tuscany, generously and gratuitously offered 
his services to the two prisoners, and his example was imitated by 
three other eminent lawyers, viz., Vincenzo Salvagnoli, Adriano 
Mari, and Leopoldo Galeotti. 

Great anxiety prevailed among the population of Florence as to 
the results of these proceedings — a great many citizens applied for ad- 
mission to the halls of justice, but the government notified that the 
trial should be conducted with closed doors. 

The presiding judges (as there was no jury) were Mr. Nervini, 
who, during the whole trial, appeared very bitter against the cul- 
prits, Cocchi, the interrogating judge, and Bicchierai, the public 
prosecutor. 

At ten o'clock, a. m., the gendarmes brought the prisoners into 
the court. Francesco Madiai appeared happy to see his wife again, 
and pressed her hand, and Rosa was pale and trembled with emo- 
tion. The few persons present were surprised and moved with the 
tranquillity and firmness of the two accused. 

At the commencement of the trial, the presiding judge asked 
Francesco Madiai if he was born in the bosom of the Holy Mother, 
the Roman Catholic Church. A. Yes, sir, was the reply ; but now 
I am a Christian according to the gospel. 

Q. Who has made you such, and does there exist an act of abju- 
ration amongst those you are united to? A. My convictions have 
existed for many years, but have acquired strength from the study 
of the word of God. 

Q. Who advised you to leave the Catholic faith ? A. Nobody ; 
it has been a matter between God and my own soul. 

Q. Have you ever made a public abjuration ? A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When and how ? A. When I took the communion in the 
Swiss church. 

Q. Have you distributed among the people any publication con- 
trary to the dogmas of the Roman Church ? A. No, sir ; the tracts 
I gave people to read contained only passages of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, but nothing of controversy between the two communions. 

Q. Did you ever hold religious meetings in your house ? A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. What did you say and do? A. That we were all believers 
in the Evangelical church, and as such we used to congregate and 
pray. 

Here Casacci, the witness, said to the president, that many were 
Catholics, and Francesco and Rosa Madiai persuaded them to leave 
the papal church. 



732 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Examination of Eosa MadiaL 

Q. What have you to say, Francesco Madiai, against the deposi- 
tion, of the present witness? A. Those who were yet Catholics 
desired to become acquainted with the eternal truth, and under 
such circumstances I could not refuse them admittance to my 
house. 

Q. Have you ever had any religious controversy during the time 
you spoke against the church ? A. Yes. sir, only when I was pro- 
voked ; I spoke of the dogmas of the church as contrary to the 
Bible, but have never used, during this conversation, any disrespect- 
ful language. 

Hereupon the president ordered Francesco Madiai to sit down. 
His wife was called to stand up. 

Q. Have you changed your religion for any material object ? 
did you ever receive any pecuniary remuneration ? A. No, sir, I 
have not changed my former religion lightly, or to please men; in 
such a case I could have done it when I was in England, where I 
lived seventeen years. 

Q. What then could induce you to take that step ? A. The read- 
ing of the Bible convinced me of the error and contradictions of the 
Romish doctrines. 

Here the presiding judge imposed silence on the prisoner. 

Q. Have you ever made any public abjuration ? A. Yes, sir ; 
as soon as I became firmly convinced of the truth of the evangelical 
doctrine, I abandoned the church, and made a public confession of 
faith by partaking of the Lord's supper. 

Q,. Where did the public confession take place ? A. In the Swiss 
chapel, at Florence, when the former laws of our country gave and 
protected religious liberty. 

Q. Have you at any time called the Holy Apostles men of hatred ? 
A. No, sir; that accusation is totally untrue. I have never been 
guilty of such a thing, and shall prove the contrary by the words of 
St. Luke, chapter xxii., from verse 28th to 31st. But the judge in- 
terrupted Rosa Madiai, saying, " We are not speaking about reli- 
gion now." The defendant replied, '-'As I am accused of religion, I 
am to answer and defend myself on that subject." 

The president, with a stern look, bid her silence, for the second 
time. 

Q. Have you ever said that the Christian religion has but eight 
commandments, and that our creed allows fornication ? 

The prisoner hereupon rose indignantly, and said in a high tone 
of voice, that as her only reply to that infamous charge, she should 
be allowed to say the ten commandments, in order that they might 
judge whether there were eight or ten. 

" Silence !" was answered by the court ; upon which, being angry, 
the defendant replied, " That it was not justice to impose silence on 
one's own defence.''' 

The judge appeared somewhat milder, and asked the prisoner if 
she and her husband observed the ten commandments ? 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 733 

Defence of the Madiai, by their advocate, Mr. Maggiorani. 

" Certainly," she answered, " as God dictated them to Moses on 
Mount Sinai." 

Here the word " silence" was repeated, and the examination of 
Rosa Madiai w T as closed by the judge saying " that is sufficient." 

The small audience, composed of a few English gentlemen, who 
had been admitted through the influence of Sir Henry Bulwer, were 
struck with the simplicity and sincerity of the Madiais. 

On the following day the witnesses were examined. On the 
6th of June, Mr. Maggiorani announced to the court that he was 
ready for the defence, which he made with so much warmth and 
feeling as to draw tears even from the eyes of the prosecuting 
attorney. 

The learned defender said : " Honorable gentlemen, here before 
you stand two aged persons, charged by the accusation, not for 
Protestant proselytism, nor for having spoken disrespectfully of our 
church, nor for having taken, at any time, any part in the political 
events which have lately desolated our country, but they are guilty, 
before our modern laws, of being apostates, and becoming members 
of the evangelical communion. For this crime, of which my two- 
clients openly and candidly confess being guilty, they are, perhaps, 
to be condemned by this tribunal. If our present legislation is 
contrary to all religions except our own, I see no reason why hon- 
orable citizens should be tried as unbelievers or hired emissaries. 
The court should know, that although the so-called Evangelical 
Christians do not acknowledge the authority of Rome, and disagree 
in some parts with its doctrines, yet they are rigid observers of 
Christian morals, and profess all those principles which most satisfy 
the human heart, and are adapted to the intellect. The prosecuting 
judge was grossly mistaken when he accused the defendants for 
acting as Evangelical Christians merely for the sake of money, for 
they lived on their toils, and are two of the most pious, upright, and 
honest persons, and were acknowledged to be such by those same 
persons who the more wished to aggravate them ; even the curate 
of their parish has done justice to the Christian probity of the two 
prisoners, testifying moreover of having been received several times 
at Madiai's house, with the greatest and kindest hospitality, and has 
ever admired their charity and modesty." 

The counsel then read to the court a letter from a nun belonging 
to the convent of the Salesiane of Massa, in the valley of Nievole, near 
Pescia, wherein she states, on plain truth, of having known, before 
she took the veil, Rosa Polini and Francesco Madiai, who are now 
married and living in Florence. " I have lived," adds the nun, 
"with the wife, in the service of several foreign families, for almost 
two years, and have always esteemed her and her husband tor their 
upright, honest, and charitable actions in every respect, although 
concerning religion they belonged, to my knowledge, to a heterodox 
communion." This declaration is dated the 22d of May, JN.V2, 
signed by Sister Rosa Felice Massei, and authenticated by Sister 

47 



734 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Sentence of the Madiai. 

Anna Maria Bartoli, Abbess of the Monastery of the Salesians, and 
by Pietro Forti, Bishop of Pescia, in Tuscany. 

On the morning of the 7th of June, the public prosecutor summed 
up the charge, and on the fourth day the court remained long in 
consultation ; the votes were divided, and one vote decided the 
question, two being in favor of acquittal, and three of condemnation. 
At last the clerk of the court announced to the prisoners to stand 
up, for sentence was to pass upon them. The presiding judge read 
with a trembling voice the sentence, of which the following is an 
accurate copy :■* 

" Considering that the penal laws, agreeing with the interpreta- 
tions of the most illustrious juries, recognize proselytism as a crime 
punishable by the civil authorities — 

" Considering that Francesco and Rosa Madiai, born and brought 
up in the Catholic religion, have, within the last four or five years, 
been induced to abandon it, and embrace the religion which they 
call Evangelical — 

" That Francesco Madiai, availing himself of the lessons in the 
French language which he gave to a young man of sixteen, en- 
deavored, though without success, to detach him from the Catholic 
religion, gave him, in concert with his wife, a prohibited copy of the 
Bible, in French and in Italian — 

" That he has made to other persons proposals tending to show 
the superiority of the religion called Evangelical to the Catholic re- 
ligion, counselling such persons not to hear the priests, reproving 
the worship of the Virgin Mary and of the saints as an idolatry, and 
especially turning into derision the pious custom of burning tapers 
before the image of the holy Virgin — rejecting the doctrine of the 
real presence of the consecrated host, characterizing as an insult 
towards God intercession by the Virgin and the saints, rejecting the 
authority of the Sovereign Pontiff; saying that the observance of 
feast-days other than Sundays, and abstinence from certain aliments, 
were inventions of sinful men ; saying that in the sacrament of the 
communion, the transubstantiation of bread and wine is not true ; 
that confession is useless, because it is made to man and not to 
God— 

" That to make a young girl of twenty, who was in their service, 
abandon her religion, the Madiais taught her to read, so that she 
might understand the books which they gave her, such as the Bible, 
translated by Diodati, and the Book of Prayer, printed in London 
by the Society for the Diffusion of the Christian Doctrine, in which 
it is said that Purgatory and the worship of images are ridiculous 
inventions — 

" Considering that what has been said by the defence on the sub- 
ject of liberty of conscience and of religious tolerance is foreign to 

* This copy of the judicial sentence of the Madiai was translated from tho 
Univers, a leading Roman Catholic journal, issued in Paris, and its accuracy will 
not therefore be disputed by Catholics. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 735 

Pious le tter of Rosa Madiai to her husband. 

the question, seeing that the first is not attacked when citizens 
are called to answer for their external acts, and that the second 
is protected, instead of being violated, when one preserves an- 
other from the danger of seduction and abandonment of her re- 
ligion — 

" The court declares that the crime of impiety has been committed 
by the Madiais in the way of Proselytism — and it condemns Fran- 
cesco Madiai to fifty months' imprisonment at hard labor, and Rosa 
Madiai to forty -five months' imprisonment, and to a fine of 300 livres, 
and at the expiration of their punishment to three years' surveil- 
lance by the police." 

The conduct of the Madiais during their trial did them the great- 
est honor, and awakened the admiration of the audience. They 
listened to the sentence with great firmness and dignity. Francesco 
was in perfect peace, and received the final blow in a spirit of holy 
submission, and the only expression of suffering was squeezing the 
hand of a friend near by, saying — "There is need of patience, and 
the comfort, the joy of the Holy Spirit never changes with me, 
however it may with my poor body. I am always happy. God 
has been with me all the time of my imprisonment, and he will al- 
ways be with me as long as I remain in prison, and I am sure he 
will be with me unto death." 

Rosa Madiai, as soon as she returned to the Bargello prison, 
knelt and prayed for some time ; afterwards she wrote the following 
letter to her husband : 

My Dear Madiai, — You know that I have always loved you ; but how much 
more ought I to love you now, that we have been together in the battle of the 
Great King — that we have been beaten, but not vanquished. I hope that, through 
the merits of Jesus Christ, God our Father will have accepted our testimony, and 
will give us grace to drink, to the last drop, the portion of that bitter cup which 
is prepared for us, with returning of thanks. My good Madiai, life is only a day, 
and a day of grief. Yesterday we were young, to-day we are old. Nevertheless, 
we can say with old Simeon : " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, 
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Courage, my dear, since we know by the 
Holy Spirit that this Christ, loaded with opprobrium, trodden down and calumni- 
ated, is our Saviour; and we, by his holy light and power, are called to defend 
the holy cross, and Christ who died for us, receiving his reproaches, that we may 
afterwards participate in his glory. Do not fear if the punishment be hard. God, 
who made the chains fall from Peter, and opened the doors of his prison, will 
never forget us. Keep in good spirits; let us trust entirely in God. Lei me see 
you cheerful, as, I trust, by the same grace you will see me cheerful. I embrace 
you with my whole heart. Your affectionate wife, 

(Signed) Rosa Madiai. 

Before leaving the Bargello for his final imprisonment, Francesco 
Madiai applied to be allowed to carry with him a supply of clean 
linen, clothes, &c. But this was not permitted. He smiled, saving, 
" Well, all things according to the will of God." He spoke very 
laudably of his wife, and requested a friend to tell her " thai his prayer 
was that God would go with them to their prisons, and that he felt 



736 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The Madiais consigned to their respective prisons, 

sure that God would be their companion there." He was not 
allowed to see his wife, but was conveyed to his jail of Vol terra, 
and thrown among criminals. A few days after he was removed 
from the common galleys and put into cellulary confinement. 

The same gentleman, who had visited Francesco Madiai while 
in the city prison, went to see his wife, who, hearing of the sudden 
departure of her husband, became much oppressed : and her mind 
was also tortured by the idea, that, at her advanced age, having al- 
wavs lived amongst virtuous and religious people, she should now 
be thrown with females of bad conduct. At the same moment, and 
almost unexpectedly, the prison-keeper brought a message from the 
police, that Rosa Madiai should be taken away from the Bargello, 
and carried to the prisons of Lucca. 

At this dreadful notice, in presence of all the attendants and 
gendarmes, she burst into fervent prayer, asking God for more faith, 
more love to Jesus. Her kind lawyer, Signor Maggiorani, prom- 
ised to go to Lucca to see that every thing that could be permitted 
should be provided for her ; and the physician, who was also pres- 
ent, said that, although it was unusual, he would give a certificate 
as to the state of her health, requiring diet different from that of the 
common prisoners, as absolutely important to her life. 

Having quickly dressed herself, she asked for her bonnet, and to 
a remark made by one of the jailers, why she did not comb her hair, 
answered, " For what use, as in a few hours they will cut it off." 
She bid farewell to all those assistants, and told an English gentle- 
man, in whose service she had been, " Remember me to all the 
brethren, and tell them, should they be called to follow us, to bear 
what may be appointed them to suffer, but never to forsake their 
God.' J This advice was addressed to the numerous prisoners who 
were yet under trial in the several prisons of Florence, accused of 
the same crime for which the Madiais had been condemned. 

A special order of the Tuscan government prescribed that the 
Madiais should be entirely deprived of all religious service and books 
of their faith, nor should any Protestant clergymen be allowed to 
visit them — a rule which is not even applied in the same country 
to the worst criminals. They were soon separated from all the 
prisoners, and kept in a private and solitary cell — the husband on 
the hills of Yolterra. and the wife at Lucca, a distance of fifty miles. 
When they are allowed to walk about, it is in a yard, surrounded 
by walls, from which nothing can be seen but the sky. 

Dressed after the manner of all criminals, for the first weeks they 
were nourished with the common and unhealthy victuals of the 
prison, and it was but lately that they were allowed to receive 
victuals from without. In the cell of Rosa Madiai can be seen a 
large chain hanging to the wall, as a threat in case she should rebel 
against the prison discipline. 

§ 49. Earl Roden's interview with Madiai. Lord John Russell's 
letter, fyc. — The news that the Madiais had been condemned for 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 737 

Earl BoderTs visit to Francesco Madiai. 

having become Protestants, and for proselytism against the papal 
church, awoke the indignation of all Protestant countries, and 
even of liberal Catholics, as may be seen from a very elaborate 
article which appeared in the Debats of Paris. Meetings were held 
to protest against the Tuscan government, and finally a deputation, 
composed of the most distinguished citizens of several countries of 
Europe, started for Florence, in order to implore from the sovereign 
the pardon of the Madiais. The deputation forwarded their petitions 
to the Grand Duke of Tuscany through his Prime Minister, the 
Duke of Casigliano, who answered afterwards that they could not 
be admitted to the royal audience of his sovereign, as they had 
petitioned ; and that, concerning the Madiais, they having been con- 
demned according to the laws of the country, he could do nothing 
in favor of the prisoners. 

Earl Roden, a member of the deputation, has recently published 
the following affecting account of his interview with these poor suf- 
fering disciples of Jesus. It is a touching narrative of humble piety 
and patient suffering. Read it, American and British Protestants, 
and see the kind of people that Roman Catholic persecutors in the 
nineteenth century consider worthy of imprisonment and bonds. 

" Having arrived here last night," says Earl Roden, " I proceeded 
at ten o'clock this morning (November 3, 1852) to the great prison, 
allocated to persons convicted of the worst crimes, containing within 
its walls at the present time above 500 criminals. This most im- 
posing building is situated on the summit of the heights of Volterra, 
1800 feet above the level of the sea. I waited on the direttore, who 
received me with civility. I presented to him my passport, that 
he might identify me as the person whom he had received orders 
from the government to admit to visit the prisoner, Francesco 
Madiai. He introduced me to the sub-direttore, desiring him to 
conduct me to Madiai's room. We passed through a very long cor- 
ridor, with cells on either side, and reached the door of the infir- 
mary where Francesco was confined. I was shown into a small 
room, where the window was on a level with the table, and there 
was air and light in abundance. Francesco rose from his chair, 
when the sub-direttore told him who I was ; he then shut the door 
and retired, so that I had full opportunity to converse with the 
prisoner alone. In about a quarter of an hour the sub-direttore 
returned with the doctor. I thanked them both for their kindness 
to Francesco, particularly the latter; and I told Madiai, in their 
hearing, that I was at the head of a deputation which had come 
from England, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Holland to im- 
plore the Grand Duke's clemency towards him and his wife ; that, 
in so doing, we were not only influenced by compassion for them, 
and the deepest sympathy for their sufferings, but that our special 
object was to endorse the principle which (hoy had maintained, and 
for which they were now suffering, namely, that every individual 
in the world had a right to read the word of God, without note or 



738 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Lord Boden's interview with Francesco Madiai. 

comment ; and that that principle was near and dear to our hearts as 
Christians. Neither the sub-direttore nor the doctor made any re- 
mark to this ; but the latter said that Francesco's health had im- 
proved, that all fever had left him, though there was still much 
weakness. I then told Francesco that I had visited him and his 
wife at the request of my brother deputies, who, together with all 
who loved and valued the word of God, were warmly attached to 
them both, and were thankful to God for the confession which they 
had been enabled to make, and for the support which he had given 
them under their heavy trials, during their long incarceration, sev- 
eral months of which I was aware had been spent in the Bargello, 
the common prison of Florence, where the treatment of them had 
been most cruel — indeed barbarous. 

" The sub-direttore and the doctor having retired, he spoke much 
to me of the state of his health, saying he was better ; but in his 
weak and reduced frame, I could too plainly see the effects of all 
through which he had passed, and, although comparatively better, 
I have no doubt that a much longer confinement must terminate in 
his death. He talked of the comfort which he had in the Scrip- 
tures ; he found the testimony of the Lord Jesus in them his great 
support ; he cared little for other books in comparison with the 
word of God ; he was allowed the Roman Catholic Bible by Martini, 
with notes. 

" I told him that his wife, whom I had seen two days before, re- 
quested me to tell him that she was well. He was looking forward 
with great hope to his speedy liberation, and seemed much disap- 
pointed at the failure of our application. I said that the King of 
Prussia had taken a special interest in their case, and sent a noble- 
man from Berlin, Count Arnim, to plead their cause before the 
Grand Duke. His eyes then filled with tears, and he exclaimed, 
" How can I ever be grateful enough to God for his mercies to me !" 
He spoke of his own nothingness, and that, therefore, it could have 
been only God who had put it into the hearts of kings and nobles, and 
of Christians of distant countries, to be so interested in their behalf. 
He added, that he felt he was in God's hands, and that he would 
do with him as he pleased. 

" I found in Francesco Madiai a simple-minded Christian, greatly 
depressed and worn down by severe suffering, mental and bodily. He 
made no complaints, and spoke with the greatest respect of the 
Grand Duke his sovereign, to whom, I had previously heard, he had 
been always a most attached and loyal subject. He evidently 
would have entered more at length into the particulars of his case, 
but I told him that I already knew them. When I asked him if I 
could do any thing for him he said, " Nothing but to pray for him," 
I then offered up a short prayer with him for the continuance of 
God's favor and support towards him and his wife, and bade him 
farewell, with feelings kindred to those with which I had taken 
leave of his poor wife. Roden." 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 739 

Lord Jolin Russell's letter. 

To the honor of the government of Great Britain it is to be re- 
corded, that it has not been indifferent to the cruel persecutions 
of these two excellent people, but has actively interfered in their 
behalf. The following energetic dispatch has been forwarded to 
Sir Henry Bulwer, British ambassador at Florence, by Lord John 
Russell. We place it upon record as an additional testimony to the 
truth of the facts we have narrated, and an honorable expression of 
the views of Protestant England, through one of her most eminent 
and enlightened statesmen, of this instance of Popish persecution in 
the nineteenth century. 

LORD JOHN RUSSELL TO SIR HENRY BULWER. 

Foreign Office, Jan. 18, 1853. 

Sir, — According to the last accounts received from you, the Grand Duke of 
Tuscany still hesitates on the subject of the Madiai. But this is a matter on which 
hesitation implies capital punishment. It is the same thing- in effect to condemn a 
man to die by fire like Savonarola, or to put hirn to death by the slow torture of an 
unhealthy prison. It seems to be imagined, indeed, by some governments on the 
Continent, that if they avoid the spectacle of an execution on the scaffold, they will 
escape the odium to themselves, and the sympathy for their victims, which attends 
upon the punishment of death for offences of a political or religious character. But 
this is an error. It is now well understood that the wasting of the body, the sink- 
ing of the spirits, the weakening of the mind, are but additions to the capital punish- 
ment which long and close confinement too often involves. If, therefore, as has 
been lately reported, one of the Madiai were to die in prison, the Grand Duke must 
expect that throughout Europe he will be considered as having put a human being 
to death for being a Protestant. 

" It will be said, no doubt, that the offence of Francesco Madiai was not that of 
being a Protestant, but that of endeavoring to seduce others from the Roman 
Catholic faith; that the Tuscan government had the most merciful intentions, and 
meant to have shortened the period of imprisonment allotted by law to his offence ; 
that such offences cannot be permitted to pass unpunished. 

All this, however, will avail very little. Throughout the civilized world this 
example of religious persecution will excite abhorrence. Nor will it be the least of 
the reproaches addressed to the government of the Grand Duke, that the name of 
Leopold of Tuscany has been thus desecrated, and the example of a benevolent 
sovereign thus departed from. The peaceful, mild, and ingenuous character of the 
Tuscan people makes this severity the less necessary and the more odious. 

As this is a matter affecting a Tuscan subject, it may be said that her Majesty's 
government have no right to interfere. If this means that interference by force of 
arms would not be justifiable, I confess at once that nothing but the most extreme 
case would justify interference. But if it be meant that Her Majesty lias not the 
right to point to 'a friendly sovereign the arguments which have prevailed in the most 
civilized nations against the use of the civil sword to punish religious opinions, I 
entirely deny the truth of such an allegation. 

You are, therefore, instructed to speak in the most serious tone to the Minister 
of Foreign Affairs, and to lay before him all the considerations stated in this dis- 
patch. You will do it in the most friendly tone, and take care to assure the gov- 
ernment to which you are accredited, that none are more sincere in their wishes 
for the independence and happiness of Tuscany than the Queen of Great Britain. 

1 am, &c, J. Russell. 

All these benevolent efforts on behalf of these suffering martyrs 
of Jesus have hitherto been in vain. Their health is failing, espe- 



740 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 



Pious letters of Rosa Madiai. 



cially that of Francesco, and the probability is that one or both of 
them will die in a prison, and be added to the number of the victims 
of that false and apostate church which has long been " drunk with 
the blood of the saints and of the martys of Jesus." To show how 
meekly and patiently they bear their sufferings for the truth, the 
following pious letters are given, written by them since their im- 
prisonment : 

LETTER FROM ROSA MADIAI TO A FRIEND. 

Finally, my dear, if such an injustice of the Tuscan government is for the 
glory of God, may it be welcome; but pray continually for us that we may be en- 
abled to serve and honor him truly in this heavy imprisonment. My husband is 
very unwell, and this the more afflicts me. I am grown very thin ; but my health 
is much better, thank the good Jesus. I hope you, my dear, and your excellent 
wife are well; I shall never forget how much she suffered for me; kiss your 
children and their mother for me; tell them that I and my husband exhort them 
in their exile, not to fear the great of this corrupt world, for they will soon be 
reduced to ashes ; let the cause of Christ alone be a sacred jealousy in their 
hearts and actions, to whom, with the Father and Holy Ghost, be honor and glory. 
Let the church pray for us ; let us hope that through the blessing of God, which 
gives strength to the weak like us, that if some one be called to suffer for his 
cause, he will remember how much Jesus suffered for us. I do not say any thing 
more, for want of paper ; remember us prisoners kindly to everybody. 

Your sister in Christ, 

Rosa Madiai. 

Rosa Madiai wrote lately, from her prison at Lucca, to her hus- 
band imprisoned at Volterra, the following letter : 

You could not imagine what profound pleasure I have felt in hearing that thou 
wert better, and what tears of joy I have shed in thinking that God hath deemed 
thee worthy of suffering for his beloved Son, and that he has restored thy health. 
O, if we could only understand the price of the shame we suffer for having ac- 
knowledged one Mediator only between God and man ! Dearest, thou speakest 
to me of waiting for our grace ; but let me tell thee that the great grace we have 
already received, when after having been torn from each other by force — having 
been torn away from our home, and having lost every thing, we have been our- 
selves reduced to our present condition. However, no more than Moses would, 
for all Pharaoh's treasures, would we lose that sacred gift which, through supreme 
grace, the Holy Spirit granted us; faith in the divine word. That is what I call 
a grace, and a great grace. If a star is to shine for us, it must be that of justice. 
We have wronged none, and done harm to nobody. On the contrary, we have 
received evil, and have been sold for a few pieces of money. Our accusers are 
the descendants of Judas. Poor souls ! I pray God to grant them Peter's tears, 
and to preserve them from Judas's punishment, that they may in the future en- 
joy Christ's salvation. If they were to come and ask aims from me, as I have 
done before, I would still give them. May God be our help. Amen. Dear 
Madiai, let us be ready for the Father's will, as his Son, our Master. 

Let us not be anxious. Peter trembled in walking on the waters ; fearing the 
waves, he forgot that if the Lord himself walked on them, he ought not to fear 
any thing. Let us remember the sacred word, " Though I walk through the valley 
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." Dearest, rest 
in the Lord for every thing, good and evil ; every thing passes away ; eternity, that 
is the chief thing. Be cheerful and try to gain health. God bless thee, and keep 
thee under the shadow of his wings, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 

Rosa Madiai* 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 741 

An American Catholic's opinion of the " Madiai farce." 

The following is a note which Francesco Madiai wrote to a 
friend, dated 20th November : 

Dear Mr. C , I should wish to write more, but cannot, being very ill in bed. 

However, I do not think my sickness dangerous. Let God's holy will be done in 
every thing. All I can say, as a brother in Christ Jesus our Saviour, is, that the 
more my sickness increases, the more the Spirit of God increases in me. Please 
give my best respects to all my friends. I cannot write any longer. Your faith- 
ful servant and brother in Christ Jesus. Francesco Madiai. 

P. S. — Do not tell my wife that I am so sick. 

Let the reader read these touching memorials of suffering piety, 
and then let him compare therewith the following specimens of 
American Catholic abuse of the persecuted Madiai and their friends, 
and then decide, first, as to the justice or decency of these charges, 
and second, whether the persecuting spirit of Popery is not the same 
now as it ever has been. The extract is from a Roman Catholic 
journal called the Boston Pilot, upon what it is pleased to term 
" the Madiai farce /" 

" Our readers have been somewhat amused, no doubt, by the conduct of certain 
persons, some of them knaves, others fools, others simply misinformed, who have 
been latterly raising a great cry against the Tuscan government, because it found it 
necessary to imprison a few individuals, who have been convicted, after a fair trial, 
of breaking the laws of the land. 

" The Italian must be either a Catholic or an Infidel. The few who apostatize, 
and call themselves Protestants, are moved by political considerations. They are 
revolutionists, to a man. They find that Protestantism will let them live as they 
please. It affords no restraint to their unchained passions. It allows them to 
rob, and to commit murder, under the name of liberty, equality, and fraternity. It 
lets them indulge in wine and women until they grow tired of both, provided they 
will keep still about it. 

" They are regarded by pious, Pope-hating male and female women in England 
and America, as converts from Popery, and money, men, arms, and tracts are sent 
to them. 

"American Protestantism has gone mad over the Madiais. We do not think 
the proceedings of the Metropolitan Hall meeting in behalf of the Madiais wor.th 
notice, and we shall not comment upon them. The promoters of the meeting 
were and are conspirators against the religion and government of Italy. They 
wish to overturn these ; they do not care a straw for the Madiais." 

We cannot close our account of the cruel persecution of these 
pious and simple-hearted believers, without appending the following 
copy of a beautiful letter of thanks recently sent by the evangelical 
Christians of Tuscany to the Deputation who went to Florence, to 
intercede with the government on behalf of the Madiai. It is a 
cheering fact that, notwithstanding, the persecution which awaits 
them, if detected, there are at present thousands of evangelical 
Christians in Tuscany, who have been led, by the blessing of God 
on a distributed Bible to abandon the errors of Popery. It would 
be imprudent to publish at present, the names of the writers of this 
letter. Its pious and evangelical sentiments show that the doctri- 
nal views and the religious experience of these Bible Christians, ac- 
cord with those of true believers in Christ, in every land and age. 



742 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Grateful letter of the persecuted Tuscan Christians. 

To the Christian Brethren forming the various Deputations sent to 
appeal in favor of Francesco and Rosa Madiai, held Prison- 
ers in Tuscany for the cause of the Gospel. 

Beloved Brethren in the Lord, — The evangelical Christians in 
Tuscany, greatly moved by the earnest proof of Christian love 
shown to them by many brethren of various countries and lan- 
guages, but united to them in one common bond of faith, desire 
to express their thankfulness and gratitude for the love that has 
led you unsolicited by them, to come hither for the sole pur- 
pose of endeavoring to alleviate the sufferings of our brother and 
sister ; Francesco and Rosa Madiai, now enduring hard bondage for 
reading the Word of Life, and for the open and free confession of 
that truth, believed and held by them with that constancy and 
steadfastness alone worthy of those who, like faithful sheep, know 
the voice of the " true Shepherd" that died to save them, and " fol- 
low him whithersoever He goeth ;" but for which steadfastness they 
are now accused of impiety. 

We believe it unnecessary to recapitulate the painful history of 
their long and severe sufferings, inasmuch as you are already well 
informed of all that has happened to us, and have with so much 
love watched all the trials we have been subject to within the last 
few years. You have heard, that having been bred up and in- 
structed to assume at least the outward garb of religion, even if 
accompanied by a fatal and passive indifference, provided we did 
not openly question the customs and traditions imposed upon us ; 
many of us became either solely WTapped up in the political vicissi- 
tudes of our unhappy country, or, " ignorant of God's righteousness," 
went about "to establish our Own righteousness, not submitting 
ourselves unto the righteousness of God." (Romans, x. 3.) In 
this fatal delusion we must have remained, had we not had free 
access to the unadulterated Word of God, " able to make us wise 
unto salvation." It is through His mercy and grace alone that we 
now abide faithful unto that Word, notwithstanding the many trials 
daily renewed against us by our rulers. For these, indeed, we con- 
tinually pray, knowing the many difficulties and obstacles they have 
to contend with, from those who are the worst enemies to the dif- 
fusion of God's Word, and whose influence our rulers have sought 
to enlist, by concessions in their favor and by severity against those 
who have separated themselves, under the idea that to uphold the 
predominant religion of the State is the best guarantee for the 
peace and prosperity of the country. 

We are truly sorry that at this time, especially, we cannot per- 
sonally render you an open testimony of our gratitude and love for 
the singular proof you have given us of your sympathy with our 
suffering brethren ; but you are well aware that we are not per- 
mitted now even to meet together for mutual edification, and that 
we are obliged to abstain from assembling ourselves together even 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 743 

Grateful letter of the persecuted Tuscan Christiana. 

for the sole purpose of worshipping God, through fear of either im- 
prisonment or exile, and the consequent distress of our families. 
We are thus in difficulty between the laws of our country and the 
express law of our God. (Heb. x. 25.) We would gladly forego 
many of the rights of citizens, or willingly bear any other burden, 
if in exchange we could meet in the name of our Lord. 

But though we cannot openly and collectively offer you the 
expression oLour gratitude for the sympathy which you have so 
manifested towards us in our trials and sufferings, we cannot be 
hindered from offering up our prayers to the " Father of mercies" 
and " God of all grace," that he may crown your mission with suc- 
cess, and may grant us better days, when we may " worship God in 
quietness, none daring to make us afraid." 

If, however, it must needs be that we should yet suffer for the 
truth, we commit ourselves in confidence to our Father in Heaven, 
who will not permit us to be tried above what we are able to bear, 
and who has graciously assured His people that " as their days are, 
so shall their strength be." (Deut. xxxiii. 25.) And we abide the 
issue of these trials with the calm assurance that He who permits 
them will overule them for His own glory and for our good ; and 
that the things that befall us shall turn out, as in the early days of 
His Church, rather to the furtherance of the Gospel. 

One other matter we cannot pass by. We have been accused of 
making a profession of the Gospel for the sole purpose of endeavor- 
ing to undermine the present political state of the country ; but your 
deputation, coming from so many friendly States, is a clear and 
undeniable proof that we have not been actuated by political 
motives in searching, as we have done, the Scriptures of truth. 

We entreat you, that when you return again to your native lands 
you will convey to our brethren who sent you the expression of 
our deepest gratitude ; and tell them that we feel encouraged and 
sustained by their sympathy, and that the moral support of all the 
evangelical Christians of Europe is of the greatest value and con- 
sequence to God's people in this land, who desire to know for them- 
selves the Word of Eternal Life. Above all things, request them 
to unite their prayers with ours, that the Lord may uphold us in 
all our need, and prepare us for all that He has prepared for us ; 
and that His Word may have free course in this land and be glori- 
fied. Finally, that in all that concerns us His will, not ours, be done. 
Our trust is in Him from whom our strength cometh, and whose 
grace is sufficient for us ; and for the joy set before us we gladly 
endure the passing afflictions of the present time, knowing that 
" He who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in His own 
blood" shall guide us at last " to the rest that remaineth," when 
" the Lamb which in the midst of the throne shall feed us, and 
shall lead us to the living fountains of water, and God shall wipe 
away all tears from our eyes." 

May our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished 
death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the 



744 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

The Pope's Concordat, tha cause of the Tuscan persecutions. 

Gospel, strengthen, comfort, and bless you above all that you can 
ask or think ; and to His name be all the praise. 
Florence, October 29th, 1852. 

§ 50. The Pope's Concordat, the cause of these persecutions. 
Conclusion. — The cruel persecutions we have related exhibit the 
genuine spirit of popery. We are aware that Jesuitical cunning 
will answer these charges by throwing the blame anckthe responsi- 
bility upon the lay tribunals, and then proclaim, with consum- 
mate hypocrisy, as they did in the worst days of the' Inquisition, 
amidst the fires of the auto da fe, ecclesia abhorret a sanguine. 
The key to these modern persecutions for conscience' sake, how- 
ever, is to be found in a Concordat made between the Pope and 
Tuscany, bearing date, April 5th, 1851, in which the Pope binds 
the lay authorities to do the bidding of the church in the prosecu- 
tion and the punishment of heretics. The leading points in this 
Concordat, as stated in the Monitore Toscano, of 5lay 5th, are as 
follows. The provisions of this agreement which we have printed 
in italics are a sufficient explanation of the persecution of Count 
Guicciardini and of the Madiai, and of the apologies of the Catholic 
press of the world for these atrocious and despotic acts : 

" Article 1 declares that the ecclesiastical authorities are per- 
fectly free in the exercise of their sacred office, and that the lay 
authorities are to aid them in the protection of morality and reli- 
gion, and in the maintenance of the episcopal authority. 

By Art. 2, Bishops are perfectly free to publish whatever docu- 
ments relate to their functions. 

Art. 3 provides that the Bishops alone shall have the right of 
censorship over works treating ex-professo of religion, and shall 
moreover have the power of warning their flock to avoid reading 
any book they may consider contrary to religion and morality. 

By Art. 4, Bishops shall appoint those they may think proper to 
preach within their dioceses. 

By Art. 5, all communication of the Bishops and the faithful of 
the Holy See shall be free. 

Art. 6 admits the right of lay tribunals to take cognizance of 
civil cases relating to the persons and property of ecclesiastics, as 
also to the property of the Church. 

By Art. 7, all cases relating to the Faith, the Sacraments, and all 
other matters belonging to the spiritual jurisdiction by the Sacred 
Canons, shall be deferred to the ecclesiastical authorities. 

Nevertheless (Art. 8), lay tribunals may take cognizance of mat- 
ters concerning lay benefices. 

By Art. 9, the ecclesiastical tribunals shall take cognizance of 
matrimonial cases in so far as the validity of the bond is concerned ; 
the lay tribunal may, however, judge the civil questions connected 
with such cases. 

By Art. 10, the Holy See consents to let ecclesiastics be tried by 
lay tribunals, in criminal cases not connected with religion ; if con- 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 745 

Conclusion. 

demned, they are to suffer their penalty in distinct prisons purposely 
set apart for them in the prison establishments of the State. The 
ecclesiastical tribunals shall, however, take cognizance of religious 
crimes, such as apostasy, heresy, schism, simony, the profanation of 
Sacraments, fyc, and pronounce canonical penalties, the execution 
of which shall be claimed by the Bishops from the lay authorities." 



The object of the Pope and his priests, in the almost superhu- 
man exertions they are making for the spread of Popery, is to 
establish similar Concordats, if it shall be possible, with France, 
England, America, and all the nations of the earth ; to enlist other 
governments as they have that of Tuscany, in a crusade against 
Religious freedom and the Bible, and again to reign, as in the dark- 
ness of the middle ages, Despots of the World. 

We believe, however, that the world has grown too wise ever to 
permit itself to be bound again by the iron shackles of the spiritual 
despotism of Rome ; and notwithstanding all her proud boastings, 
we cannot doubt that the days of this apostate church are num- 
bered. She may continue to hold the people under her despotic and 
iron sway, for a few years longer, in countries where she can shut out 
the newspaper and popular education, as in most of the priest- 
ridden nations of Europe. But the march of freedom and of 
light is onward — onward throughout the world ; and in countries 
like our own free and happy America, Romish priests shall find 
themselves as unable to arrest that march, as to prevent the sun's 
rays from shining on the world. But let America and all Protest- 
ant Christendom remember that 

" THE PRICE OF LIBERTY IS ETERNAL VIGILANCE." 



THE ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF POPE PIUS IX. 

TO ALL PATRIARCHS. PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, AND BISHOPS.* 

Venerable Brethren. Health and Apostolic Benediction. 

We. who during many years past were striving together with you, 
Venerable Brethren, to fulfil to the best of our powers the Episcopal 
charge — that charge so full o( solicitude — and to feed that part of 
the Lord's flock committed to our care in the mountains of Israel, 
amid the streams and fruitful pastures, have been, in consequence of 
the death of our illustrious predecessor, Gregory XVL, whose memory 
and whose illustrious and glorious deeds, written in letters of gold on 
the records of the Church, posterity will always admire, quite con- 
trary to all our thoughts and expectations, and with considerable 
alarm and trepidation, by the hidden designs of Divine Providence 
raised to the Chief Pontificate. For indeed if the charge of the 
Apostolic Ministry is justly esteemed and ever to be esteemed one 
of danger and importance, more particularly is it a matter of dread 
in these most difficult times for the Christian Republic. 

Hence, fully conscious of our own weakness, and contemplating 
the most weighty duties of the Supreme Apostleship, particularly in 
the present critical state of affairs, we should have wholly given up 
ourselves to sad sorrowing and tears, had we not placed our hope in 
God our Salvation, who never deserts those hoping in him, and who 
in order to display the strength of his own power, chooses even the 
weakliest for the government of his Church, that all may more and 
more learn that it is God himself who rules and defends his Church 
by his admirable providence. 

Our consolation is- that we have, as companions and helpers, you, 
Venerable Brethren, who, called to share our solicitude, endeavor 
with every care and earnestness to fulfil your ministry, and to fight 
the good fight. 

Hence, when first, though undeservedly, placed in this sublime 
seat of the Prince of the Apostles, we received that important charge 
bestowed in the person of Blessed Peter, by the Eternal Prince of 
Pastors, of feeding and ruling, not only the lambs, namely, the uni- 
versal Christian people, but also the sheep, that is, the Bishops, 
nothing was more sought for or desired by us than that we might ad- 
dress vou all with the deepest feeling of affectionate charity. 

Wherefore, scarcely have we, according to the usage and custom 
of our predecessors, taken possession of the Supreme Pontificate in 
our Basilica of St John Lateran, than we address unto you without 

* This Encvclical Letter is copied verbatim from the Catholic Herald of 
February 4th. 1547. The italics and small capitals, and also the headings be- 
tween the paragraphs, are our ovrn. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 747 

Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius IX. 

delay this Epistle, in order to inflame your profound piety, so that 
with evefn greater alacrity, vigilance, and earnestness, keeping the 
watches of the night over the flock committed to your care, and with 
the strength and constancy of Bishops fighting against that most 
hideous enemy of the human race, strenuously, like good soldiers of 
Jesus Christ, you may " set up a wall for the House of Israel." 

POPE PIUS DENOUNCES ALL THE OPPONENTS OF CATHOLICITY. 

None of you, Venerable Brethren, but must be aware that in this 
our deplorable age, a fierce and formidable war is waged against 
every portion of Catholicity by those men who, linked in nefarious 
companionship, not enduring sound doctrine, and turning their ears 
from the truth, dig out from darkness every monstrous shape of 
opinion, and endeavor with all their might to exaggerate and dissem- 
inate them among the people. 

We shudder indeed with horror, and we are bitterly affected with 
sorrow, when we reflect on all the monstrosities of error, and the va- 
rious and multiform arts, snares, and machinations of mischief, by 
which these haters of the truth and of the light, and most skilful 
artificers of fraud, labor to quench in the minds of all men every 
aspiration after piety, justice, and honesty ; to corrupt morals, to con- 
found all rights human and Divine ; and to rend asunder, to under- 
mine, nay, if such a thing were ever possible, to overturn from their 
foundations, both the Catholic religion and civil society. 

For you know, Venerable Brethren, that these deadly enemies of 
the Christian name, miserably hurried on by the blind force of a fran- 
tic impiety, rush forward with such a rash daring of thought, that 
with almost unheard of audacity, " opening their mouths in blasphe- 
mies against God," they blush not openly and publicly to teach that 
the solemn, sacred mysteries of our religion are fables, and mere in- 
ventions of men ; that the doctrine of the Catholic Church is opposed 
to the good and advantage of human society ; they even tremble not 
to deny even Christ himself and God. And the more easily to de- 
lude the people, and particularly, to deceive the unwary and hurry 
the inexperienced along with them into error, they assert that to them- 
selves alone are known the ways of prosperity, and arrogate without 
hesitation to themselves the title of Philosophy, whose whole scope 
is the investigation of nature's truth, should reject that which God, 
the merciful Author of all Nature, had with singular beneficence and 
mercy designed to men in order that they might attain true safety 
and happiness. Hence, with a preposterous and most fallacious 
species of arguing, they cease not to appeal to human reason, and to 
extol it at the expense of Christ's most holy faith, audaciously set- 
ting forth that it is opposed to human reason. Than which conduct 
nothing certainly more insane, nothing more impious, nothing, in fine, 
more repugnant to reason itself, can be fashioned or thought of, For 
although faith be above reason, no real disagreement, however, no 



743 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Encvclical Letter of Pope Pius IX 

hostility between them can ever be discovered, since they both flow 
from one and the same fountain of immutable and eternal truth — the 
Most Excellent and Mighty God, and so render assistance to each 
other, that right reason demonstrates, protects, and defends the truth 
of Faith : while faith frees reason from all errors, and wonderfully 
enlightens, confirms, and perfects it by the knowledge of Divine 
things. 

Nor is the fallacy, Venerable Brethren, less of those enemies of 
Divine Revelation, who, extolling with loud-sounding praise, the 
progress or march of human things, would with clearly rash and sac- 
rilegious daring thrust into the Catholic religion, as if that relidon 
were not the work of God, but of man, or some philosophical dis- 
covery that could be perfected by human means. On men thus mis- 
erably mad the reproach of Tertullian to the philosophers of his day, 
falls with peculiar fittingness, that they (the Philosophers) had pub- 
lished a Stoic, a Platonic, and a Dialectic Christianity. And cer- 
tainly, since our most holy religion was not invented by man, but 
revealed in mercy by God to man, every one must without difficulty 
see that religion, in fact, must derive all its force from the authority 
of the same God speaking, nor can in any wise be derived from, or 
ever perfected by, human reason. It behooves human reason, indeed, 
diligently to inquire into the fact of Divine Revelation, that it may 
be clear that God has spoken, and that to Him, that according, to the 
very wise teaching of the Apostle, he may render " a reasonable 
obedience/' 

pope pirs coxrouxDS Christianity with popery. 

For who is ignorant, who can be ignorant, that implicit faith is to 
be given to God when he speaks, and that nothing can be more con- 
sistent with right reason than a firm consent and adhesion to those 
things which shall be proved to have been revealed by a God who 
can neither deceive nor be deceived ! 

But how numerous, how wonderful, how splendid, are the argu- 
ments by which human reason should most lucidly be convinced that 
the religion of Christ is divine, and that i; every principle of our dog- 
mas has taken its root from the Lord of the heavens on high." And, 
moreover, that nothing more certain, more secure, more holy, or 
which is founded on firmer principles — exists : to wit, this faith, the 
instructress of life, the expeller of all vices, the fruitful parent and 
nurse of all virtues — confirmed by the birth, life, death, resurrection, 
wisdom, wonders, and prophecies of Christ Jesus, her author and 
finisher ; radiant on everv side with the light of heavenly doctrine, 
and laden with the treasures of heavenly riches : illustrious and dis- 
tinctively marked by the predictions of so many Prophets, the splen- 
dor of so many miracles, the constancy of so many martyrs, the glory 
of so many Saints ; proclaiming the saving laws of Christ, gaining 
day by day more strength from the most cruel persecutions them- 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 749 



Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius IX. 



selves ; hath the cross, her only banner, journeyed by land and sea 
the whole earth ; having beaten down the falsehood of idolatry, scat- 
tered the darkness of error, triumphed over enemies of every kind, 
she enlightened all people, all nations, however savagely barbarous, 
however diversified by disposition, manners, laws, and institutions, 
with the light of Divine knowledge, and — announcing peace and good 
tidings — has brought them under the most sweet yoke of Christ; all 
which shine forth on every side with such a splendor of wisdom 
and power that every mind and thought may easily understand that 
the Christian faith is the work of God. Therefore human reason, 
from these most splendid and equally solid arguments, clearly and 
distinctly recognising that God is the author of this same faith, can go 
no further, but throwing utterly aside every doubt and difficulty, is 
bound to yield every obedience to faith, knowing with certainty that 
whatever faith proposes to men to be believed and done, was deliv- 
ered by God himself. 

POPE PIUS CONDEMNS PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 

Hence, too, plainly appears in what error they continue, who, 
abusing their reasoning power, and esteeming the words of God as 
a human production, dare rashly to interpret it, when God himself 
has appointed a living authority to teach, the true and legitimate sense 
of his heavenly revelation, to establish it, to settle away all controver- 
sies on matters of faith and morals with an infallible decision, so 
that the faithful may not be carried about by every wind, of the 
wickedness of men to the circumventing of error. Which living 
and infallible authority exists only in that Church, which, built by 
Christ our Lord on Peter, the Head, the Chief and Pastor of the 
whole Church, whose faith he promised shall never fail — has ever 
legitimate Pontiffs deducing their origin without intermission, from 
Peter himself, placed in his chair — heirs and possessors of the same 
doctrine, dignity, honor, and powers. And since " where Peter is 
there is the Church," and Peter speaks by the Roman Pontiff, and 
ever lives and exercises judgment in his successors, and gives forth 
the truth of faith to those seeking it, therefore the Divine words are 
clearly to be received in that sense which this Roman Chair of Bles- 
sed Peter, the Mother and Mistress of all Churches, hath always pre- 
served whole and inviolate, and has ever taught to the Faithful, 
showing to all the path of safety and the doctrine of uncorrupted 
truth. For this is the chief of Churches, from which the unity of 
the Priesthood hath arisen. This is the centre and metropolis of 
piety, wherein is the entire and perfect solidity of the Christian re- 
ligion, in which the primacy of the Apostolic Chair hath ever nour- 
ished ; to which, on account of its pre-eminent dignify, it is neces- 
sary that all churches — that is to say, the Faithful — wheresoever found, 
should repair ; with which whosoever gathereth not, scattcreth. Wc, 
therefore, who, by the inscrutable judgment of God, have been seated 

48 



750 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Encyclical Letter of Tope Pius IX. 

in this chair of truth, appeal with earnestness in the Lord to your 
eminent piety, Venerable Brethren, that with all solicitude and zeal 
you may assiduously exert yourselves to admonish and exhort the 
faithful committed to your care, to the end that firmly adhering to 
these principles they may never suffer themselves to be deceived or 
led away into error by those men who, having become abominable 
by their pursuits, under the pretence of human " progress," labor to 
undermine faith, impiously to subject faith to reason, and to over- 
throw the revealed word of God ; who hesitate not to offer the high- 
est insult and outrage to God himself, who hath deigned by His holy 
religion most graciously to provide for the good of men here and 
their salvation hereafter. 

pope pius (forgetting the jesuits) denounces secret 

societies. 

You are already well acquainted, Venerable Brethren, with other 
monsters of error, and the frauds with which the children of the pres- 
ent age strive bitterly to beset the Catholic religion and the d'ivine au- 
thority of the Church ; to oppose its laws, and to trample on the 
rights of the sacred as well as of the civil power. To this point tend 
those guilty conspiracies against this Roman Chair of the Blessed 
Peter, on which Christ laid the irremovable foundations of His 
Church. To this point tend the operation of those secret societies, 
emeroino; from their native darkness for the ruin and devastation of 
the common weal, as well sacred as social, who have been again and 
again condemned with anathema by the Roman Pontiffs, our prede- 
cessors, in their Apostolic letters, which we, in the plenitude of our 
Apostolic power, confirm, and command to be most strictly observed. 

POPE PIUS CONDEMNS BIBLE SOCIETIES, AND ENDORSES GREGORY 

XVI. 

This, also, is the tendency and design of these insidious Bible So- 
cieties, which, renewing the crafts of the ancient heretics, cease not 
to obtrude upon all kinds of men, even the least instructed, gratu- 
itously and at immense expense, copies in vast numbers of the books 
of the Sacred Scriptures translated against the holiest rules of the 
Church into various vulgar tongues, and very often with the most 
perverse and erroneous interpretations, to the end that Divine tradi- 
tion, the doctrine of the Fathers, and the authority of the Catholic 
Church being rejected, every man may interpret the Revelations of 
the Almighty according to his own private judgment, and perverting 
their sense, fall into the most dangerous errors. Which societies, 
emulous of his predecessor, Gregory XVI., of blessed memory, to 
whose place we have been permitted to succeed without his merits, re- 
proved by his Apostolic letter, and ice desire equally to condemn. 
Still, to the same point tends that horrible system, extremely repug- 
nant even to the light of natural reason, of indifference to any kind 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 751 



Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius IX. 



of religion, by which these impostors, abolishing all distinction between 
truth and falsehood, between honesty and baseness, pretend to secure 
eternal salvation to men of any form of worship whatsoever, as if it 
were possible that there should be any participation of justice with 
iniquity, any association of light with darkness, any agreement be- 
tween Christ and Belial. 

POPE PIUS TOUCHES UPON SACRED CELIBACY AND DIVERS OTHER 

MATTERS. 

To this point tends that infamous conspiracy against the sacred ce- 
libacy of the Clergy, which, oh ! shame, has been encouraged even 
by some ecclesiastics, who, miserably forgetful of their proper dignity, 
have suffered themselves to be overcome and drawn aside by the se- 
ductions and blandishments of illicit pleasure. To this point tends 
that perverse theory of education, especially in philosophy, which in a 
most pitiable manner deceives and corrupts ingenuous youth, and com- 
mends to it the gall of the dragon in the chalice of Babylon. To this 
point tends the shameful doctrine so especially adverse to natural right, 
of what is called Communism ; a doctrine which if once admitted, the 
rights of all men, their property, their privileges, nay, the social sys- 
tem itself, even from its foundation, would be overthrown. Again, 
to this same point tend the darkly-hidden snares of those who, with 
the outside of the sheep, but ravening wolves within, under the false 
and fraudulent pretence of a purer piety, of severer virtue, and with 
an appearance of humility, enter in, mildly take, softly bind, secretly 
slay and deter men from the observance of any religious worship, 
and kill and tear to pieces the sheep of the Lord. 

POPE PIUS BEWAILS THE FOUL PLAGUE OF BOOKS, AND THE 
LICENSE OF THINKING, SPEAKING, AND WRITING. 

Lastly, to this point tends, omitting other things which are well 
observed by and fully known to you, that most foul plague of books 
and pamphlets! flying everywhere and inculcating sin, which books, 
being ably written and full of fallacies and artfulness, are spread 
abroad throughout all parts, among Christian people, at enormous 
expense, and everywhere disseminate pestiferous doctrines, depraving 
the minds and souls, especially of the incautious, and working the 
greatest possible injuries to religion. 

From this overflow of errors and the unbridled license of thinking, 
speaking, and writing, public manners are deteriorated, the most holy 
religion of Christ despised, the majesty of the Divine worship scorned, 
the power of (his ytftosfolic Sec is thwarted, the authority of the ( 'hutch 
opposed, and reduced to a vile servitude, the rights of Bishops tram- 
pled under foot, the sanctity of marriage violated, the influence of all 
power melted away, and with so many oilier evils to the Christian 
commonwealth, as well as to the civil state, that we are compelled, 
Venerable Brethren, to weep over them, and mingle our tears with 
yours. 



752 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

■ _ 

Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius IX. 

Therefore, in such vicissitudes of religious affairs, and in such 
critical periods, we being earnestly solicitous for the safety of the 
whole flock of the Lord divinely committed to our care, shall cer- 
tainly not leave untried or unattempted any duty of our Apostolic 
ministry, by which, with all our strength, we may seek counsel for the 
good of the whole Christian family. But at the same time we ear- 
nestly in the Lord, appeal to your eminent piety and prudence, Ven- 
erable Brethren, that with help from Heaven you may with us boldly 
defend the cause of God and of His Holy Church, as becomes the 
place you hold and the dignity with which you are invested. 

POPE PIUS DEVOTES TO ETERNAL DESTRUCTION ALL HERETICS 
(INCLUDING HIS PROTESTANT ADMIRERS). 

That it becomes you to fight valiantly, you will understand, as you 
are not ignorant with how many and how great wounds^ the stainless 
Spouse of Christ is pierced, and with how fierce an assault of bitter 
enemies she is beset. You know especially to defend and preserve 
the Catholic faith with episcopal strength and firmness, and to watch 
with unceasing care that the flock committed to you maybe retained 
in that faith firmly and immoveably, which unless one preserves whole 
and v near riqited, without doubt he shall perish eternally. In order, 
therefore, to preserve and protect this Faith by the discharge of your 
pastoral duties, apply yourself diligently and without ceasing to in- 
struct in it all men, to confirm those who waver, to convince those 
who gainsay it, to strengthen the weak in Faith, never overlooking or 
enduring anything which may appear even in the slightest degree to 
violate the purity of the Faith. With no less energy of mind should 
you encourage in all things, union w T ith this Catholic Church, beyond 
which there is no salvation, and obedience toward this chair of St. 
Peter, whereon the whole superstructure of our holy religion rests, 
as on a secure foundation. 

POPE PIUS WARNS AGAINST PESTIFEROUS BOOKS, SECTS, AND 

ASSOCIATIONS. 

And with equal constancy watch over the keeping of the most 
holy laws of the Church, by which, indeed, virtue, religion, and 
piety, do best increase and flourish. 

And, "as it is great piety to lay bare the lurking-places of the 
wicked, and in them to overcome the Devil himself, whom they 
serve," we entreat and admonish you that with all diligence and labor 
you expose to the faithful the multiform snares, deceptions, errors, 
frauds, and machinations of evil men, and that you diligently turn 
them away from pestiferous books, and strenuously exhort them that 
flying away as from the face of a serpent, from the sects and associ- 
ations of the impious, they may most carefully avoid all things that are 
hurtful to the integrity of faith, religion, and morals. For this pur- 
pose let it never happen that you desist from preaching the Gospel, 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 753 



Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius IX. 



for by that means the Christian people becoming daily more instructed 
in the precepts of the most Holy Christian Law, may increase in the 
knowledge of God, avoid evil and do good, and walk in the way of 
the Lord. 

And as you know that your ministry is the ministry of Christ, 
who declared himself meek and humble of heart, and who came not 
to call the just, but sinners, leaving to us an example that we might 
follow in his footsteps, do not fail in the spirit of lenity and meekness, 
with fatherly admonition and advice to correct, reprove, entreat, or 
rebuke, in all gentleness, with patience and doctrine, those whom you 
find breaking the commandments of the Lord, and straying from the 
paths of truth and justice ; as benevolence is often more efficacious 
in correction than authority, entreaty more than menace, and charity 
more than power. 

This, also, Venerable Brethren, strive with all your energies to 
accomplish, that the Faithful may cultivate charity, seek peace, 
zealously perform the duties of charity and peace, so that all dissen- 
sions, enmities, strife, and envyings, being destroyed, all may delight 
in mutual charity, and being perfectly of one mind and one feeling, 
they may feel and speak, and know the same things in Christ Jesus 
our Lord. 

POPE PIUS ENJOINS OBEDIENCE AND SUBJECTION TOWARD PRINCES. 

Apply yourselves to inculcate on the Christian people the due obe- 
dience and, subjection toward pri?ices and powers, teaching, according 
to the admonition of the Apostle, that there is no power except it be 
of God, and that to resist the power of God's ordination is to draw 
down condemnation on themselves, and therefore the precept to obey 
the powers that be can never now, by any individual, be violated 
without crime, unless, indeed, the thing commanded be opposed to 
the laws of God and the Church. 

POPE PIUS GIVES SUNDRY COUNSELS TO HIS CLERGY. 

Now, as there is nothing which more incites others to piety and 
constantly disposes to the worship of God than the light and examples 
of those who dedicate themselves to the Divine ministry, and as the 
Priests are, so does it often happen that the people are also — you will, 
in your singular wisdom, perceive, Venerable Brothers, that it will be- 
hoove you to use great care and zeal, that in the clergy a gravity of 
manners, integrity of life, holiness, and learning, may shine out, and 
ecclesiastical discipline be strictly preserved, as prescribed by the 
canons of the Church, and where it has lapsed may be restored to 
pristine splendor. 

Therefore, as you very well know, it becomes you to be wary, that, 
according to the precept of the Apostle, you may not hastily or 
lightly impose hands on any one, and that you initiate into holy or- 
ders, or admit to the administration of the sacred mysteries those 



754 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius IX. 

only who, strictly and carefully examined and proved, appear adorned 
with all virtues, and regarded with approval by the wise, may become 
to your dioceses both of use and ornament, and who, declining all 
things which are forbidden to the clergy, and lending themselves to 
readin°-, exhortation, and teaching, may be an example to the Faith- 
ful in word, deed, in charity, faith, and chastity ; may win reverence 
from all men, and help to form people's minds, and inflame and ex- 
cite to the love of the Christian religion. For "it is better," as 
Benedict XIV., our predecessor, of blessed memory, said, " to have 
fewer ministers, but those honest, suitable, and useful, than a larger 
number of men who, for the edification of the body of Christ, which 
is the Church, might be of no avail." 

You are not ignorant that you ought, with even greater care, to in- 
quire concerning the morals and the science of those to whom are 
committed the direction of souls, that they, as faithful dispensers 
of the treasures of God's grace, may continually apply themselves to 
support and assist the people confided to them, by the administration 
of the sacraments, the preaching of the Divine word, and the exam- 
ple of good works, instilling into them the precepts of the Gospel, 
and leading them into the paths of salvation. 

You know that a clergy being ignorant or negligent of their du- 
ties, the morals of the people also instantly fall away, Christian dis- 
cipline is relaxed, the practice of religion abused, and all the vices 
easily glide into that Church. Lest that the word of God which 
" full of life and power, and sharper than a two-edged sword," was 
established for the salvation of souls, should become unfruitful through 
the ministers, cease not, Venerable Brothers, to demand of the 
preachers of the Divine word that being themselves penetrated with 
that same Divine word, that well considering in their own souls the 
gravity of their office, they may exercise their Evangelic ministry, 
not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, not with the parade 
and vanity of ambitious eloquence, but with the assistance of the 
Spirit and the virtue from on high. That rightly treating the word 
of truth, and preaching not their ownselves but Christ crucified, they 
may announce to the people, in clear and intelligible language, yet in 
a style full of dignity, the dogmas and precepts of our holy religion 
according to the Catholic Church and the Fathers, so that by detailed 
explanations of individual duties all may be turned from crime and 
won to piety, and thus the Faithful, fed and nourished by the word 
of God, may abstain from all vices, practise all virtues, escape eternal 
punishment, and attain to heavenly glory. 

In your Episcopal solicitude, assiduously warn all ecclesiastics, 
and exhort them to consider seriously the ministry which they have 
received from God, so that they exactly fulfil its obligations, that they 
may have at heart supremely the glories of God's house, that they 
give themselves up unceasingly to prayer, and the recitation of the 
Canonical hours conformably to the precept of the Church, with a 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 755 

Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius IX. 

view to obtain Divine assistance for the accomplishment of their du- 
ties of appeasing God and rendering him propitious to the Christian 
people. 

As you are not ignorant, Venerable Brothers, that the education 
of clerks is the only means of procuring good ministers for the 
Church, and that it exercises great influence throughout the whole 
course of life, continue to use all your efforts that young clerks may- 
be formed even from their tender years, to piety and solid virtue, to 
a knowledge of letters, to the study of the sciences, and, above all, 
of sacred science. Having nothing so much at heart as to establish 
seminaries for clerks according to the precepts of the Fathers of 
Trent, where they do not exist; increase and enlarge, if need be, 
those that are ; to give them excellent superiors and masters, and to 
watch over them incessantly till young clerks be educated in the fear 
of the Lord, in the love of ecclesiastical discipline, may be therein 
formed to the knowledge of the sacred sciences, according to the 
Catholic doctrine, and without any fear of error taught the traditions 
of the Church, and the writings of the Holy Fathers; instructed in 
ceremonies and sacred rites, you may add to them kind, skilful, and 
courageous workmen, who, animated with ecclesiastical spirit, and 
formed by fitting studies, may in time, cultivate the field of the Lord, 
and diligently fight his battles. 

Moreover, understanding, as you do, that nothing tends more to 
support and preserve the dignity and holiness of the priesthood than 
the pious institution of spiritual exercises, encourage with all your 
influence this salutary work ; cease not to exhort all those who have 
been called to the heritage of the Lord to withdraw themselves into 
some place proper for these exercises, so that being freed from the 
distraction of external affairs, and exclusively devoted to meditation 
on internal and divine truths, they may purify themselves from the 
stains contracted amid the dust of the world, steep themselves in the 
ecclesiastical spirit, lay aside the old man and his works, and clothe 
themselves with the new man, created in holiness and justice. If we 
have spoken at length on the subject of the education and discipline 
of the clergy, regret it not, for you know that there is a multitude of 
men, who, disgusted with the variety, inconstancy, and multiplicity 
of errors, feel the necessity of embracing our holy religion, and, with 
the blessing of God, they will decide the more easily on embracing 
the precepts and practices of this religion when they see that its 
clergy are distinguished from other men by the piety and purity of 
their life, the repute of their wisdom, and the example set by them 
of all the virtues. 

Finally, most dear Brethren, we have the consoling conviction that, 
kindled as you are with an ardent charity toward God and man, in- 
flamed with great love for the Church, enriched with all but angelic 
virtues, gifted with episcopal courage and prudence, all animated 
with one holy desire, walking in the footsteps of and imitating, as be- 



756 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 



Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius IX. 



comes Bishops, Him whose ambassadors you are, Jesus Christ, the 
model of all pastors, become, through your union, the form and rule 
of the flock, enlightening with the rays of your holiness the clergy 
and the faithful, having bowels of mercy, compassionating the lot of 
those who wander into the darkness of ignorance and error ; we have, 
we say, the consoling conviction that you are disposed, after the ex- 
ample of the Shepherd in the Gospel, to go eagerly in search of the 
sheep which is lost, to bear it with fatherly tenderness upon your 
shoulders, to bring it back to the flock ; and that you will spare 
neither care nor counsel, nor labor, to fulfil religiously the duties of 
the pastoral charge, to put in safety from the rage, the attacks, the 
ambuscades of ravishing wolves, the sheep that were bought with the 
blood of Jesus Christ, confided to your care, and w T ho are all very 
dear to us ; to turn them from the poisons of error, to lead them into 
fat pastures, and bring them by your care, your exertions, and ex- 
ample, to the gates of eternal Salvation. 

Advance with all your power, Venerable Brothers, the glory of 
God and of the Church, and by your activity, zeal, vigilance, and 
harmony, endeavor that all errors being dissipated and vices rooted 
out, faith, religion, piety, and virtue, may increase from day to day in 
all places, and that all the Faithful renouncing the works of darkness, 
conduct themselves in a manner worthy of children of light, seeking 
in all things the good pleasure of God, and laboring to do all kinds 
of good works. In the midst of so many grave embarrassments, dif- 
ficulties, and inseparable danger, above all, at this present time of 
your episcopal charge, be not beaten down with fear, but seek strength 
in the Lord, and confiding in the power of His grace, think that from 
the height of heaven He has fixed his eyes on those that struggle for 
the glory of His name, that He applauds those who venture nobly, 
that He aids those who fight, and crowns those who conquer. 

As we love you all very dearly in the bowels of Jesus Christ, and 
desire nothing so much as to help you w T ith our love, our counsels, 
and our power, and to labor with you for the glory of God, the de- 
fence and propagation of the Catholic faith, and the salvation of those 
souls for whom we are ready to sacrifice, if necessary, our own life, 
come then, we conjure you, Venerable Brethren, come with open 
hearts and entire confidence to this see of the Blessed Prince of the 
Apostles, the Centre of Catholic Unity and Fount of Episcopacy, 
whence the Episcopate itself and all authority of that name was 
drawn, come to us whenever you think that you have need of the 
help or protection of our authority and that of this Holy See. 

POPE PIUS ENJOINS HIS "DEAR SONS," THE PRINCES, TO EMPLOY 
THEIR REGAL POWER FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE CHURCH. 
OF ROME. 

We confidently hope that our dear sons in Jesus Christ, the princes, 
recollecting in their wisdom and piety that the regal power was given 



1 

HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 757 



Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius IX. 



them not only for the government of the world, but especially for the 
defence of the Church, and that we maintain at one and the same 
time the cause of the Church, that of their kingdoms and of their 
salvation, by which they enjoy in peace their authority over their 
provinces ; that they will favor by their support and authority the 
vows and desires that we form in common, and that they will defend 
the liberty and prosperity of the Church, in order that the right hand 
of Christ may defend their empires. 

To obtain the happy accomplishment of these wishes, let us go 
with confidence, Venerable Brothers, to the throne of grace, and all 
penetrated with a deep feeling of humility, address unceasingly to 
the Father of Mercies and God of all Consolation, the most urgent 
prayers, that by the merits of His only Son he may deign to spread 
over our weakness the abundance of his heavenly gifts, that he will 
overthrow our enemies by his powerful virtue, that he will make the 
Failh flourish everywhere with truth and piety, devotion and peace, 
and that dissipating all errors and all oppositions, the Church may 
enjoy her much-desired liberty, and that there will be but one flock 
and one Shepherd. 

POPE PIUS CLOSES BY MAKING HIS ADVOCATE, MEDIATRIX, AND 
FIRMEST HOPE THE VIRGIN MARY. 

And that the Most Merciful God may more readily hear our prayers 
and grant our desires, let us have recourse to the intercession of the 
Most Holy Mother of God, the Immaculate Virgin Mary, our most 
sweet mother, our mediatrix, our advocate, our firmest hope, the 
source of our confidence, and whose protection is most powerful and 
most efficacious with God. Let us invoke also the Prince of the 
Apostles to whom Christ gave the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, 
whom he chose for the foundation-stone of his Church, against which 
the gates of Hell shall never prevail, and his co-apostle Paul, and all 
the saints of Heaven, who already crowned possess the palm, that 
they may shed down upon all Christian people the treasures of Di- 
vine mercy. 

Finally, as the presage of these heavenly gifts, and in testimony 
of our great love toward you, receive the Apostolic Benediction, 
which we give from the bottom of our heart, to you our Venerable 
Brothers, to all the ecclesiastics, and all the faithful laity confided to 
your charge. 

Given at Rome, at the Church of St. Mary the Greater, on the 
9th day of November, in the year 1846, in the first year of our Pon- 
tificate. 



REVIEW OF PIUS IX.'S ENCYCLICAL LETTER.* 

The inaugural which the Pope, according to established usage, 
has addressed to all Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops, 
shortly after his accession to the pontifical throne, would merit the 
title of extraordinary, if any extravagance proceeding from that quar- 
ter could deserve the name. 

The Encyclical letter is addressed to them, just as the commander- 
in-chief of an army addresses orders to his subordinates, and ev- 
ery man among them at his ordination, has taken an oath to obey the 
mandates of the Pope ; strong presumptive evidence, we should 
think, that thpy believe him to be infallible, for if they do not, how 
can they thus solemnly pledge themselves beforehand, to uncom- 
promising obedience ? The following is the clause in the oath to 
which we allude : " With my whole strength, I shall observe, and 
cause to be observed by others, the rules of the Holy Fathers, the 
decrees, ordinances, or dispositions, reservations, provisions, and 
mandates, of the Apostolic See. According to my ability, I shall 
pursue and impugn heretics, schismatics, and rebels against our said 
Lord, or his successors as aforesaid." — We commend this paragraph, 
in passing, to the attention of the " sympathizers" who accuse us of 
persecuting the Pope, when we speak of his mandates. "According 
to my ability, I shall pursue and impugn heretics, schismatics, and 
rebels against our said Lord and his successors as aforesaid." That 
sounds something like a threat of persecution. If he has ability to 
shut heretics up in prison, or to send them to the scaffold or the stake, 
he must do it, or he is a perjured man. And who are heretics in the 
Pope's estimation ? Look at the Bull in Coena Domini, which was 
pronounced not three months ago, by the liberal Pius IX., in person, 
on the Tuesday before Easter, and you will find a list of them. We 
need not enumerate them, they may be summed up in one word : 
Protestants, aye, Protestants, are the " heretics," whom every 
Roman Bishop is sworn to pursue and impugn, " according to his 
ability," be it great or small. Let us go a step farther in the exam- 
ination of this oath. "When called to a Synod, I shall come, un- 
less I be prevented by a canonical impediment. I shall personally 
visit the Apostolic See, once every ten years, and render an account 
to our Lord, and his successors as aforesaid, of my whole pastoral 
office and of everything in any way appertaining to the state of my 
church, to the discipline of the clergy and people, and to the salva- 
tion of the souls intrusted to my care, and I shall humbly receive in 
return the Apostolic mandates, and most diligently execute them." 

* For this masterly review of the Pope's letter, we are indebted to an article 
which we have abridged from the Protestant Quarterly Review, for July, 1847 
from the pen of the editor, Rev. Dr. Berg. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 759 



Review of the Tope's Encyclical Letter. 



Hence, we are not asseriing too much, when we hold every Ro- 
man Bishop responsible for the injunctions contained in the Pope's 
letter. Jt is called "Encyclical," because it is addressed to all Ro- 
man prelates, who are in the circle of the Pope's jurisdiction, and as 
he claims both temporal and spiritual power over the whole earth, 
we may measure the circumference of the globe, and then we have 
the dimensions of the circle which his Pontifical majesty modestly 
includes in his domain. In strict accordance with these pretensions, 
the Roman Council which convened last year in Baltimore, is styled 
in their own documents, a " Provincial Council," intimating that these 
United States are a Province of the Pontifical realm. We call upon 
any Roman prelate to deny, if he can, that the Church of Rome 
claims jurisdiction over every baptized child or adult, in every denom- 
ination of Christians or Heretics, or whatever else they may be called. 
We ask Dr. Kenrick to deny, if he dare, that the approved text- 
books and systems of theology in use in Roman Catholic Seminaries, 
base the right of the Papacy to inflict corporeal punishments upon 
heretics — fine, imprisonment, confiscation of goods, and even death 
itself — upon the ground that by baptism Protestants have become sub- 
ject to the jurisdiction of the church and amenable to the penalties, 
which she would impose upon them if she could, for it must be remem- 
bered that her approved standards of theology teach her to forego 
this right, whenever the execution of it would be prejudicial to her 
interests. This is the reason and the only reason, why we who live 
in this Papal province, are graciously permitted to discuss matters 
pertaining to the Pope's authority. 

When Pius IX. donned his triple crown, he exhibited some traits 
of liberality, which for a Pontiff, were sufficiently wonderful to throw 
all Rome into an ecstacy of joy. He declared a general amnesty, it 
is said, to all who had been immured in prison for political offences, 
and gave them, not the liberty for which they had suffered and pined, 
but liberty to leave the Papal dungeons. That was well done! 
Would that he had said to poor Bishop Reese, the former Roman 
Catholic prelate of Michigan, who has been shut up in the gloomy 
vaults of the Inquisition at Rome, for the last eight years or more, 
" Bishop Reese, return to America." Would that he had said to 
Cashiur, archbishop of Memphi, "You may leave your cell, and go 
out and breathe God's pure air, and look upon the blue and balmy 
sky." Would that he had gone to Dr. O'Finan, bishop of Killala, 
and with his own hands, stricken the manacles and fetters from those 
emaciated limbs, that the victim of Papal tyranny might be oppressed 
no longer. But no, they were doing penance for ecclesiastical offences, 
and they must stay till death opens those iron bolts — Cod giant that 
then, they may find a home in heaven ! 

The Rev. J. Delaunay, once of the order of Jesuits, but now, or 
lately, missionary of the American Protestant Society of New York, 
was with Bishop Reese daily, for more than a year, in Rome. The 



760 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Review of the Pope's Encyclical Letter. 

bishop told him that he was held there a prisoner without his consent, 
and that he ardently desired to return to the United States. But 
Pope Pius gave liberty to political offenders. So far, that was well 
done. He performed another prodigy. What was that ? He au- 
thorized the construction of four petty sections of railroads! The 
Sultan of Constantinople, and the Czar Nicholas, are in advance of 
him there ! Still, give the Pope his due. It was wonderful that a 
Pope should sanction railroads at all. No wonder that he dislikes 
them. But what harm could railroads do? None at all, but they 
might do some good in facilitating the transmission of intelligence, 
and in exerting a general influence in favor of civilization, and then 
Rome would be Rome no longer. 

Whatever opinions may have prevailed among well-informed men, 
previously to the publication of the Pope's manifesto, it will be suf- 
ficiently evident to every one who reflects soberly upon its contents, 
that there is not much prospect of essential reforms either in the Pa- 
pal church or state. The first paragraph dissipates all such illusive 
expectations. He speaks of his " illustrious predecessor, Gregory 
XVI., whose memory and whose illustrious deeds, written in letters 
of gold on the records of the church, posterity will always admire." 
If posterity can admire the character of the imbecile and cruel Greg- 
ory XVL, it will be either because it is not fairly represented, or else 
because virtue is at a very low ebb. Gregory XVI. is dead. We 
would not needlessly speak evil of him, but justice to the subject 
compels us to say, that if there be anything admirable, we can not 
discover it in the despotism which he established in Italy, where 
thousands of innocent victims were imprisoned for imaginary offences, 
and the blood of the best men was wantonly shed by this " illustri- 
ous predecessor" of the reigning Pontiff". If there be anything ad- 
mirable in indulging a low appetite for strong drink, then posterity 
will have reason to admire the illustrious example of Gregory XVI., 
whose boon companion and confidant was his barber, Moroni. If 
there be anything admirable in surrendering the weak to the vindic- 
tive cruelty of a successful tyrant, then Gregory has given to the 
world a noble example of magnanimity, in anathematizing the Poles, 
when they had fallen into the iron grasp of the Russian autocrat. If 
there be anything admirable in resisting the progress of civilization 
— in repressing every effort to enlighten and elevate the masses, by 
the diffusion of knowledge, then Gregory was indeed an illustrious 
Pontiff. And, if to denounce Bible Societies as inventions of the 
devil, be an illustrious deed, to Gregory belongs this credit. When 
in his manifesto of 1833, he stigmatized •' liberty of conscience" as 
•' a most pestilential error" and described the freedom of the press 
to be " that worst, and never sufficiently to be execrated liberty of 
the press," his example may be illustrious in the eyes of his suc- 
cessor, but posterity will accord him but a slender meed of admira- 
tion for such glorious exhibitions of liberality. 






HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 761 

» ii 

Review of the Pope's Encyclical Letter. 

After various expressions of deep regret that he had been called 
to the exercise of the Pontifical authority, in the present critical state 
of affairs, the Pontiff gives vent to his feelings, in expressions of in- 
dignation against the enemies of the Roman faith. He has at com- 
mand a very copious vocabulary. The adversaries of the Papal see, 
he says, are men bound together by criminal pledges, men carried 
away by a blind, and impious rage, blasphemers, perfidious, given up 
to detestable passions, children of the devil, serpents, &c. These are 
hard sayings, and must be very edifying to the admirers of the Pon- 
tiff's much-extolled charity. With the usual indiscriminating zeal 
of the occupants of the " chair of St. Peter," he includes all opponents 
of Papal pretensions in one general overwhelming accusation of dis- 
organizing infidelity, at the outset of his epistle. 

He denounces the right of private judgment, and whether wilfully 
or through ignorance misrepresents the doctrine which he controverts. 
He charges Protestants who claim that right, with " esteeming the 
words of God as a human production !" This is an absurd and ex- 
travagant libel ! No man who knows whereof he affirms, will define 
the right of private judgment, as maintained by Protestants, to be 
" the right of every man to think and believe in matters of religion, 
as he pleases." God has not given to men a right to abrogate his 
laws, and cast off his authority. If he had done so, it would be dif- 
ficult to conceive what the Holy Scriptures, which are the revelation 
of his will, are designed to accomplish. But God does hold men 
responsible for the right exercise of reason. He has endowed them 
with this noble faculty, that they may use it. He has promised the 
light of his Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth, in answer to hum- 
ble and believing prayer, and he designs that the Bible should be 
put into every man's hand, that he may read it — he has commanded 
every man to exercise his understanding — "to prove all things and 
hold fast that which is good" — to " search the Scriptures," and see 
whether the things which even his apostles taught are so, and this 
right of private judgment we claim, and by God's help, we will ex- 
ercise it. We set up no new authority. We adhere to the standard 
which Isaiah lifts up in his prophecy, and with the prophet we say to 
Pope Pius, his patriarchs, archbishops, primates, and bishops, " to 
the law and to the testimony! If ye speak not according to this 
rule, it is because there is no light in you !" Wo to thee, Pope ! 
Wo to you, Bishops, who say " the Lord saith and the Lord hath not 
sent you !" Wo to you, who denounce the right of each man's 
reading for himself, and seeking inwardly to digest the truths of Gx>d'a 
living oracles, and not content with this, would snatch the sacred 
Scriptures from our hands, and banish, imprison, and burn us, for 
daring to obey God's command, despite of your authority ! Ye blind 
guides, who strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel — who would have 
all men deprived of the lamp of life, that ye may work wickedness 



762 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Review of the Pope's Encyclical Letter. 



in the dark, because some men, yourselves among the number, wrest 
the Scriptures, by wilful distortion, to their own perdition ! 

Oh ! Venerable Pontiff, you are the mouth of the living and infal- 
lible authority which God has appointed to teach the true and legiti- 
mate sense of his heavenly revelation ! You sit in Peter's chair, and 
" where Peter is, there is the church !" — " Peter speaks by the Ro- 
man Pontiff, and ever lives and exercises judgment in his successors!" 
Well, if this be so, Peter has lived some very scandalous lives, and 
exercised a great many unrighteous and abominable judgments ! Did 
Peter live in that Hildebrand, who sent the mercenary armies of Eu- 
rope to butcher and exterminate the simple and pious Waldenses, 
until the hills and valleys of Piedmont were red with the blood and 
covered with the bones of hundreds of thousands of God's slaughtered 
saints "? Did Peter live in the harlot Joan, who contrived to have 
herself elected Pope, according to canonical rule ? Oh ! Pope Pi- 
us ! thou art beside thyself! Much vanity has made thee mad! 

There is a feature in the encyclical letter of the reigning Pontiff 
which must strike every careful reader. Some editors of public jour- 
nals, both in this country and in Europe, have been so much carried 
away by reports of the extreme liberality of the recent successor to 
" the chair of St. Peter," that they seem almost to have come to the 
conclusion, that the Roman Catholic church had, by some strange 
concurrence of circumstances, obtained a Protestant Pope. We 
will admit that in a certain sense Pius IX. is a very ardent Protestant. 
He protests most earnestly against all the men and all the movements 
in Christendom. Nothing is right that is not Popery dyed in the 
wool. The men, the books, the religious tendencies of the age, are 
all against him. He is against them, and he laments most piteously 
that the church of Rome is assailed by bitter and unrelenting ene- 
mies. He "shudders with horror" — lie "is bitterly affected with 
sorrow;" poor man ! he would be disposed " wholly to give him- 
self up to sad sorrowing and tears," when he reflects upon " these 
deadly enemies of the Christian name, miserably hurried on by the 
blind force of a frantic impiety, who rush forward with such a rash 
daring of thought, that with almost unheard-of audacity, opening their 
mouths in blasphemy against God, they blush not openly and publicly 
to teach that the solemn, sacred mysteries of [his] religion are fables 
and mere inventions of men." Surely the infallible church is blessed 
with a Protestant head. But, now, in all seriousness, is this man, 
who has the weakness and vanity to suppose that he is called to ex- 
ercise the office of the supreme apostleship over the entire church 
of Christ, and who ventures to style himself God's vicegerent on 
earth, when he is evidently as ignorant of the meaning of Scripture 
and of the whole design of the gospel, as though he had never seen 
a Bible — is this man to be allowed to insult the whole Christian world 
by indecent and scurrilous wholesale denunciation, and are we to be 
arraigned as guilty of unpardonable bigotry, when we venture to re- 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 763 



Review of the Pope's Encyclical Letter. 



buke this turgid insolence? We have quoted scarcely a paragraph 
of his epistle, and yet in this single sentence, this " enlightened and 
liberal Pontiff" stigmatizes with most abusive epithets those Protes- 
tants whom his American bishops in their melting mood, and when 
the fit is on them, are wont to address as their " dissenting brethren" 
— their " separated brethren," and so on, for they will " roar you 
gently as a sucking dove," when they have soft and simple subjects 
to deal with — or when they hope their auditors are such. The Pope 
talks in different style. His paragraphs are crowded with sterner 
stuff. In one sentence, without a single qualifying or redeeming 
clause, he tells the world, that the dear separated brethren are " deadly 
enemies of the sacred name" — they are blind, impious, frantic, au- 
dacious blasphemers ! Mercy, venerable Pontiff! Have a little pity ! 
No, not he. In the same breath, he tells his patriarchs, primates, 
archbishops, bishops, &c, that we, miserable Protestants, are " haters 
of the truth and of the light" — " most skilful artificers of fraud" — 
that we " labor to quench in the minds of all men every aspiration 
after piety, justice, and honesty — to corrupt morals, to confound all 
rights, human and divine, and to rend asunder, to undermine, nay, 
if such a thing were ever possible, to overturn from their foundations 
both the Catholic religion and civil society." Yet Pius IX. is a lib- 
eral Pope, and his bishops, who are bound to receive and obey his 
opinions and mandates, for they have sworn to do it, are all, all liberal 
men ! At least, a great many learned and honorable men will have 
it so. But, after all, we find some comfort in the Pope's wordy tem- 
pest of sound and fury. One who is conscious of his strength, and 
who knows that he has truth on his side, will not rave like a madman ! 
We need no stronger evidence than this epistle, to prove that Pius 
IX. has a bad conscience and a worse cause, and he knows it. He 
feels that the " chair of St. Peter" is in a very rickety condition. 
He reminds us of a man in an earthquake, who holds fast his three- 
legged stool, and berates the reeling earth right soundly for the u blind 
force of its frantic impiety," and its " almost unheard-of audacity" in 
frightening him out of his propriety ! Poor man ! If he already 
" shudders with horror," he will have a far more severe attack of the 
ague, before he is twenty years older ! 

The next item in the Pope's manifesto is a vehement tirade against 
secret societies. We are no admirers of secret societies, and there- 
fore decline their fellowship. But, of all the men in the world, the 
Pope ought to be the lastto denounce secret societies. The Church 
of Rome is from first to last a grand secret society. When did you 
ever hear of a Romish council sitting with open doors in the United 
States? The Pontiff himself is elected by the cardinals, who are 
locked up in secret conclave, and are not permitted to leave their 
council chamber, until they have decided upon a successor to the 
vacan* see ! And yet the Pope " shudders with horror," when he 
thinks of " secret societies." He tells us that they "emerge from 



764 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Review of the Pope"s Encyclical Letter. 



their native darkness." Where do his secret societies originate ? 
Tell us, most conscientious Pontiff, what think you of the order of 
the Jesuits and their " Secret Instructions" ? If it is right for you 
to have " secret societies" whose head and roots are at Rome, and 
the limbs and branches of which spread poison by their fruit and their 
very shadow over the earth, how can you complain that Protestants 
maintain their secret societies too ? And then, what say you to the 
secret tribunal of the confessional ? Why, the Pontiff sets up his 
priests as a secret hierarchy, and bids them pry into every social and 
domestic relation of his subjects, that he may use the knowledge he 
thus obtains to the advantage of his own dynasty, and then turns 
round and looks with a wo-begone visage, the very picture of sorrow 
and distress, because some people choose to keep their own matters 
secret among themselves ! A most consistent Pope is Pius IX., and 
w T onderfully liberal withal ! But why is he in such trouble ? Just 
for the simple reason that he has not the privilege of knowing the se- 
crets of the various orders of secret societies which refuse to bow to 
his authority. This is the head and front of their offending. This 
constitutes a "guilty conspiracy against the Roman chair of the Blessed 
Peter !" Hence he will not let an odd-fellow or a mason remain in 
communion with the church of Rome, unless he be a Jesuit who has 
obtained a dispensation from headquarters to join either society, under 
false colors, that he may keep his master apprized of their doings. 
Nay, if he can help it, he will not even allow them to be buried in 
what he calls consecrated ground, though they have bought their bu- 
rial-place, and paid for it beforehand ! The whole secret of the 
Pope's opposition to these societies is just this, that their regulations 
place some of the actions of his subjects beyond the reach of the 
priest's scrutiny. 

The next enemy which makes the Pope shudder, and here he 
shakes so that his teeth chatter and his hair stands on an end, ap- 
pears in the form of Bible Societies. Ah! " those insidious Bi- 
ble Societies!" exclaims our Protestant Pope! "My predecessor, 
Gregory XVI., of blessed memory, to whose place I have been per- 
mitted to succeed without his merits, reproved them by his apostolic 
letter, and I desire equally to condemn them !" Oh ! Pope Pius, 
you are too modest ! If Gregory had any merit in calling Bible So- 
cieties hard names, the honor belongs equally to yourself. In 1824, 
Leo XII., in his encyclical letter dated " Rome, May 3d," denounced 
Bible Societies, and declared that they turned the gospel of Christ 
" into a human gospel, or, what is still worse, into the gospel of the 
devil." We shall not stop to defend Bible Societies. They need no 
apology. If the Bible is the word of God, it must be true, and if it 
be true, then all Scripture is, by its own testimony, profitable. We 
know no more blessed work than to put into the hands of the ignorant, 
besotted, and depraved, those heavenly counsels which are able to 
make wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 765 

Review of the Pope's Encyclical Letter. 

We know no surer evidence that a religion is from above than this, 
that it desires to live and to flourish only in the light of the sacred 
Scriptures, and we know not a more certain token that a religious 
system is from beneath, and false as sin and hell can make it, than this, 
that it hates the word of God, and seeks to shut men out from the 
green pastures and the still waters prepared for them by the Great 
Shepherd and Bishop of souls! What would be thought of a ser- 
vant who has bread to eat, and has the key to a storehouse of whole- 
some and excellent food, who should drive his master's famishing 
children from their father's table, and fling poisonous offals at their 
feet, bidding them eat the vile refuse or starve ? He is an angel of 
light compared with the wretch who would snatch the living bread 
which came down from heaven out of the hand and mouth of a fam- 
ishing soul, and consign it to the horrors of eternal starvation ! We 
do not say that this is the character of the Pope of Rome, for charity 
would lead us to hope that he sins ignorantly, but who can contem- 
plate the responsibility which he incurs in forbidding the two hundred 
millions who bow to him as their spiritual head, to search the Scrip- 
tures which testify of Christ, without shuddering at the consequences 
both to him and themselves. From the period when WicklifF's 
translation of the Scriptures into the English language was completed 
in 1380, down to the present day, the efforts of the Papacy to arrest 
the circulation of the word of God have been unremitting. No ex- 
pedients which cunning or cruelty could devise have been untried, 
and Rome's policy toward the Bible and those who will read it, des- 
pite of Papal mandates to the contrary, presents a most singular and 
revolting history. For no other crime than that of searching the 
Scriptures, nay, for even hearing them read by others, men and 
women have been committed to the flames by hundreds in England 
alone. But, we may be asked, Why advert to these horrid scenes 
in the drama of Papal cruelty, which have occurred centuries ago? 
Why not suffer them to be forgotten, and look upon Rome as having 
laid aside these garments rolled in blood ? Let Rome repent of 
them, and we will do so. Let her confess her sin and forsake it, and 
we will not hold her guilty of this blood. But when, for the last 
twenty yeais, she has not ceased to reiterate, in every Papal mani- 
festo, her abhorrence of the Bible, and when she denounces from 
year to year her anathemas upon the circulation of the book of God 
— when she claims the right to put heretics to death, and teaches her 
priests that they ought to be thus punished — when, in every country 
in which she has the supreme power, she still executes her bloody 
decrees — as, for example, in the island of Madeira, in which, during 
the past year, the native converts from Romanism have been actually 
persecuted to the death — when her bishops declare that this is not a 
Protestant country, and claim America as a province of the Pope — 
when Brownson, of the Boston Roman Catholic Keview, protests 
that the Pope must and will have this country — and when the new 

49 



706 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 

Beviev* of the I : e b I...y;/.; -". Letter. 

Pontiff, while scarcely warm in the 4< chair of St. Peter.'' proclaims 
to the world that Bible societies are insidious and pernicious institu- 
tions, and renews the enactments of his bigoted predecessors, we 
can not foriret that Rome hates the Bible. She will not suffer us to 
forget it even if we are disposed to forgive her : and when we see 
her increasing her bishoprics and sees in this favored country, and 
multiplying her establishments in every city, we should be guilty of 
treason against the church of God and our common liberties, if we 
were to hold our peace, lest we should, forsooth, stir up the people ! 
It is time that the community should be roused to the contemplation 
of this subject ! Do we not know that only a few years ago the Ro- 
mish hierarchy of this city endeavored to exclude the Bible from the 
public schools, and to a very great extent have actually succeeded 
in doinz so '? And are we to bow to the decrees of a bigoted despot, 
and lay the honor and beauty of American liberty at the feet of the 
Pope of Rome, that he may trample them in the dust? God forbid ! 
God forbid, that the eagle of America should be thus humbled by 
the serpent of Italy ! Rome is playing with American freedom as 
the anaconda toys with its victim — and if those who should be cham- 
pions of Protestant liberty will only hold still a little longer, until the 
Pope has licked them all over from head to foot, and covered them 
with his slime, they may find, when too late, that this soothing process 
is only the preparation for that maternal embrace which wilt crush 
every bone in their body, and reduce it to a lifeless mass, which the 
monster may swallow at his leisure ! This is not the time for silence 
or tame submission to the demands of the Romish hierarchy ! 

The Pontiff is greatly enraged at what he is pleased to call an 
(i infamous conspiracy against the sacred celibacy of the clergy !" 
Sai .;/ celibacy, indeed ! There is not a more arrogant violation of 
God's ordinance, or a more flagrant outrage upon the constitution of 
man than this same sacred < In the beginning; it was not so. 

God said it was not good for man to be alone. In the beginning; of 
the Christian church it was not so. Peter, we know, was a married 
man. Was he therefore base and infamous? He conspired against 
the ; - sacred celibacy'' of the clergy, and perpetrated the crime of 
matrimony, and yet, oh consistency ! thou jewel ! Peter was the 
prince of the apostles, and Pius the Ninth is his successor ! 

There is frequent mention of Peter's wife in the New Testament, 
as if for the very purpose of rebuking Papal celibacy in advance, 
and yet the Pope telis us that all the institutions of the Roman 
church have taken their root from the Lord o[ the heavens, and that 
none of them are human inventions ! What is this but a palpable 
untruth ! We will not offend against decency by detailing even a 
few of'ihe notorious facts which abound in the history of the Papacy, 
and which illustrate the beauties of sacred celibacy, but we will place 
the matter in such a light that the monstrosity of the system shall be 
apparent, without offending either good taste or the modesty of the 



HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 767 

Review of the Pope's Encyclical Letter. 

most fastidious. Suppose that in this city of brotherly love, a number 
of lawyers should organize themselves into a society, of which the 
main condition should be, that they were all to be bachelors. They 
have a large fund at their control. They select a spot, which they 
embellish with every refinement of taste and with all the elegancies 
of art. They erect magnificent and commodious buildings, which 
they surround with the most lovely and enchanting gardens, decked 
with flowers, and shrubs, and ornamental trees of every variety. 
The establishment affords every appointment requisite for the main- 
tenance of the most absolute retirement and privacy. These gentle- 
men, who are all pledged to " sacred celibacy," invite their friends 
and acquaintances to send to them their wives and daughters, that 
each one may receive from them, in private, a full confession of every 
thought, word, and action, of their lives, with a view to guard them 
against everything impure. What would be thought of such a de- 
mand ? How long would it be before this society of sacred celibates 
would be put down by the voice of the people, and the strong arm 
of the law ? They who can trust Romish priests farther than they 
would such a society of bachelors, have a better opinion of them 
than we have. 

It is not surprising that this conspiracy against the sacred celibacy 
of the Pope's clergy is gathering strength, and the alarm which the 
Pontiff exhibits is easily accounted for. It is essential to the propa- 
gation of his system that his priests should be without a domestic tie 
to bind them. They must be prepared, at a moment's warning, to 
change their position. They must have hearts as cold to the influ- 
ence of domestic love as the marble in the quarry — and as hard, too, 
or they will not be good soldiers of Antichrist. When they are 
transported from one point to another, it will not do for them to be 
encumbered with such baggage as a wife and children. 

After alluding to various systems of education and philosophy, 
which the Pontiff believes to be fraught with mischief to the interests 
of the Roman Catholic church, he takes occasion to denounce the 
liberty of the press, and the rights of conscience. Gregory XVI., 
in his encyclical letter of 1833, described " liberty of conscience" 
as " a most pestilential error," and denounced the freedom of the 
press as " that worst and never sufficiently to be execrated liberty of 
the press," and Pius IX., emulous of his illustrious predecessor, is 
thrown into a paroxysm of sorrow by " that most foul plague of books 
and pamphlets." There can be no stronger proof of the native 
tyranny of the Papal system than this desire to fetter the press and 
muzzle the lips of free discussion. If all the hooks that are written 
were vindications of the Papal authority, Pius IX. would not ohject 
to their " flying everywhere," but because some of the hooks and 
pamphlets of the present age expose the corruptions and enormities 
of the Papacy, and prove its doctrines to be, at best, " human inven- 
tions," the Pontiff exclaims against them, and declares, ex cathedra^ 



768 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

Review of the Pope's Encyclical Letter. 

that they " inculcate sin." Yes — the sin above all others is that 
of which they are guilty, who claim the right of standing erect as 
freemen, and who, in obedience to the commands of Christ in mat- 
ters pertaining to the worship of God, call no man master, knowing 
that one is our Master, even Christ ! We bow the knee to the 
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent ; we proclaim 
that God alone is the Lord of the conscience, and therefore the Pon- 
tiff, with characteristic audacity, denounces us for disseminating pes- 
tiferous doctrines, and " depraving the minds and souls of men !" 
Who does not see that just in proportion as the power of the Pope 
advances, every attribute and element of liberty vanishes, and all its 
institutions wither, as under the breath of a moral sirocco ? The 
Pontiff claims the right of thinking, not only for himself, but for us, 
too, and would leave us nothing but the sorry privilege of submitting 
to his infallible decisions! But whence has he' derived this right? 
Who has conferred upon him this vast monopoly of reason ? Is he 
the only being on God's footstool that is endowed with a mind capa- 
ble of weighing and discerning truth? Or has no man on earth a 
tongue but himself, that he commands universal silence, until the 
whole earth has received its cue from himself, his patriarchs, and 
bishops ! Verily Popery is a very beautiful system of religion, and 
Pius IX. is a most enlightened expounder of its principles ! 

Toward the close of his epistle, the Pontiff invokes the aid of the 
princes, whom he styles his " dear sons in Jesus Christ," and de- 
clares the regal power was given them not only for the government 
of the world, but especially for the defence of the church, thus 
openly advocating the union of the church and state : — 

"We confidently hope that our dear sons in Jesus Christ, the princes, recol- 
lecting in their wisdom and piety that the regal power was given them not only 
for the government of the world, but especially for the defence of the Church, 
and that we maintain at one and the same time the cause of the Church, that of 
their kingdoms and of their salvation, by which they enjoy in peace their au- 
thority over their provinces ; that they will favor by their support and authority 
the vows and desires that we form in common, and that they will defend the lib- 
erty and prosperity of the Church, in order that the right hand of Christ may 
defend their empires." 

Could stronger evidence of the aim of the Pontiff at supreme 
power in the United States be afforded than is furnished in this sin- 
gle passage ? Does he not tell his bishops in the United States that 
temporal authority is entrusted to the powers that be for the very 
purpose that they may use it for " the prosperity of the Church" 
— and you know the church of Rome is the Church! But we 
need not enlarge upon this point now. The language of the docu- 
ment itself is sufficient. It gives the lie to all the hollow professions 
of Romish prelates in favor of " equal rights ;" and proves that if 
they could, they would be compelled by the obligations of their oath 
to make these United States a dependency of the Pope's tiara 



APPENDIX. 

1. The fate of Maria J. Ahes. — On page 614 of the foregoing 
History, an account is given of the persecution and condemnation to 
death of this lady in the Portuguese island of Madeira, in the year 
1844, for the crime of heresy! On page 615 the author expresses 
a doubt whether the Popish priesthood of Madeira would dare, in the 
light of the nineteenth century, to cause this sentence to be executed. 
The result has justified this doubt. Mrs. Alves, and about six hun- 
dred other victims of Popish persecution, were permitted to escape to 
Trinidad, in the West Indies, whence the larger number of them 
have since been assisted to settle in the United States. A deeply 
interesting account of the sufferings of these persecuted disciples 
of Christ, and of the lamented, but triumphant death of their pas- 
tor, Rev. Arsenio Nicos Da Silva, written by the late Rev. Her- 
man Norton, has been published by the American and Foreign 
Christian Alliance, entitled " Record of Facts concerning the Per- 
secutions at Madeira, the flight of a thousand converts to the West 
India Islands ; and also the sufferings of those who arrived in the 
United States." 

2. Ronge, and the new Reformation in Germany. — On pages 
635-9, is given an account of the movement of the German reformer, 
John Ronge, in 1844, occasioned by the shameless traffic of the ex- 
hibition of the pretended holy coat of Jesus, by Arnold, the Popish 
bishop of Treves. 

The friends of evangelical truth have been somewhat disappointed 
in the subsequent course of Ronge, who seems to have substituted 
for Popish superstition a German Rationalism, scarcely less unscrip- 
tural and dangerous to the souls of men than the system he has 
abandoned. Nevertheless, he has done immense good, by his faithful 
and fearless exposure of the knavery and imposture of the Romish 
priests, and all who love the gospel should everywhere pray that the 
spirit of God would enlighten the mind of this courageous man, and 
that he may be led into the truth as it is in Jesus. Since the seces- 
sion of Ronge from the Papal ranks, large numbers have followed, 
many of whom are far more evangelical in their doctrines. 

The rationalistic party headed by Ronge, is called " the German 
Catholic Church." The evangelical party call themselves " the 
Apostolic or Christian Catholics." John Czerski, who appears to 
be a pious and devout Christian, is, perhaps, their most eminent 
pastor and leader. 



::o OF ROMAN 



Ir-:L-= :'. .-.;-- ------ _-. iti.r. 



3. Rtverta of \c Jesuits* an: Da me of Popery in Europe. — 
On page I _iven an account ol ent attempts of the 

Jesu: _ irland. 

have since sustained a mos: as nun the 

troops of the diet, and have been expellee 

from that cou: :onri- 

ziT.--.: E^rore. 

The jesa 1847, says a recent able writer,* has not been a good 
one for the Jf the Ukramon tan es,t and the Roman Catholic 

Church generally. In spitr pompous declarations abc 

of Popery, wherever the tests ..ive seric - 
ter the lists against the tendencies of modern times, they have ex- 
perienced sad : : 5t ; . It may not be without interest and ut:^ 

:ulate these numerous defeats, and to inquire into the principal 
ses of them. 

: look at Ital : . This, iccording to common op: 
is the classic ground of Popery. There is the < _.; Pontiff, 

all the prestige of his ancient associations and all the splendor 
of his temporal dominion. There are cardinals, bishops, abbes 
monks, in immense numbers. The clergy possess enormous 
Does, and in certain states of the Peninsula they occupy the highest 
.eminent. It would seem, therefore, that the doctrines 
and the hierarchy of Re n should hav- i deep 

root in the soil of Italy, and that this edifice, which has lasted 
; . should not be shaken by anything. 
But the year which has just ended has revealed more clearly than 
those which have preceded it. that the greater number of Italians, 
3 the inferior classes of the people, are no longer attached in 
heart to their ancient religion, but are laboring to emancipate them- 
- from the sacerdotal yoke. If they persist in bearing the name 
thotics, and practising some of the forms of their 
worship, d is 2. vain and deceptive appearance only. In reality, they 
despise almost all their priests, detest the monks, abhor tt 
and are more and more adopting principles opposed to the Pontifical 
:.:e: ::::;.-. 

See, indeed, trhal is the :: the Italians. They 

with transj Mfs :: joy the news of the defeat of the J 
factior. Switzerland. In rain has Piis IX. ex his griet 

these events ; the people ha alto- 

gether opposite sentiments. A :e papers announce what is 

still more remarkable — that thousands of the inhabitants of Rome, 

I" 1 y-..^: :":'-.:-:-;:-.::-. : I :z:.:J. I'zr.i , :'_r :rria 

in Great Britain, of the Evangelical Alliance. 

- .:: l". :---:.; :z-.i z irrv.'irr z'zza ~z: 'zz'.'z :::'..; sz\-zrizr.:y :: :'zz- P:;e 

:::> :: :':: ; :~r: ::' :he 
t 5.:vfre:gTL= izz. zlzzi:rzs :: the izrzz: ;: : il.e : trim their 
^ii::r.ii ::e rer't-? z.Tzz.: : .zi.i" ':■ . ' t- '- ; :zr A'.zs . zz. z.iz\z.zzzzi\ 

frcm the Gallic chirch". ~'zz :e e:t t~e<e cliizis :: the Pi;i:y. 



APPENDIX. 771 



Humiliation of the Jesuit faction in Belgium and Bavaria. 



headed by the celebrated tribune Ciceronacc/no, have presented an 
address to Pius IX., requesting the expulsion of the Jesuits from the 
Pontifical states.* This demonstration, it must be confessed, con- 
trasts singularly with the flattering letter which the Pontiff recently 
wrote to the Reverend Father Peronne ! When the Pontiff says to 
the Jesuits, " You are my friends " the people reply, " No, they are 
alike your enemies and ours!" 

It is quite certain that the Ultramontane party lost considerable 
ground in Italy in the course of last year. The real sentiment of 
the populace, long suppressed or concealed, has manifested itself in 
all directions — in Tuscany, in Piedmont, in the kingdom of Naples, 
at Lucca, and at Modena, and the theocracy of the Holy See is 
shaken to its very foundations. 

Let us next turn our eyes to Belgium. There, too, the sacerdotal 
faction appeared to rest upon the most solid basis. A credulous and 
superstitious people, with innumerable convents, Jesuits increasing in 
number from one end of the country to the other, the creatures of 
the clergy in the cabinet and the principal offices of state, the bish- 
ops taking the lead in parliamentary elections, the cures ruling mu- 
nicipal councils; the hand, the arm, the eye of the priests every- 
where ; what a splendid position ! And yet the year 1847 has seen 
all this imposing structure crumble into dust. The clergy and their 
friends have been humiliated and beaten by the liberals, and com- 
pelled to abandon the places which they had usurped. 

This is assuredly one of the most curious phenomena of our 
times. The liberal party itself did not dare to hope for so complete 
a victory ; it supposed that the Jesuits would be sufficiently strong 
to make a long and obstinate resistance. But it has not been thus. 
In the first regular struggle, the Ultramontanes have lost ground. 
Not only have the inhabitants of the large towns, but many among 
the rural population, have deserted the clerical standard. Several 
functionaries holding high office in the state, who, from motives of 
political expediency, had pretended to be very bigoted, turned their 
backs on the priests immediately they saw that they were becoming 
unpopular. King Leopold has yielded to the torrent, and there is 
now little probability of the Popish clergy ever recovering in Belgium 
the influence of which they have been deprived. 

Consider, thirdly, Bavaria. This was the bulwark and the pride 
of the Jesuit faction in Germany. The priests and monks were all- 
powerful at court, in the council, in the towns and villages, in the 
universities and schools. They exerted their powerful influence to 
vex and oppress the Protestants ; for it is the constant practice of 
Romish ecclesiastics, when they are the stronger party, to become 
persecutors ; they complaisantly express and avow the most retrograde 
opinions; their advocates, through the press and in academical insti- 

* The Jesuits have since been expelled from Home. 



772 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

The Jesuit league of the Sonderbund in Switzerland. 

tutions, openly avow the intention of reviving the middle age, with 
all its slavery and all its follies. The king of Bavaria was in their 
hands a mere tool, which they moved at pleasure. 

But — oh unforeseen affliction ! oh lamentable and cruel catastro- 
phe ! — all on a sudden the king of Bavaria turned against those 
whose suggestions he had been accustomed to follow with such do- 
cility. We do not inquire into the causes of this change ; we simply 
point out a fact — a fact worthy of the most serious attention, namely, 
that immediately after the change in the king's conduct, the Ultra- 
montane party dwindled into the most extreme insignificance. No- 
bles, magistrates, professors, learned men, men of the people, all, or 
nearly all, have shown the greatest joy, and saluted the prince with 
their plaudits, notwithstanding his offences against public decency. 
The priests have made an attempt to take up a threatening attitude; 
but everybody has laughed at them, and if they consult the dictates 
of prudence, they will speak and act with considerable circumspec- 
tion. 

What must we conclude from this ? Undoubtedly, that the influ- 
ence of the Jesuits and the Ultramontanes in Bavaria was a pure 
phantasmagoria. There was no reality, no solidity in their rule. So 
long as they were sustained by the royal favor, they had a show of 
power ; but immediately the arm of the monarch is withdrawn from 
them, they fall, as a scene in a theatre disappears under the hand of 
the machinist. The Bavarian people, Catholics as well as Protes- 
tants, had no thorough attachment to them ; they had no faith in their 
words, and it has been very easy, therefore, to break this humiliating 
yoke. 

Finally, let us recollect what has happened in Switzerland during 
the past year. Certes, the Jesuits and their friends assumed a some- 
what arrogant tone with respect to the Sonderbund.* They prophe- 
sied with imperturbable assurance, that if they could not triumph, they 
would at least defend themselves to the last extremity. Priests, 
monks, reverend fathers, and brothers of every name, had neglected 
nothing to fanaticize the people. They had distributed to the soldiers 
miraculous medals, talismans, amulets, and banners with the image 
of the Holy Virgin. The women, even, like modern Amazons, 
prompted by their confessors, practised shooting with the musket, 
and promised bravely to shed their blood in the common cause. Our 
ige, according to the testimony of the clergy, was anew to witness 
'.he miracles of the martyrs, the heroism of the crusades ; and we 
ourselves, misled by these sublime predictions, imagined that the 
Papists of Switzerland would display the same valor and constancy 
as our old French Huguenots, who fought and struggled for fifty 
years — one against ten or twenty. 

* The Sonderbund is the term applied to the league of the seven Cantons 
whom the Jesuits had persuaded to unite in defence of the Jesuit rule. They 
consisted of Lucerne, Uri, Unterwalder, Schwytz, Zug, Friburg, and Vallais. 



APPENDIX. 773 



Defeat of the Jesuits in Switzerland. The nations have forsaken them. 

Alas ! alas ! What a bitter disappointment to the Jesuits and their 
partisans throughout Europe ! The famous warriors of the Sonder- 
bund hardly maintained one or two little skirmishes, and at the first 
repulse they threw down their arms at the feet of the radicals. The 
valiant Amazons remained at home ; they prepared their husbands' 
dinners instead of rushing to the field of battle, and we confess that 
they acted wisely. The leaders of the Helvetic League took to 
flight, and within a fortnight from the commencement of hostilities, 
the reverend disciples of Ignatius Loyola decamped as quickly as 
possible. 

In stating these things, we do not pretend to applaud in the slight- 
est, the success of the radicals. Swiss radicalism has unhappily vio- 
lated the most sacred rights of conscience in the Canton de Vaud 
and elsewhere ; its principles are imbued with a desolating skepticism; 
its rules of conduct are often dictated by brutal despotism. Our 
object is merely to adduce another important proof that Jesuitism 
and Ultramontanism had a superficial and precarious power only in 
Switzerland. It was a very showy building without, but within it 
was full of worthless ruins. To speak without a figure, the adhe- 
sion of the populations of the seven cantons to Popery, was external 
rather than internal ; they were far from being the subjects of fanati- 
cism, which it was impossible to reanimate. These good people had 
no wish to sacrifice their property and shed their blood for opinions 
which they no longer hold, with all the powers of their mind, as arti- 
cles of faith. They will continue to be Roman Catholics by the 
performance of certain ceremonies ; but the voice of the priest has 
ceased to be for them the voice of God. 

And now, how comes it that the Ultramontane party has suffered 
so many humiliating defeats, so many irreparable losses, in a single 
year ? The essential cause of these reverses of Roman Catholi- 
cism is to be found in its utter want of harmony with the principles, 
the aspirations, and the tendencies of the present age. The Jesuits, 
or more generally the decided Papists, are the representatives of the 
past — of a past which has declined, which for the last three hundred 
years has been growing more and more obsolete, and which in the 
present day is breathing out its last sigh. The nations have for- 
saken them ; they repulse them by whatever there is in them most 
energetic and most profound ; and they themselves, have no longer a 
lively and vigorous faith in their own doctrines ! 

4. Reformation in Ireland. — During the years 1851-2, a great 
work of grace has been going forward in Ireland, and conversions 
from the errors of Popery have multiplied beyond an\ former pre* 
cedent. Through the blessing of Qod upon the labors of various 
Protestant societies, not less than forty or fifty thousand Irish papists 
have been converted within two years past. In West Galway alone, 
where, in 1840, there were not 500 Protestants, there have been 
no less than 6000 converts to the truth as it is in Jesus. 



774 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

" Catholic chapter in the United States." 

5. — Bishop Hughes' claim examined on behalf of Catholic Ma- 
ryland, as the cradle of religious liberty in America. 

One of the most singular spectacles presented for many years in 
this country was that of Dr. Hughes, a man who, when invested 
with the office of a Roman Catholic bishop, took a solemn oath to 
" persecute and oppose to the utmost of his power all heretics, schis- 
matics, and rebels against his said Lord the Pope" — of such a one, 
standing up in his archiepiscopal robes before a gaping crowd to 
sing paeans in honor of religious liberty, and to claim for a son of 
his own church the honor of first planting the flag of religious free- 
dom on the shores of the western world ; and then of that same 
prelate retiring to his study to palliate or to justify the persecutions 
of Protestants in Rome or Tuscany, and to devise new plans for 
extending over Protestant America the same kind of freedom as 
that which blesses the inhabitants of Mexico, New Grenada, or 
Brazil ; of Austria, Tuscany, or Rome. 

This claim was made by Dr. Hughes, on behalf of the Catholic 
founders of Maryland, in a lecture delivered at Metropolitan Hall, 
New York, March 8, 1852, and was entitled "The Catholic Chap- 
ter in the United States." The words in which the lecturer makes 
the claim, which we shall now proceed to examine, are as follows : 
" If civil, but especially religious liberty, be a clear and justly cher- 
ished privilege of the American people, the palm of having been 
the first to preach and practice it, is due, beyond all controversy, 
to the Catholic colony of Maryland." And again : " Far be it from 
me to diminish by one iota, the merit that is claimed for Rhode 
Island, Pennsylvania, and perhaps other States, on the score of 
having proclaimed religious freedom ; but the Catholics of Mary- 
land, by priority of time, have borne away the prize." 

Now, we ask, can this claim be fairly made out ? Is it true that 
religious liberty, in the full sense of the word, was, first on this con- 
tinent, preached and practised in the Catholic colony of Maryland ? 
The decrees of councils, the invectives of popes, and the solemn 
oaths of Romish bishops, no less than the dungeons of the Inquisi- 
tion, the fires of the auto da fe, or the recent cruel banishment of 
the exiles of Zillerthal or Madeira, all proclaim that persecution 
is an essential element of their system, and liberty of conscience, in 
their view, a detestable heresy. If, then, the noble family of the 
Calverts possessed that inherent love of religious freedom which is 
claimed for them, and which, it is said, they incorporated in the 
constitution and laws of the Maryland settlement, then they were 
dissenters from the standard creeds and catechisms of Romanism, 
and stood absolutely alone, as rulers, in the history of the church to 
which they belonged. They were entitled to the classical descrip- 
tion which Dr. Hughes applies to successful Roman Catholic aspi- 
rants for a place in legislative halls — 

" Rari nantes in gurgite vasto." 



APPENDIX. 775 



The Catholic settlers of Maryland. 



Now we are by no means disposed to deny either the first or the 
second Lord Baltimore, or to Leonard Calvert, the actual settler of 
Maryland, the honor which was justly their due.* We believe the 
founder of Maryland to. have been an upright, generous, and patri- 
otic man, and a wise and benevolent legislator; far in advance of 
his age in his views of religious toleration, and towering entirely 
above his church, though repudiating but in part, her doctrine of 
persecution for a difference of religious opinion or worship. And 
yet we maintain that, so far as appears from the laws relative to 
religious freedom, which were passed in the new colony, the Cath- 
olic founders of Maryland had not learned even the alphabet of re- 
ligious freedom — of soul liberty — as understood, and established, 
and defended by Roger Williams, the contemporary of Calvert, and 
the founder of Rhode Island. f Let it be granted, as it may be, that 
Leonard Calvert pitched his tent upon the banks of the Potomac, 
some two years earlier than Roger Williams founded the town of 
Providence. Does this prove, as asserted, that " the Catholics of 
Maryland, by priority of time, have borne away the prize," as the 
founders of religious freedom in America ? Is it at all surprising 
that a Catholic nobleman, leaving a country under a Protestant 
king, at a time when Catholics themselves were subject to persecu- 
tion in the parent country, should obtain a charter for his new col- 
ony, securing toleration for the various Christian sects ; and should 
enact laws, by which, in the event of the Protestant ascendency in 
the new colony — which soon actually occurred — his own sect should 
be freed from the annoyances to which they were unjustly exposed 
at home ? And is it not asking too high a meed of praise for the 
Catholic settlers of Maryland to be crowned as the founders of re- 
ligious freedom in America, simply because they did not, in such 
circumstances, follow out the maxims of their church, in the enact- 
ment of laws to imprison, to torture, or to burn the heretics who 

* The first Lord Baltimore was Sir George Calvert ; the second was his eldest 
son Cecil, who appointed his brother, Leonard Calvert, governor of the colony. 
In 1632 Sir George obtained the consent of the king of England to a charter, sup- 
posed to have been drawn up by his own hand. By this charter " Christianity was 
made the law of the land," says Bancroft, " but no preference was given to any 
sect." (Bancroft, vol. i. chap. 7.) — Before the patent could be finally adjusted Sir 
George Calvert died, and it was again drawn in the name of his eldest son Cecil, 
second Lord Baltimore, and passed the seals on the 28th of June, 1632, who ap- 
pointed his brother, Leonard Calvert, his lieutenant, who thus become the actual 
settler of Maryland. (See Dr. Belknap's Biographies of the Early Discoverers of 
America.) 

f We borrow the expressive word soul-liberty from the following declaration of 
its noblest champion, written more than two centuries ago : " As the civil permis- 
sion of all the consciences and worship of all men, in things merely spiritual, is no 
ways inconsistent with true Christianity and true civility ; so it is the duty of the 
magistrate to suppress all violences to the bodies and goods of men for their souls' 
belief; and to provide that not one person in the land be restrained from, or con- 
strained to, any worship, ministry, or maintenance ; but peaceably maintained in 
his soul-liberty, as well as corporal freedom." (See Roger Williams' " Hireling 
Ministry," page 36.) 



776 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

Maryland Catholic freedom. Heresy to be punished with death. 

might profess the same faith as the Protestant king who had grant- 
ed their charter, and who, as they very well knew, could revoke 
that instrument with a stroke of his pen as easily as he had 
signed it ? 

In considering the question of priority of time, too, we are to 
inquire, not when the foot of the emigrant was first planted on the 
stranger-soil, but when was the first laic passed in relation to reli- 
gious liberty ? In Maryland, the first and boasted law, such as it 
was, was passed in 1649. In Rhode Island, a code of civil laws 
was adopted in 1647, closing with the following noble avowal of 
entire religious freedom to all — " Otherwise than thus, what is 
herein forbidden, all mex may walk as their consciences per- 
suade THEM, EVERY OXE IX THE XAME OF HIS GoD. AxD LET THE 
LAMBS OF THE MoST HlGH WALK IX THIS COLOXY WITHOUT MOLES- 
TATIOX. IX THE XAME OF JeHOVAH THEIR GoD, FOREVER AXD EVER.'"* 

And this glorious declaration of soul-liberty, be it remembered, was 
enacted by the General Assembly in Rhode Island two years before 
the first law on the subject in Maryland. 

But supposing the facts had been different ; supposing that the 
law of Maryland had been prior to that of Rhode Island ; would 
that have justified the assertion, that in the establishment of reli- 
gious liberty " the Catholics of Maryland have borne away the 
prize ?" Hear, and then judge. Listen to the very language of 
this boasted law, and then tell me whether I am not right in the 
assertion that the framers of such a law had not learned even the 
alphabet of religious freedom or soul-liberty. Probably some Prot- 
estants, who have been so long accustomed to hear of this Mary- 
land Catholic religious liberty, that they have taken it for granted 
that what has been so often asserted must be true, will be surprised 
when they are told that under its provisions such ornaments to the 
literature of America as the eloquent and pure-minded William 
Channing, the accomplished statesman, Edward Everett, or the 
erudite historian, Jared Sparks, might be hanged on a gibbet, or 
burned at the stake, for exercising their inalienable civil right of 
worshipping God according to the dictates of their consciences. 

'•'By this law, first (1) ; Blasphemy against God, denying our Sav- 
iour Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, or denying the holy Trinity 
or the godhead of the three persons, was to be punished with death, 
and confiscation of lands and goods to the lord proprietary. 

" Second (2.) Persons using any reproachful words or speeches 
concerning the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of our Saviour, or the 
holy apostles or evangelists, or any of ihem — for the first offence 
to forfeit £5 sterling to the lord proprietary ; or, in default of pay- 
ment, to be publicly whipped and imprisoned, at the pleasure of his 
lordship or his lieutenant-general ; for the second offence, to forfeit 
£10 sterling, or in default of payment, to be publicly and severely 

* 2 Mass. Historical Collections, viii. p. 79. 



APPENDIX. 777 



The Catholic beau-ideal of religious liberty. 



whipped and imprisoned, as before directed; and for the third of- 
fence, to forfeit lands and goods, and be forever banished out of the 
province/' 

Such are two of the articles in this famous Maryland Catholic 
law in favor of " religious liberty" forsooth ! — by which we are 
gravely told by Dr. Hughes that " the Catholics of Maryland have 
borne away the prize" from Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and all 
other competitors. Was ever falsehood more glaring ? Was ever 
deception more complete? 

But we have given enough of this famous law to show that it is 
not worthy of the name of a law in favor of religious freedom, and 
to scatter to the winds the pretence that it deserves a place by the 
side of the noble declaration of Rhode Island in favor of liberty of 
conscience to all of every creed and of every name. The only re- 
deeming feature in this Maryland law is that a subsequent enact- 
ment declares that " any person presuming, contrary to this act and 
the true intent and meaning thereof, wilfully to disturb, wrong, 
trouble, or molest, any person whatsoever within this province, 
professing to believe in Jesus Christ — for or in respect of his or her 
religion, or the free exercise thereof, within this province, otherwise' 
— mark the words! "otherwise than is provided for in this act — 
shall pay treble damages to the party so wronged and molested, and 
also forfeit twenty shillings sterling for every such offence — one- 
half to his lordship, the other half to the party molested — and in 
default of paying the damage or fine, be punished by public whip- 
ping and imprisonment at the pleasure of the lord proprietary." 

The meaning of all which is, that all Roman Catholic and other 
Trinitarian Christian sects, might enjoy their opinions without mo- 
lestation — a step in advance, it is true, of their practice in other 
ages and other countries — but every Infidel, Deist, and Unitarian 
should be punished with death, and his family with starvation, by 
the confiscation of his goods to the lord proprietary ; and this, be it 
remembered, is the Catholic beau-ideal of religious liberty, for which 
the orator of " the Catholic chapter" tells us we must take the 
crown from the head of Roger Williams and William Penn, and 
place it upon the brow of Lord Baltimore, the Catholic founder of 
Maryland. 

When we contemplate the spectacle of three or four thousands 
of people — Protestants as well as Catholics — sitting with open 
mouths, and listening with rapture to such statements as these, and 
making the Metropolitan Hall echo with their plaudits of " the elo- 
quent archbishop," as some of the fawning and sycophantic papers 
told us the next morning, we can scarcely wonder at the taunt of a 
foreign caricaturist, who represents the masses, in some sections of 
our country, as a collection of eager dyspeptic patients, ranged side 
by side, with their heads back and their mouths wide open, before 
a quack doctor, who, with a huge basket of enormous pills, labelled 
humbug, is passing before them ; and each patient who has re- 



778 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

Losses of Popery in America. T]ie common schools. 



ceived his share, is patting his chest and smiling with satisfaction, 
evidently enjoying the dose, just in proportion to the hugeness of 
the pill. 

Having thus disposed — we trust to the satisfaction of bishop, car- 
dinal, and pope — of this arrogant Roman Catholic claim to the pio- 
neer-championship of religious freedom in America, and settled the 
question — we hope forever — that the pretence is utterly groundless 
and absurd, it must be admitted, since the noble William Penn 
landed on the shores of the Delaware some fifty years later, that 
Roger Williams, of Rhode Island, remains the undisputed master of 
the field, and the sole possessor of this enviable and lofty pre-emi- 
nence on this western continent. Broadly as this banyan-tree of 
soul-liberty has now expanded its branches, and fixed its roots over 
our fair and goodly land, the blessed seed was planted when the 
hunted exile stepped from his canoe on the soil of Rhode Island, 
henceforth to be consecrated to religious liberty, and in grateful re- 
membrance of " God's merciful Providence to him in his distress/' 
called it Providence. Well may we apply to that spot the words 
of Mrs. Heman's noble ode to the Plymouth Pilgrims : 

" O call it holy ground, 

The soil where first they trod, 
They have left unstain'd, what there they found, 
Freedom to worship God."* 

6. Losses of Popery in America. — A free, enlightened, and in- 
telligent population, like that of the United States of America, is 
not one in which Popery can be expected to flourish. The land of 
newspapers and of common schools is no soil for a system which 
flourishes best in the dark, and the priests of which have ever acted 
upon the principle, that ignorance is the mother of devotion. Hence 
we are not surprised that shrewd and able Jesuits, like Dr. Hughes 
of New r York, and the Romish priesthood generally, should manifest 
such a bitter hostility to that pride and boast of Protestant Amer- 
ica, the common-school system.t 

They know well that thousands and millions will forsake the 
soul-slavery of Popery, if they cannot be kept out of the common 
schools ; and it is a startling fact to a Romanist, but an encourag- 

* See an article by the present author, in the Christian Review for January, 1853, 
entitled " Soul-liberty — the debt of the world to its champions and defenders." 

f Mr. McMasters, the editor of the Freeman's Journal, the New York organ of 
Dr. Hughes, shows his appreciation of common schools, by the following strange 
remark : ' ; Out of every hundred Catholic children that are educated in the public 
schools of the United States, the reviewer may set down ninety-eight as a clear 
and certain gain — to the devil." 

An attempt was made by the Papists of Detroit, Michigan, to vote down the 
common schools of that city, in March of the present year. They were, however, 
defeated by a majority of 2,000 votes. One lesson is taught us by facts such as 
these, which every true American should mark well. It is this. Wherever 
Papists shall sueceed in gaining ascendency, their first shout of triumph will bo 
the destruction of the public schools. 



APPENDIX. 779 



Bishop England's testimony to the l oss of millions to Catholicism in America. 

ing one to a lover of truth, that two millions, at least, have been 
already lost to Popery in America, in the last twenty-five years. 
This fact is stated upon Roman Catholic testimony. It will appear 
from the following extract of a letter written by the Rev. Robert 
Mullen, a Roman Catholic priest, one of a deputation recently in 
this country, collecting " material aid" for the Roman Catholic 
Church in Ireland. It was published in The Tablet of the 10th of 
April, 1852, a paper printed in Dublin, the leading organ of the 
Irish Romanists. The object of the writer seems to be to urge the 
priests in Ireland to do what they can to stop the tide of emigration 
to the United States. The shrewd Jesuit comprehends clearly that 
the civil and religious liberty here enjoyed, the intelligence of the 
people, the abundant means of acquiring knowledge, and the Chris- 
tian effort put forth, are fatal to Romanism : 

" It is a startling revelation," says Father Mullen, "that 2,000,000, 
principally of Irish Catholics, have been lost to the Church in less 
than a quarter of a century ! And in order that you may under- 
stand my calculation to be far under the reality, I will give you a 
very high authority — a man whose piety, zeal, and transcendent 
talents have earned for him an imperishable fame. Dr. England, 
was consulted by the Central Council for the Propagation of the 
Faith, on the 19th of August, 1836, in reference to the progress of 
Catholicity in the States. 

" An authentic copy of this letter, written September 29th of the 
same year, is now before me, from which I take the following ex- 
tracts : ' Of the population acquired by emigration and by cession 
of territory, we may estimate at least one half to have been Catho- 
lics ; and supposing the children to have adhered to the religion of 
their parents, if there were no loss, we should have at least 4,000,000 
of Catholics from these sources, without regarding the portion which 
was Catholic fifty years ago, and its natural increase, and the many 
converts and their descendants. If, I say, upon the foregoing data, 
that we ought, if there were no loss, to have 5,000,000 of Catholics, 
and that we have, in 1836, less than 1,250,000, there must have 
been a loss of 3,750,000 at least ; and the persons so lost are found 
among the various sects, to the amount of thrice the number of the 
Catholic population of the whole country.' 

" Speaking of his own diocese (Charleston) he says : ' From 30.000 
to 50,000 of the then population, who were not Catholics, were the 
descendants of Catholic progenitors, who, with their descendants, 
were lost to the Church. I have no doubt upon my mind that mil- 
lions have been lost to the Catholic Church in the United States, 
nor do I believe that the fact has been sufficiently brought into 



notice. 

" Dr. Hughes invited me," says Father Mullen, " to share his hospi- 
tality, on which occasion I asked him if the Catholic ('lunch really 
gained by emigration. He said, 'that the people at home did not 
fully understand the position of many of the emigrants, thousands 



780 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

Archbishop Mosquera and the goTernment of New Grenada. 

being lost in the large cities, whilst in the country, the faith died 
out in multitudes.' 

"At Charleston/' adds Father Mullen, "I met Dr. Reynolds, the 
worthy successor of Dr. England. When we were leaving Charleston, 
and kneeling to receive the good bishop's benediction, he held out 
his hands, saying, 'Gentlemen, I wish you every success; you are 
engaged in a great work of charity, and you will serve religion even 
still more by proceeding, on your return to Ireland, from parish to par- 
ish, telling the people not to lose their immortal souls by coming here.'" 

7. Difficulty between the papal priesthood and the government 
of New Grenada. — This South American Republic, the people of 
which are mostly Roman Catholics, and of which Popery is the 
established religion, has recently had a most serious difficulty with 
the Pope and the priesthood of Rome. The facts are as follows : 
A few years ago, the government passed various laws interfering 
with the powers and immunities formerly possessed by the arch- 
bishop and the priests, and interfering with the internal affairs of 
the ecclesiastical government of the republic. 

In 1845, the government enacted, that when any accusation 
should be brought before any civil tribunal against an ecclesiastic, 
whether priest or bishop, the accused should immediately resign his 
office on penalty of imprisonment or banishment. In 1851, a law 
was passed taking from the bishops the power of appointing pastors, 
and vesting it in the people of the parish. Certain revenues before 
enjoyed by the Church were subsequently cut off, and other acts 
were passed which broke up the general organization, and other- 
wise infringed the supposed rights of the Catholic Church. Against 
all these acts of the government the Archbishop Mosquera protested 
with energy and courage, as iniquitous invasions of the rights of the 
Church, as an unjust and tyrannical attempt on the part of the civil 
authority to control the administration of religious affairs. He 
claimed the right on his own behalf, and that of his Church, not only 
of entertaining such conscientious convictions as are always be- 
yond the reach of power, but also of expressing those convictions, 
of seeking to impress them upon others, and of retaining, under the 
Pope, supreme control of the organized means by which such efforts 
for extending his faith should be put forth. He resisted the en- 
actments of the government. He refused obedience to them — con- 
tended against their validity, as long as contest was of any avail, 
and finally yielded to exile as the penalty of his resistance to what 
he thought unjust authority. 

A meeting of Roman Catholic clergy and laity was lately held in 
New York, to express sympathy with the exiled Archbishop of Santa 
Fe de Bogota, at which Dr. Hughes presided, and delivered a glow- 
ing eulogy upon that prelate, in which he declared that " such men 
cannot be found outside of the Catholic Church." 

Far different from this was the language of Dr. Hughes, and the 
Roman Catholic clergy and press of this country, when a similar 



APPENDIX. 781 



Why do Romanists applaud Mosquera and denounce the Madiai ? 



meeting was held on behalf of the persecuted Madiai, in the same 
city, and addressed by a number of eminent Protestant clergymen, 
not one of whom is a whit less respectable, less learned, or less 
talented than Dr. Hughes. The proceedings of this meeting, it is 
well known, were treated by Hughes and the whole body of the 
Popish clergy with the utmost contempt. 

In relation to these facts, a respectable daily journal, the New 
York Times, holds the following pertinent and very moderate lan- 
guage : " When in this connection, Dr. Hughes says that ' such men 
cannot be found outside the Catholic Church, he does violence to 
history, and to the public sense of justice and of truth. Whatever he 
may think of the tenets of their faith, Archbishop Hughes cannot 
doubt that there have been martyrs to conscience, to their convictions 
of religious duty, 'outside the Catholic Church,' as sincere, as holy in 
purpose and in life, and as worthy of being held in everlasting 
remembrance, as any who have fallen victims to unjust power 
within its pale. Why, indeed, should he have failed to remember 
that at this present time two Protestants, not archbishops, nor even 
pastors, humble in station, and without position or power to make 
themselves dangerous to any government, are now dying in Tuscan 
dungeons, for no greater - crime' than that which has made Arch- 
bishop Mosquera an exile — for the sole offence, on the archbishop's 
own showing, of meeting with other individuals to read the Bible, 
and of seeking to impress upon them their own convictions of what 
it teaches as essential truth. Certainly their offence, if offence either 
may be called, was less than that of the Archbishop of Santa Fe. 
They claimed no powers which the state had forbidden them to ex- 
ercise — they sought no control, civil or ecclesiastical, over others 
— they exercised the simplest of all possible rights, that of read- 
ing the Bible and worshipping God according to the dictates of 
their own consciences, in the presence of others. And for this they 
are suffering more severely than Archbishop Mosquera. They are 
imprisoned while he is free. And it has been deemed improper for 
Americans to ask that their punishment may be made like his — 
banishment with freedom in the United States, instead of confine- 
ment and probable death in a Tuscan jail. 

" A meeting was held not long ago on behalf of these persecuted 
Tuscan Protestant disciples. Sympathy with their sufferings, ad- 
miration for their heroic endurance, and disapproval of the iniqui- 
tous laws by which they are persecuted on account of their religious 
faith, were then expressed — just as similar sentiments are now ex- 
pressed by the Catholic clergy on behalf of the Archbishop oi' Santa 
Fe. Yet Archbishop Hughes and the Catholic clergy generally 
have united in denouncing the objects and proceedings oi that 
meeting, in denying to the victims of Tuscan persecution all claim 
to sympathy, and in general support of the laws and authorities 
under which they have been made to suffer. What constitutes so 
broad a distinction between the two cases? What makes Areh- 

50 



782 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

Papal aggression in England. 

bishop Mosquera, suffering exile at the hands of the Republic of New 
Grenada, for disobedience to an unjust law concerning his religion, 
a glorious martyr to his religious faith, that does not also make the 
Madiai, imprisoned by the Tuscan government for the exercise of 
their faith, also martyrs — worthy of sympathy and admiration wher- 
ever obedience to God is held superior to obedience to men ? Is 
it because the one is an archbishop and the others simple servants ? 
Is it because one is a Catholic and the others Protestants ? Is it 
because the persecuting state in the one case is a republic, and a 
monarchy in the other ? No one of these reasons can be given as 
the ground of the distinction, without reflecting discredit on those 
who make it. And what other ground can be designated, we should 
be glad to know?" 

8. Papal aggression in England. — For a year or two past, a 
great excitement has prevailed in England, in consequence of the 
Pope having issued a papal bull, dated September 29th, 1850, divid- 
ing England into territorial Roman Catholic bishoprics, and creating 
Cardinal Wiseman, Archbishop of Westminster and Catholic Pri- 
mate of England. The hierarchy of the established church thought 
this an invasion of their rights, and an assumption of titles, belong- 
ing exclusively to the dignitaries of the English state church. The 
Protestant dissenters of England have taken very little interest in 
the controversy, as they regard the using of such territorial titles 
equally assuming in the case of the Episcopal as of the Roman 
Catholic prelates. 

To render nugatory these appointments of Pope Pius IX., and to 
resist this " papal aggression," as it is called in England, the British 
Parliament passed a law imposing a penalty of one hundred pounds 
upon any person who should " assume or use the name, style, or 
title of archbishop, bishop, or dean, of any city, town, or place, or 
of any territory or district in the United Kingdom." This law was 
entitled " An Act to prevent the assumption of certain ecclesiastical 
titles in respect to places in the United Kingdom." 

The papists of England, however, continue to use the titles, hurl 
defiance at the law, and openly avow their allegiance to the Pope to 
be superior to their allegiance to Victoria, or to any earthly power.* 

* The following from a paper called the Catholic Vindicator is quoted as a 
specimen of the style of English Papists in speaking of this subject : 

"Rather than that our loyalty to the Holy Apostolic See should be in the least 
degree tarnished, let ten thousand kings and queens (and Queen Victoria included) 
perish (as such) i. e., let them be deposed from their throne, and become mere indi- 
viduals, as we have lately seen in the case of a Catholic sovereign. We should 
not, of course, have spoken so strongly as this under ordinary circumstances. 
But when the Pope and the Queen are placed in antagonism to each other, as has 
been done lately, and it is intimated that Her Majesty will not accept a 'divided 
allegiance,' we are compelled to say plainly which allegiance we consider the most 
important; and we would not hesitate to tell the queen to her face that she must 
either be content with this ' divided allegiance,' or none at all (so far as Catholics 
are concerned) ; for it is perfectly certain that we shall never do otherwise than 
strictly obey the Sovereign Pontiff, whoever may presume to forbid it, and, in 
their puny insignificance, pronounce the acts of the Vicar of Christ 'null and void.' n 



APPENDIX. 783 



Biographical sketch of Gavazzi. 



9. Father Gavazzi in America. — While the present supplement 
has been passing through the press, this eloquent Italian Barnabite 
friar and patriot has arrived in America ; and a vast and most 
enthusiastic meeting was held in New York, on March the 
23d, to welcome him to this land of freedom. As the accounts 
have reached this country of his attractive and overwhelming elo- 
quence, and of the vast crowds that, in Great Britain, have every- 
where followed him, to listen to his powerful denunciatious of the 
soul-enslaving system of Popery ; some account of the past career 
of this wonderful man will not be unwelcome to American Protest- 
ants. The following biographical sketch of Father Gavazzi is from 
the pen of the Rev. Dr. Patton of New York : 

" The question is a fair one — Who is Gavazzi ? The following 
facts may satisfactorily answer. His paternal grandfather was 
born of Italian parents in Portugal, and was Vice-Chancellor of 
his adopted country. He was proscribed, and abandoning titles, 
wealth, and renown, he repaired to Bologna, where his merits were 
appreciated, and soon the Senate raised him with the title of Pro- 
Consul to the highest diguity conferred on a citizen. 

The maternal grandfather, Pattuzi, was President of the Court of 
Appeals in the same town. He was a man of incomparable integ- 
rity, and honored by all by the appellation of " the Just." On his 
tomb is inscribed Uomo Giusto. 

Gavazzi's father successively filled the offices of Judge in his na- 
tive town, Peace Magistrate at Forli, Professor of Law in the Uni- 
versity of Bologna, and was one of the chief advocates for the Papal 
States. 

Gavazzi was the second of 20 children. At 16 he became a 
monk of the Barnabite Order. So prominent were his talents and 
literary attainments that at 20 he was selected to fill the Profes- 
sorial Chair of Rhetoric and Belles- Lettres in the Public College 
of Caravaggio at Naples. When he left Naples to proceed to 
Arpinofor the purpose of ordination, general sorrow was expressed. 
During his abode here, instead of spending his time in solitude, he 
devoted it to preaching. After his ordination he went to Leghorn 
and was there appointed teacher in Belles- Lettres. Here he en- 
countered the envy of rival Professors, and for his liberal senti- 
ments incurred the suspicion of the authorities, and was forced to 
quit the place, He now abandoned literature and devoted himself 
to preaching, being 25 years old. He went to Piedmont, where 
for ten years he preached to vast multitudes who everywhere 
thronged to hear him, making warm friends and most bitter ene- 
mies. Here he encountered the subtle and determined opposition 
of the Jesuits, and through their agency he was expelled from Pied- 
mont, for he spoke the truth fearlessly and relentlessly, exposed 
the dark tenets of the Jesuits, so that he became a dangerous man. 

Parma was his next field of labor. Here he abode four years. 
His renown so increased that he was compelled on many occasions 



784 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

' Father Gavazzi. 

to preach ten times in one day. His iron constitution, his indefati- 
gable voice, and ardent zeal, set at defiance all physical fatigue. 
His liberal and enlarged views drew upon him the attention of Pope 
Gregory XVI. He had preached on Patriotism and its virtues, in 
such a manner as to arouse the apprehensions of the Pontiff, and 
the command came from the Vatican forbidding him to exercise 
his ministry except in the central prison of Parma. To this he 
was confined. Here he found 800 prisoners and galley slaves, to 
whom he preached with considerable success in the way of refor- 
mations among them, for blasphemy was turned into praise. After 
he w T as released, he went to Perugia, where his preaching was 
attended with usual success. In 1845, at Ancona, in one of those 
fiery outbursts of sacred zeal which characterize the man, he over- 
stepped the limits assigned him, and uttered some dangerous, be- 
cause liberal truths. The ire of his enemies was roused, and he 
was virtually imprisoned in the college of the Novitiate of St. 
Serverino, where he was consigned to the tender mercies of some 
Friars, 

The old Pope died, and Pius IX. was enthroned. In this Gavaz- 
zi rejoiced, as he thought he saw a future dawning for his country ; 
he imagined that it was in a Pope that Italy was to find a Saviour. 
Gavazzi came into favor and was called to Rome. When on the 
anniversary of the election of Pius IX. he preached in Rome, his 
language took a lofty tone for freedom, which kindled up immense 
enthusiasm. On another occasion, when preaching a sermon of 
thanksgiving, he gave full scope to the thoughts that burned in his 
breast. With the unsparing severity of truth he laid bare the 
enormities of the past reign of Gregory ; he painted in vivid colors 
the butcheries which had stained that pontificate of blood ; he for- 
got the Pope and condemned the man. This was more than Pius 
could bear ; rebuke and punishment followed ; he was forbidden to 
speak and he remained silent. 

When in Rome a day was set apart by those who loved liberty, 
to celebrate the death of those who fell at Padua, Gavazzi was, by 
universal acclaim, called out to assist in the ceremonies. Here, too, 
he spoke words of freedom, which offended the Priests and the 
Pope. He was condemned and sent to undergo the severe disci- 
pline of the Convent of Polveriera, and from thence, with inquisito- 
rial mystery, transferred to the Capuchin Convent of Gonzario. 

Now commenced the new epoch of revolutions in France and 
other nations. Hope dawned for Italy. As soon as released, Ga- 
vazzi returned to Rome, and he was the first to move in the great 
cause. He was the first man who paraded the streets of Rome with 
the emblematic colors pinned to his breast. Mindful of his sacred 
calling, he chose the typical form of a cross, and often in the thick- 
est of the fray, in days which followed, was this cross the sole de- 
fence of the man who exposed himself fearlessly in the cause of 
truth. He preached the crusade of deliverance and aid to the 
friends of liberty. He thus aroused the love of Italian Liberty in 



APPENDIX. 785 



Gavazzi's view of his own mission. 



the breasts of many' thousands, and did much towards combining 
the forces of Italy against the Austrian armies then threatening. 
The Pope feigned approval. He blessed the troops and appointed 
Gavazzi Chaplain-in-chief, empowered him to act with supreme 
authority over the other chaplains. In an interview with the Pope 
Gavazzi was told that the passage of the Po was authorized solely 
with a view to recover for the Holy See the district of Polesine. 
It was not for liberty to Italy from the tyranny and oppression of 
foreign powers, it was for no national benefit that the Pope blessed 
that army and sent them forth, but to add some territory and wealth 
to the Papal States. 

Gavazzi performed well the part of Chaplain, and in all places 
where the army went, he preached for liberty. He did all he could 
then to secure the union of all Italy in paternal bonds — the expul- 
sion of all foreign oppressors, and the leaving of Italians to manage 
their own affairs with Austrian dictation and powder. In the 
changing events he suffered many hardships. He was watched and 
compelled to live in seclusion. He was seized and imprisoned, and 
singularly released. 

When the French Army entered Rome, he was a proscribed 
man ; and diligently hunted ; but under the protection of the 
American flag, and the good officers of the American Consul, he 
was got out of Rome and found warm hearts to welcome him in 
England. 

He has united w 7 ith no Protestant denomination. He says he is 
a member of the Primitive Roman Church as founded by Paul, 
He is now biding his time. He is ready and anxious to return to 
Italy, as soon as he can do so with safety, and again preach to the 
multitudes of his countrymen." 

The following extract from the address of this noble patriot and 
orator, at the great reception meeting, will give some idea though 
an imperfect one, of the character of his impetuous eloquence, 
and of the view which he takes of the mission which he is called 
to perform. Let Americans ponder the deliberate opinion of this 
Italian patriot, — one who has had the very best opportunity of 
knowing what Popery really is — when he pronounces that system 
the greatest prop of despotism, and essentially against all liberty : 

" My mission," said Gavazzi, " is to destroy Popery — to annihi- 
late the Pope. Not only in Popish Catholic countries, but even in 
Protestant countries. My mission is directly to overthrow Popery; 
and indirectly to destroy every thing which tends to Popery; 
And, therefore, I have a mission also against Protestants — under- 
stand me— against false Protestants. At this present moment 
Popery walks in disguise — Jesuits walk in disguise under a Pro- 
testant name; and under a Protestant cloak you have many a 
Papist in your country, and there are many such in England 
also. My mission is as an independent man, not a sectarian 
against Tractarianism, Puseyism, in fine, Popery under any disguise, 



786 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

Gavazzi's eloquent speech. 

out spoken or cloaked. I am no Protestant. Why ? — because 
Protestantism is too little for me. In the 16th century, Luther, 
Melancthon, Calvin, and others, all great reformers, protested. Very 
well ; but to protest is a very little thing for me, in my opinion. 
Poland when her liberties were rudely wrested from her by the 
Russian Czar, protested, so did the Schleswig Holstein States pro- 
test against the occupation by the allied army. Hungary protested 
against the ruthless despotism of Austria, and Rome when it lost 
its liberties in 1849, protested against the cursed — cursed French 
intervention. But what did all that protesting avail ? Despotism 
at this very moment is overflowing all Europe ; then what is the 
use for me at this juncture, to protest against Popery ; it is too little, 
I say, for me. To protest, answered well enough perhaps in the six- 
teenth century, when the people entertained the false and absurd 
idea, namely, that Popery was capable of being reformed. No, no, 
no ! Popery cannot be reformed, because it is the greatest abuse 
that was ever seen on earth. Therefore the shortest way to reme- 
dy the evil, is, in my mind, the way which I have chosen for my- 
self — not by Protestantism, but by annihilation. You Protestants 
cannot be at peace with Popery — you cannot be united with the 
Papists. War with the Pope and Popery — no peace with Roman- 
ism — that is the only safeguard in the world. Republicans and 
Liberalists say, " Do not disturb any person on account of his 
religious opinion." There I agree with them. But do you believe 
that the Popish system will protect or further your republican sys- 
tem ! Oh, you are mistaken sadly if you do. Popery is essential- 
ly against all liberty, and therefore is antagonistic to Republican- 
ism. In Switzerland, Popery instigated the war of the Sonderbund, 
and in your own country this large Irish emigration, aided by the 
Priests, is intended to overthrow American freedom. Freedom, 
Rome — freedom from the Pope and his system ! Oh this power 
which has authority without bound — power without control — com- 
mand without reason — obedience without discretion — slavery with- 
out appeal — this system favorable to the American Republic !* The 

* This testimony of Father Gavazzi, as to the soul-enslaving character of the 
whole system of Popery, should be deeply pondered by every Protestant freeman, 
for perhaps no man living has had better opportunities of judging of its true char- 
acter. If any one would see this dark picture drawn out at length, and most skil- 
fully illustrated, let him read Miss Catherine Sinclair's recent most remarkable 
book, entitled " Beatrice, or the Unknown Relatives,''' which has recently been pub- 
lished by De Witt & Davenport, of New York. This is one of the most valu- 
able publications of the present century. Under the guise of a most fascinating 
and soul-thrilling tale, the accomplished authoress draws a graphic picture of the 
diabolical plottings of Jesuitism, and of the untold horrors of the dark prison- 
houses of despair, called nunneries, into which thousands of deluded and wealthy 
females are entrapped, wherever Popery is in the ascendant, if their Jesuitical con- 
fessors suppose that the coffers of the church will be enriched by this self-immo- 
lation of these wretched victims. Father Gavazzi has himself endorsed the cor- 
rectness of Miss Sinclair's startling pictures. The author of the present work 
would add his own testimony to their fidelity to truth and history ; and express 



APPENDIX. 787 



War against the Popish system. Release of the Madia i. 

Popish Church is at present humble in this country, because its 
votaries seek the American soil ; but after they increase in num- 
bers and in wealth, you will have in your midst your greatest ene- 
my, who will be constantly on the alert to seize the most propitious 
opportunity at which to overthrow your American liberty and 
Govermental authority. Popery, from its two seats of Propagand- 
ism, one at Rome, the other at Lyons, sends out thousands of mis- 
sionaries, not to preach against paganism and idolatry, but to dis- 
turb the peace of Christian people. The Catholic priesthood not 
disturb the peace of America! I come here to excite the Ameri- 
cans to war in order that they may have peace in the future ; not 
against individuals — it is against a system I would war. I respect 
all Roman Catholics individually — all my animosity is against the 
Popish system. In conclusion, I would say that I ask every 
American for sympathy in behalf of my oppressed country. I do 
not ask America to support the cause of Italy with soldiers, or a 
navy, or with artillery. No, no ; under the blessing of God, the 
iron arms of the Italian people will emancipate Italy without any 
physical assistance from abroad. It is your sympathy which I ask 
— your moral support — your republican sympathy generally, in be- 
half of a good and right cause." 

Let all lovers of freedom thank God that this noble patriot who 
holds and dares to utter views like these upon the nature of politi- 
cal and religious freedom and the antagonism of Popery thereto, 
has escaped in safety from the fangs of Popish tyrants ; who, if 
they could have caught him, would have put him to the same mer- 
ciless and savage death as that inflicted upon his friend and fellow- 
chaplain and patriot, Ugo Bassi. They would have flayed his 
hands and head, to unpriest him, and then they would have shot 
him dead, as they did the brave, the noble, the immortal the 
lamented Ugo Bassi. 

10. Release of the Madiai. — While this Supplement has been 
passing through the press, the intelligence has reached this country 
that Rosa and Francesco Madiai have been released from the pris- 
ons in which they had been confined for the crime of reading the 

the hope that the book will be read by every Protestant and every lover of free- 
dom in America. I intend to read this book aloud in my own family circle, for 
the benefit of my own children. I wish that every Protestant parent in the land 
would do the same. I ran conceive, of no better safeguard — except the Bible and 
the grace of God— against the artful and soul-destroying machinations of Popery 
and Jesuitism. It is a cheering sign of the limes that the publishers o( this most 
timely work have already been rewarded with an almost unprecedented circula- 
tion. It is already being read in America and in Great Britain DJ lens and by 
hundreds of thousands. Tim characters of "Father Eustace" and " Mrs. Lor- 
raine" are no fictions, but find their counterparts wherever male and female Jesuits 
are plotting the overthrow of Protestant faitjl and Protestant liberty throughout 
the world. 



788 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

Banishment and sufferings of the Madiai. 

Bible. The indignant remonstrances of Protestant Christendom 
have compelled their popish persecutors to forego the pleasure of 
seeing these devoted sufferers for conscience' sake die in a dungeon 
for daring to read God's Holy Word. This would, undoubtedly, 
have shortly been the fate, at least of one of them, had it not been 
for the noble letter of Lord John Russell, and other remonstrances, 
against these acts of papal tyranny. As it is, they have been hur- 
ried away from their native country, without the privilege of taking 
farewell of their friends, and in circumstances of destitution and 
suffering. Their sentence of imprisonment, it is true, has been 
changed for banishment, but the cruel laws against freedom to wor- 
ship God, remain unchanged ; others are still suffering for the same 
crime, and the hatred of the popish priests and rulers against Bible- 
reading in Italy is fierce and intolerant as ever. The following, 
which has just appeared in the public journals, relates all the par- 
ticulars which are yet known of their release. 

" The release of the Madiai, and their arrival at Marseilles, are 
among the interesting items of news. It is distressing to learn that 
Francesco has suffered so severely from his tedious incarceration 
as to exhibit decided marks of mental alienation." 

" A. Protestant" writes from Marseilles, under date of March 19, 
1853, the following letter to " The Times :" " The Madiai were re- 
leased from prison on Tuesday last, and were immediately smuggled 
on board the French Post-Office steamer Hellespont, which left 
Leghorn the next morning for this place. They were not allowed 
by the Tuscan authorities to communicate with any of their friend?, 
and were sent on board very thinly clad, not being even permitted 
to take some clothing which was waiting for them at a hotel. 
Some English gentlemen learning their destitute situation with re- 
gard to clothing, sent them some. 

" Rosa Madiai appears a very intelligent and interesting woman, 
but the mind of her husband is apparently gone. This is, no doubt, 
mainly to be attributed to the many privations he has undergone. 
They are travelling under the assumed name of Francesco and 
Rosa Pauline, and were not allowed to land here before the Tuscan 
Consul had communicated with them. They are uncertain as to 
their future movements, but will, no doubt, sooner or later visit 
England, to whose powerful sympathy and interference they are 
principally indebted for their liberty." 

On the same subject, Rev. Thomas Sleeman, British chaplain at 
Leghorn, writes under date March 17th ; 

" As reports of the ill-health of Francesco Madiai have reached 
England, his friends will be glad to learn that, though still feeble, 
he is much improved, and I have no doubt a few w r eeks of freedom 
will perfectly restore him. I grieve, however, to add, that his mind 
appears to be greatly shaken ; the iron has entered his soul, and, in 
a protracted conversation I had with him yesterday, I discerned 
with pain many unmistakable symptoms of mental disease, which 



APPENDIX. 789 



Rev. Pierce Connelly's developments of Popish corruption. 



afford ground for great apprehension. Rosa Madiai is well, and 
her mind, as all who know her can testify, is even more vigorous 
than her body. She is a woman who commands the respect as 
well as excites the sympathy of all who have the privilege to con- 
verse with her. 

" The future proceedings of these most interesting people are as 
yet uncertain, as they have been hurried away from Tuscany with- 
out notice and with the greatest secrecy, but they purpose remaining 
at Marseilles until Francesco's health and strength are restored." 

11. Developments of Popery by a convert to Home. — The Rev. 
Pierce Connelly was a clergyman of the Episcopal Church in Ten- 
nessee, who a few years ago, after adopting the doctrines of Pusey 
and Newman, became, like many others, who have travelled the same 
route, a convert to Popery. His wife, who also adopted the same 
views, went into a nunnery, and he took orders in the Church of 
Rome. In consequence of the corruptions which he discovered in 
that apostate communion, however, he soon forsook it, as a gieat 
charnel-house of moral corruption and pollution. He has lately 
written a thrilling letter, relative to the iniquity that abounds 
among the priesthood of Rome, in which, among other things rela- 
tive to the horrible corruption of the whole system, he says : 

" I have known a husband taught and directed to deal double in 
the sacred matter of religion with his own high-born wife, a broth- 
er with his own high-born sisters, wives with their husbands, and 
daughters without number with their trusting parents. 

"I have known in Derbyshire a young lady not eighteen years of 
age, the daughter of a widowed mother, the mother also a Roman 
Catholic, seduced into a convent under false pretences, kept there 
in spite of every effort of her family, with the approbation of the 
Papal authorities, and only delivered by my own public threat, as a 
priest, of application to the civil power, and consequent fear of 
scandal. I have seen clerical inviolability made to mean nothing 
less than license and impunity. 

" I have read to the pure and simple-minded Cardinal Prefect of 
the Propaganda a narrative, written to a pious lay friend by a re- 
spected Roman priest, of such enormities of lust in his fellow- 
priests around him, that the reading of them took away my breath 
— to be answered: ' Caro mio, 1 know, I know it .all, and more and 
worse than all ; but nothing can be done.' 

"I have known a priest get up, and very successfully, a miracle 
(I have proofs in his own hand-writing) at the very moment when, 
as a brother priest satisfied me, he was experimenting in seduction, 
But nothing could be done ! 

"I have known a priest received and honored at a prince-bish- 
op's table, when the host knew him to have just seduced a member 
of his own family. But nothing could be done ! 



790 HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

The Popish system irrevocable and irremediable. 

" 1 have been mocked with false promises by dean and bishop in 
denouncing a young priest in whose bedroom, and before there had 
been time for him to dress himself, in broad day in England, under 
a convent roof, I had myself found a young nun, apparently as 
much at home as her confessor was himself. 

" I have been forced to let pass without even ecclesiastical re- 
buke, a priest's attempt upon the chastity of my own wife, the 
mother of my children, and to find instead, only sure means taken 
to prevent the communication to me of any similar attempt in 
future. 

" This is a part of what has come within my own experience. 
But it is not yet the worst of that sad experience. 

" I have seen priests of mean abilities, of coarse natures, and 
gross breeding, practise upon pure and highly gifted women of the 
upper ranks, married and unmarried, the teachings of their treach- 
erous and impure casuistry, with a success that seemed more than 
human. I have seen these priests impose their pretendedly divine 
authority, and sustain it by mock miracles, for ends that were sim- 
ply devilish. 

" I have had poured into my ears what can never be uttered, and 
what ought not to be believed, but was only too plainly true. And 
I have seen that all that is most deplorable is not an accident, but 
a result, and an inevitable result, and a confessedly inevitable result 
of the working of the practical system of the Church of Rome, 
with all its stupendous machinery of mischief. And the system 

IS IRREVOCABLE AND IRREMEDIABLE." 



END OF THE APPENDIX. 



INDEX TO THE SUPPLEMENT. 



Page 
§ 1. — State of the Country under Pope Gregory XVI., - 651 

§ 2. — Reforms demanded by the Italian People, ------ 652 

§ 3. — Character of Pope Gregory, and his favorite, the beautiful Cajetanina, 653 
§ 4. — Curious History of the Pope's Barber, the husband of Cajetanina, 654 
§ 5. — Pope Gregory's Death and Funeral Ceremonies, ----- 657 

§ 6. — Ceremonies of a Pope's Election, -------- 657 

§ 7.— Election of Pius IX., - - - 658 

§ 8.— Early life of the new Pope, 659 

§ 9. — The first Reforms. Suppression of the Secret Tribunal, &c, and 

Dismissal of Lambruschini, --------- 659 

§ 10. — Proclamation of the Amnesty for Political Offenders, - - - - 660 

§ 11. — The Pope encourages Railroads, dismisses Gregory's Police, and 

preaches a Sermon, (!)---------- 661 

§12. — Swiss Soldiers dismissed. Press partially liberalized. Jews relieved, 661 
§ 13. — Visit of the peasant Guidi to the Pope, ------- 662 

§ 14.— The Soldier's bad Bread, .--663 

§ 15. — Opposition of Austria to the Pope's Reforms, ----- 663 
§ 16. — Conspiracy of the Anniversary of the Amnesty, ----- 664 
§ 17. — The Austrian Invasion of the Papal States, and Seizure of Ferrara, 665 
§ 18. — The Pope's Reforms as a Prince no guaranty for Reforms as a Priest, 666 
§ 19. — Pius IX. no Protestant Pope, Romanists being witnesses, - - - 667 
§ 20. — The Pope's Political Reforms dictated by Policy alone, - - - 668 
§ 21. — Pius IX. no Republican. His Royal Speech to the Roman Con- 

sulta, -------------- 668 

§ 22.— The Pope's Proclamation, 670 

§ 23.— Effects in Italy of the French Revolution of 1848, - - - - 671 
§ 24. — Outlines of the (so-called) Constitution granted to his subjects by the 

Pope, 672 

§ 25. — This Constitution examined. The substance of all power vested in 

the Pope and his Cardinals, --------- 674 

§ 26. — War with Austria. The Pope's opposition, ----- 676 

§ 27. — Intense Excitement in Rome. Pius IX. almost deposed from his 

Temporal Power, 677 

§ 28. — Reasons for the Pope's Policy. His love of Popery stronger than 

his Patriotism, ------------ 678 

$ 29.— Continuation till 1853. Flight of the Pope from Rome, - 682 

$ 30. — Consequences of the Pope's flight, ... ggg 

$31. — Manifestoes of Pius IX., - 683 

§32. — Proclamation of the Roman Republic, - (j$9 

§33. — Exposure of the horrors of the Roman Inquisition, - - 691 

§ 34. — Effect of the Pope's expatriation Upon the Catholic world, - 696 

$ 35. — The Pope's appeal to foreign powers, - 698 



192 INDEX TO THE SUPPLEMENT. 

Pas*. 

$ 36. — The appeal of the Roman patriots to France and England, - 701 
§ 37. — Response to the Pope's appeal. Invasion of the French, - 703 
$ 38. — The French beaten by the Romans, ... 705 
5 39. — French treachery. The Sunday battle, ... 707 
§ 40. — Rome taken by the French, - 709 
5 41. — Rejoicings at Gaeta, and the Pope's address to the Romans, - 710 
^42. — The Pope's entry into Rome, - - - 711 
§ 43. — Blow to the Papal power in Sardinia. The Siccardi law, - 713 
§ 44. — The Pope's address to his Cardinals, - - - 7li> 
§ 45. — Condition of Rome since the Pope's restoration, - - 721 
§ 46.— The Bible in Rome and Italy, - - - 726 
$ 47. — Imprisonment and banishment of Count Guicciardini for Protestan- 
tism, - - - - - - 729 

§ 48. — Trial and suffering of Francesco and Rosa for Bible reading, 730 

§ 49. — Earl Roden's interview with Madiai. Lord John Russell's letter, &c, 736 

§ 50. — The Pope's concordat, the cause of these persecutions, - - 744 

The Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius IX., ... 746 

Review of the Pope's Encyclical Letter, - 758 



APPENDIX 



1. — The fate of Maria J. Alves, and Madeira exiles, - - 769 

2. — Ronge and the new Reformation in Germany, - - 769 

3. — Reverses of the Jesuits, and Decline of Popery in Europe, - 770 

4. — Reformation in Ireland, - 773 
5. — Bishop Hughes' claim examined on behalf of Catholic Maryland as 

the cradle of religious liberty in America, - 774 

6. — Losses of Popery in America, - 778 
7. — Difficulty between the Papal priesthood, and the government of New 

Grenada, - - - - - - 780 

8. — Papal aggression in England, - 782 

9. — Father Gavazzi in America, - 783 

10.— Release of the Madiai, - - - - 787 

11. — Developments of Popery by a convert to Rome, - - 789 



GLOSSARY 



OP TECHNICAL OR ECCLESIASTICAL TERMS CONNECTED WITH ROMANISM. 



Abbot (or Abbe). — The chief or ruling monk of an abbey. 
Abbey. — A monastery of persons devoted by vow to a monastic life. 
Absolution. — The third part of the sacrament of penance ; signifying the 
remission of sins. 

Acolyte. — One of the lower orders of the priesthood in the Roman church. 

Advent.— The four Sundays preceding Christmas day. The first Sunday in 
Advent is the first after November 26th. 

Agnus Dei (lamb of God). — A consecrated cake of wax stamped with the figure 
of a lamb, supposed to have the power of saving from diseases, accidents, &c. 

Alb. — A vestment worn by priests in celebrating mass. So called from its 
color, alba — white. 

All Saints. — An annual feast in honor of all the saints and martyrs, cele- 
brated on the first of November. 

All Souls. — A festival, appointed for praying all souls out of purgatory ; prin- 
cipally out of regard to those poor souls who had no living friends to purchase 
masses for them. Celebrated November 2d. 

Altars in the Romish church are built of stone, to represent Christ, the foun- 
dation-stone of that spiritual building, the church. There are three steps to an 
altar, covered with carpet, and adorned with many costly ornaments, according to 
the season of the year. 

Amict. — A part of the emblematic dress of the priest in celebrating mass. It 
is made of linen and worn on the neck, and sometimes forms a sort of hood for 
the head. It is said to represent how Christ was blindfolded and spit upon. 

Anathema. — A solemn curse pronounced by ecclesiastical authority. 

Annats or Annates. — A year's income, due, anciently, to the popes on the 
death of any bishop, abbot, parish priest, &c, to be paid by his successor. 

Annunciation. — A festival celebrated on the 25th of March, in memory of the 
annunciation or tidings brought by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary of the 
incarnation of Christ. On this festival, the Pope performs the ceremony of mar- 
rying or cloistering. 

Apocrisarius. — A kind of legate or ambassador from the Pope to the court of 
some sovereign. 

Ash Wednesday. — The first day of Lent. It arose from a custom of sprink- 
ling ashes on the heads of such as were then admitted to penance. The ashea 
must be made of the olive tree, laid on the altar, blessed, and strewed on the heads 
of priests and laity. 

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, a festival held August 10th, in memory of 
the pretended assumption of the Virgin Mary to Heaven, body and soul, without 
dying. 

Augustins. — An order of monks who observe the rule of St. Augustine, pro- 
perly called Austin friars. 



794 GLOSSARY. 

Auricular Confession. — Confession made in the ears of a priest privately. 

Auto da Fe, or act of faith, is a solemn day held by the Inquisition for the 
roasting alive of heretics. 

Ave Maria (hail Mary). — A common salutation or prayer to the Virgin. 

Ban. — A sentence of the Emperor, by which a person is forbidden shelter or 
food throughout the empire, and all are commanded to seize the person who is put 
under the ban of the Empire. Charles V. put Luther to the ban of the Empire 
after the Diet of Worms. 

Bartholomew's (St.) Day. — A festival celebrated on the 24th of August ; St. 
Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles. On this day was the horrid mas- 
sacre of Paris in 1572. 

Beads-man, from bede, a prayer, and from counting the beads. A prayer-man, 
one who prays for another. 

Bead-Roll. — This was the catalogue of those who were to be mentioned at 
prayers. The king's enemies were thus cursed bv name in the bead roll at St. 
Paul's. 

Beatification (from Beatus, happy). — The act by which the Pope declares a 
person happy after death. 

Benedictines. — An order of monks who profess to follow the rules of St. Bene- 
dict. In the canon law they are called black monks, from the color of their 
habit ; in England they were called black friars. 

Benison*. — A blessing. 

Bernardins. — A sect first made by Robert, Abbot of Moleme, and reformed by 
St. Bernard, Abbot of Clervaux. Their usual habit is a white gown. 

Bourdon. — A staff, or long walking-stick, used by pilgrims. 

Breviary. — The Roman Catholic Common Prayer-Booh, generally in Latin. 

Briefs, afostolical, denote letters which the Pope dispatches to princes and 
other magistrates touching any public affair. 

Brothers. — Lay-brothers among the Romanists are those persons who devote 
themselves, in some convent, to the service of the monks. 

Bull. — A written letter, dispatched by order of the Pope, from the Roman 
chancery, and sealed with a leaden stamp (bulla). 

Candlemas day, Feb. 2, called also the feast of the purification of the Blessed 
Virgin. Called Candlemas, because on this feast, before Mass is said, the candles 
are blessed by the priests, for the whole year, and a procession made with them. 

Canon, i. e. rule; it signifies such rules as are presented by councils concern- 
ing faith, discipline, and manners, as the canons of the council of Trent. 

Canons. — An order of religious, distinct from monks. 

Canonical Hours. — There were seven : — 1. Prime, about six a. m. 2. Tierce, 
about nine. 3. Sext, about twelve at noon. 4. Nones, about two or three P. M. 
5. Vespers, about four or later. 6. Complin, about seven. 7. Matins ; and Lauds 
at midnight. 

Canonization (Saint making). — A solemn official act of the Pope, whereby, 
after much solemnity, a person reputed to have wrought miracles, is entered into 
the list of the saints. 

Capuchin. — Monks of the order of St. Francis, so called from capuce or capu- 
chon, a stuff cap or cowl with which they cover their heads. They are clothed 
with brown or grey, always barefooted, never go in a coach, nor even shave their 
beard. 

Cardinal. — A prince of the church, distinguished by wearing the red hat ; and 
who has a voice in the Roman conclave at the election of a Pope. 

Carmelites. — An order of mendicants or begging friars, taking their name 
from Carmel, a mountain in Syria, formerly inhabited by the prophets Elijah and 
Elisha. and by the children of the prophets, from whom this order pretends to 
descend in an uninterrupted succession. 



GLOSSARY. 795 

Carozo. — A kind of conical pasteboard cap, with devils and flames painted on 
it, worn by the condemned victims of the Inquisition, on their way to the flames 
at the Auto da fe. 

Carthusians. — An order of monks instituted by St. Bruno about the year 1086, 
remarkable for the austerity of their rule, which obliges them to a perpetual soli- 
tude, a total abstinence from flesh, even at the peril of their lives, and absolute 
silence, except at certain times. Their houses were usually built in deserts, their 
fare coarse, and discipline severe. 

Cassock, the gown of a priest. 

Catechumen. — One who is receiving instruction preparatory to Baptism. 

Cathedral. — A church wherein a bishop has a see or seat {cathedra). 

Catholic. — Universal or general — Charitable, &c. This term is monopolized 
by the Romish church, though destitute of the slightest claim to it. 

Celebrant. — The priest officiating in any religious ceremony. 

Chalice. — The cup or vessel used to administer the wine in the mass. 

Chasuble. — A kind of cape open at the sides, worn at mass, with a cross em- 
broidered on the back of it. 

Childermas Day, called also Innocents' Day, held December the 28th, in me- 
mory of Herod's slaughter of the children. 

Chrism. — A mixture of oil and balsam, consecrated by the bishop on holy 
Thursday, with great ceremony, used for anointing in Confirmation, Extreme Unc- 
tion, &c. 

Christmas (Christi miss a), that is, the mass of Christ. A festival, celebrated 
December the 25th, to commemorate the birth of Christ. 

Chrysom. — A white linen cloth used in baptism. 

Cincture. — A girdle with which the priest in the mass binds himself, said to 
represent the binding of Christ. 

Cistertian Monks.— A religious order founded in the nineteenth century by St. 
Robert, a Benedictine and Abbot of Moleme. 

Cloister. — A house for monks or nuns. 

College. — A society of men set apart for learning or religion, and also the 
house in which they reside. 

Colobium. — A tunic or robe. 

Commendam, in the church of Rome, is a real title of a regular benefice, such 
as an abbey or priory given by the Pope to a secular clerk, or even to a layman, 
with power to dispose of the fruits thereof during life. 

Complin. — The last act of worship before going to bed. 

Conception of the Virgin Mary, a feast observed December 8th. 

Conclave. — The place in which the cardinals of the Romish church meet, and 
are shut up, in order to the election of a Pope. (From Latin con, and da vis, 
a key.) 

Confiteor. — Latin for I confess, the term applied to a general confession of sins. 

Confirmation. — Imposition of hands by a bishop, given after baptism. Ac- 
cording to the church of Rome, it makes the recipients of it perfect Christians. 

Consistory. — A college of cardinals, or the Pope's senate and council, before 
whom judiciary causes are pleaded. 

Cope. — An ecclesiastical habit. It was, at first, a common habit, being a coat 
without sleeves, but was afterwards used as a church vestment, only made »ery 
rich by embroidery and the like. The Greeks pretend it was first used in memory 
of the mock-robe put upon our Saviour. 

Corporal. — A fair linen cloth thrown over the consecrated elements at the cel- 
ebration of the eucharist. 

Corpus Christi, or Corpus Domini (the body of Christ or of our Lord) — a 
feast held on the Thursday after Trinity-Sunday, in which the consecrated wafer 



796 GLOSSARY. 

is carried about in procession in all popish countries, foi the adoration of the mul- 
titude. 

Council. — An ecclesiastical meeting, especially of bishops and other doctors, 
deputed by divers churches for examining of ecclesiastical causes. There are 
reckoned eighteen general councils, besides innumerable provincial and local ones. 

Cowl. — A sort of monkish habit worn by the Bernardines and Benedictines. 
Some have distinguished two forms of cowls, the one a gown reaching to the 
feet, having sleeves and a capuchon, used in ceremonies ; the other, a kind of hood 
to work in, called also scapular, because it only covers the head and shoulders. 

Crosier. — The pastoral staff, so called from its likeness to a cross, which the 
bishops formerly bore as the common ensign of their office, and by the delivery of 
which they were invested in their prelacies. 

Crucifix. — A picture or figure of Christ on the Cross in common use among 



Crusade. — A holy war, or an expedition against infidels and heretics, as those 
against the Turks for the recovery of Palestine, and against the Albigenses and 
Waldenses of France in the thirteenth century. 

Curiall. — A class of officers attached to the Pope's court. 

Dalmatica. — A vestment or habit of a bishop and deacon, so called because it 
was first invented in Dalmatia. It had sleeves to distinguish it from the colobium, 
which had none. It was all white before, but behind had two purple lines, or 
stripes. 

Datary. — An officer in the Pope's court, always a prelate and sometimes a 
cardinal, deputed by the Pope to receive such petitions as are presented to him 
touching the provision of benefices. This officer has a substitute, but he cannot 
confer any benefice. 

Decree. — An ordinance enacted by the Pope, by and with the advice of his car- 
dinals in council assembled, without being consulted by any person thereon. 

Decretal. — The collection of the decrees of the Pope. Several forged collec- 
tions of the decrees of the early popes have been published. 

Degradation. — The ceremony of unrobing a priest, and thus degrading hhn 
from the sacred office ; always performed previous to delivering up a heretical 
priest to the secular power to be burnt. 

Dirige. — A solemn service in the Romish church ; hence, probably, our Dirge. 

Dispensation. — Permission from the Pope to do what may have been forbidden. 

Dominicans. — An order of mendicant friars, called, in some places, Jacobins, 
Predicants, or preaching friars. 

Dulia and hyperdulia. (See Latria.) 

Ember Weeks or Days. — Fasts observed four times in the year ; that is, on 
the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the first Sunday in Lent ; after Wliit- 
Sunday; after the 14th of September; and after the 13th of December. Accord- 
ing to some, ember comes from the Greek hemera, a day ; according to others, 
from the ancient custom of eating nothing on those days till night, and then only 
a cake, baked under the embers, called ember-bread. 

Epiphany, called, also, the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. Observed 
on the 6th of January, in memory of the Star appearing to the wise men of the 
East. 

Eucharist. — A name for the Lord's supper. 

Excommunication. — An ecclesiastical penalty, whereby persons are separated 
from the communion of the Romish church, and consigned to damnation. 

Exorcism. — Ceremony of expelling the Devil performed, preparatory to the 
administration of baptism, by Romish priests. 

Exorcist. — One of the inferior orders of the ministry, whose office it is to 
expel devils. 

Extreme Unction. — One of the sacraments of the Romish church, adminis- 



GLOSSARY. 797 

tered to the dying, as a passport to Heaven, consisting of anointing the feet, hands; 
ears, eyes, &c, with holy oil or chrism. 

Feasts of God. — Files de Dieu. A solemn festival in the Romish church, 
instituted for the performing a peculiar kind of worship to pur Saviour in the 
eucharist. 

Fiancees. — Betrothing. — A ceremony performed by the priest, after which an 
oath was administered " to take the woman to wife within forty days, if holy 
church will permit." 

Franciscans. — A powerful order of mendicant friars in the Romish church, fol- 
lowing the rules of St. Francis. 

Friary. — A monastery or convent of friars. 

Gipciere. — A small satchel, wallet, or purse. 

Good Friday. — A fast in memory of the sufferings and death of Christ, cele- 
brated on the Friday before Easter. 

Gradual. — A part of the mass service, sung while the deacon was ascending 
the steps. (Gradus.) 

Graal. — The Saint GraaJ, or holy vessel, was supposed to have been the ves- 
sel in which the paschal lamb was placed at our Saviour's last supper. 

Heretics. — A name given by papists to all Christians not of their church. 

Hierarchy. — A sacred government or ecclesiastical establishment. 

Holy rood day. — May 3. — A feast in memory of the pretended miraculous 
finding of the true Cross, by Helena in the year 326. 

Holy Water, a mixture of salt and water, blessed by the priest, to which the 
papists attribute great virtues. 

Host. — A term applied to the wafer, after it has been turned into a god by 
the priest (from the Latin hostia, a sacrifice.) 

I. H. S. and I. N. R. I. — Letters on the wafer that signify Jesus Jiominum Sal- 
valor, " Jesus the Saviour of men," and Jesus Nazarenus, Rex Judaorum, " Je- 
sus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," being the initials of the Latin words. 

Incense. — A rich perfume, burning of itself, or exhaled by fire, offered by Ro- 
manists in their worship. 

Indulgence. — In the Romish theology, the remission of temporal punishments 
due to sin, and supposed to save the sinner from purgatory. The Popes ha\e 
made vast sums of money by the sale of them. 

In pe»tto. — Held in reserve. 

Interdict. — A censure inflicted by popes or bishops, suspending the priests 
from their functions, and consequently the performance of divine service. An 
interdict forbids the performance of divine service in the place interdicted. This 
ecclesiastical censure has frequently been inflicted in France, Italy, Germany and 
England. 

Introit. — The beginning of public devotions among the Papists. 

Jesuits. — A famous religious order in the Romish church, founded by Ignatius 
Loyala, a Spaniard, A. D. 1534. 

Jubilee. — A grand church solemnity, or ceremony, celebrated at Rome—now 
every 25 years — wherein the Pope grants a plenary indulgence to all who visit the 
churches of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome. 

Kyrie Eleison. — "Lord, have mercy upon me !" a form of prayer often used. 

Lammas Day. — August 1. Celebrated in the Rqrnish church, in memory of St 
Peter's imprisonment. 

Latria. The kind of worship due to God and to Lhe consecrated wafer, distin- 

fuished from duiui or kyperdulia, paid to the saints, relics, &c. An unmeaning 
istinction Invented by Romanists to shield themselves from thecharge of idolatry. 
Legate, from Latin legatus. — A cardinal or bishop, whom the Pope Bends as 
his ambassador to sovereign princes. 



798 GLOSSARY. 

Lent, called in Latin quadragesima. — A time of mortification, during the space 
of forty Jays, beginning on Ash-Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday 
wherein the people are enjoined to fast, in commemoration of our Saviour's fasting 
in the desert. 

Magdalen (St.) the religious of. — A denomination given to many communi- 
ties of nuns, consisting generally of penitent courtesans. 

Malison. — A curse. 

Maniple. — A portion of the dress of a priest in celebrating mass, worn upon 
the left arm. 

Mariolatey. — A term frequently and justly applied by protestants to the idol- 
atrous worship of the Virgin Mary. 

Mass. — The office or prayers used in the Romish church at the celebration of 
the eucharist. The sacrifice of the Mass is the pretended offering in sacri- 
fice of the body of Christ (created from the wafer by the priest) every time the 
eucharist is celebrated, as a true propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead. 
The word is supposed to be derived from the expression anciently used, when the 
congregation was dismissed before the celebration of the sacrament ' ; ita missa 
est" (thus the congregation is dismissed). In process of time the word missa 
(mass) was employed to designate the service about to be performed. 

Matjnday Thursday. — The Thursday before Good Friday ; probably so called, 
from the Latin dies mandati ; that is, the day of command to commemorate the 
charge given by our Saviour to his disciples before his last supper — or from the 
word mandatum, a command, the first word of the anthem sung on that day (John 
xiii., 34), " A new commandment," &c. 

Mendicants. — Begging friars, as the Franciscans, Dominicans, &c. 

Miracle. — A prodigy. Some effect which does not follow from the known 
laws of nature. 

Miserere (have mercy). — A lamentation. The beginning of the 5 1st peniten- 
tial psalm. 

Month's Mind. — A solemn office for the repose of the soul, performed one 
month after decease. 

Nativity of Christ. — Christmas day, December 25th. 

.Nativity of John the Baptist. — A festival held on the 24th of June. 

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. — A festival held September 8th. 

Novitiate. — The time spent in a monastery or nunnery, by way of trial, before 
a vow is taken. 

Novice. — One who has entered a religious house, but not yet taken the vow. 

Nun. — A woman secluded from the world in a nunnery, under a vow of perpe- 
tual chastity. 

Nuncio. — An ambassador from the Pope to some Catholic prince or state. 

Obit. — A funeral celebration or office for the dead. 

Oblate. — Bread made without leaven and not consecrated, yet blessed upon 
the altar ; anciently placed upon the breasts of the dead. 

Orders. — The different ranks of the ministry in the Romish church. The 
number of orders is seven, ascending as follows : porter, reader, exorcist, acolyte, 
sub-deacon, deacon and priest. 

Oriel. — A portico or court ; also, a small dining-room, near the hall, in monas- 
teries. 

Pall. — A pontifical garment worn by popes, archbishops, &c, over the other 
garments, as a sign of their jurisdiction. 

Palm Sunday. — The Sunday next before Easter, kept in memory of the tri- 
umphant entry of Christ into Jerusalem. 

Palmer. — A wandering votary of religion, vowed to have no settled home. 

Pasch Eggs. — Easter eggs, from pascha — the pascha, the passover 



GLOSSARY. 799 

Passion Week. — The week preceding Easter, so called from our Saviour's pas- 
sion, crucifixion, &c. 

Paten. — A little plate used in the sacrament of the eucharist. 

Paternoster. — {Our Father) the Lord's prayer. Also used for the chapletsof 
beads, worn by nuns round their necks. 

Patriarch. — A church dignitary superior to archbishops. 

Pax, or Paxis (an instrument of peace). — A small plate of silver or gold, with 
a crucifix engraved or raised upon it, which, in the ceremony of the mass, was 
presented by the deacon to be kissed by the priest, and then to be handed round 
and kissed by the people, who delivered it to each other, saying, " Peace be with 
you." It is said to be now disused. 

Pax. — The vessel in which the consecrated host is kept. 

Penance. — Infliction, public or private, by which papists profess to make satis- 
faction for their sins. 

Peter-Pence. — An annual payment from various nations to the Pope ; at first 
voluntary, but afterward demanded as a tribute. 

PisciNiE. — Sinks where the priest emptied the water in which he washed his 
hands, and all consecrated waste stuff was poured out. 

Pix, or Pyx. — The box or shrine in which the consecrated host is kept. 

Placebo. — The vesper hymn for the dead. 

Planeta. — Gown, the same as the chasuble ; a kind of cape, open only at the 
sides, worn at mass. 

Plenary. — Full, complete. Plenary indulgence is the remission of all the 
purgatorian and other temporal penalty due up to the time it is given. 

Portesse, or Portasse. — A breviary, a portable book of prayers. 

Prior. — The officer in a priory, corresponding to an abbot in an abbey. 

Priory. — A convent, in dignity below an abbey. 

Purgatory. — A place in which souls are supposed by the Papists to be purged 
by fire from carnal impurities, before they are received into heaven, unless deliv- 
ered by papal indulgences. 

Requiem. — A hymn imploring for the dead requiem or rest. 

Reredoss. — The screen supporting the rood-loft. 

Rocket. — The bishop's black satin vestment, worn with the lawn sleeves. 

Rogation Week (from Itogo, to ask, pray). — The next week but one before 
Whitsunday, because certain litanies to saints are then used. 

Rood. — An image of Christ on the cross in Romish churches. 

Rood-loft. — In churches, the place where the cross is fixed. 

Rosary. — A chaplet or string of beads, on which prayers are numbered. There 
are ten small beads to every one large one. The small ones signify so many Ave 
Marias, or prayers to the Virgin. The large ones so many paternosters, or pray- 
ers to God. 

Sacrament. — Thus defined by the Romish authors of the catechism of the 
council of Trent: " A thing subject to the senses, and professing, by divine insti- 
tution, at once the power of signifying sanctity and justice, and of imparting both 
to the receiver." The sacraments of the Romish church are seven, Baptism, Con- 
firmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders and Matrimony. 

Sacring, Saunce, or Saints' Bell. — A small bell which is used to call to pray- 
ers and other holy offices. 

Sacristy. — The place in a church where the sacred utensils and the conse- 
crated wafer are kept. 

San Benito. — The garment worn by the victims of the Inquisition, at the Auto 
da fe, with devils and flames painted on it.. Those who were to he burnt alive had 
the flames pointing upward. Such as had escaped this horrhle late, pointing 
downward. 



800 GLOSSARY. 

Santa Casa, or Santissima Casa, the pretended holy house of the Virgin Mary, 
carried by angels through the air, from Nazareth to Loretto in Italy. 

Santa Scodella. — The pretended holy porringer in which the pap of the infant 
Jesus was made, kept in the Santa Casa, and exhibited to the pilgrims by Romish 
priests. 

Saviour, Order of our. — A religious order so called, founded 1344, under the 
rule of St. Augustine. 

Scapular, or Scapulary. — A badge of peculiar veneration for the Virgin 
Mary, said to have been given, in person, by the Virgin Mary to a hermit named 
Simon Stock, to be worn by her devotees as " a sign of salvation, a safe-guard in 
danger, and a covenant of peace." It forms a part of the habit of several orders 
of monks. Of the scapular there is a friary or fraternity, who profess a particular 
devotion to the virgin. They are obliged to have certain prayers, and observe cer- 
tain austerities in their manner of life. The devotees of the scapular celebrate 
their festival on the 10th of July. 

Sclavina. — A long gown worn by pilgrims. 

Shrift, or Shrive. — Confession to a priest. 

Shrovetide.— The time of Confession. 

Snrs, the Seven mortal. — Pride, idleness, envy, murder, covetousness, lust, 
gluttony. 

Soutane. — A cassock, or clerical robe. 

Stole. — A part of the emblematical dress of the priest, worn in celebrating 
mass ; a kind of linen scarf, hanging loosely from the shoulders in front. 

Suffragan. — A bishop considered as subject to the metropolitan bishop. 

Thurible. — A censer or smoke-pot to burn incense in. 

Tonsure. — The particular manner of shaving the head, as practised by Romish 
priests and monks. 

Trinity-Sunday. — A feast in honor of the Trinity on the' octave of Whit- 
sunday. 

Viaticum (from Via, way). — The term applied to the Eucharist, when admin- 
istered to a dying person, or one who is on his way to the unseen world. 

Vulgate. — A very ancient Latin translation of the Bible, made by Jerome, and 
the only one which the church of Rome acknowledges to be authentic. The 
council of Trent placed the Vulgate higher in point of authority than the inspired 
Hebrew and Greek texts. 

Unhouselled. — Without receiving the sacrament. 

Ursulines. — An order of nuns, who observe the rule of St. Augustine j chiefly 
noted for educating young maidens. They take their name from their institutrix, 
St. Ursula, and are clothed in white and black. 

Weeping-Cross. — A cross where penitents offered their devotions. 

Whitsunday, or Pentecost (fiftieth). — A feast in memory of the descent of the 
Holy Ghost fifty days after the resurrection. Called Whitsuntide from the cate- 
chumens being anciently clothed in white, on this festival, at their Baptism. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 



OP POPES, GENERAL COUNCILS, AND REMARKABLE EVENTS IN THE 
HISTORY OF ROMANISM. 

Ill the following table, the list of the bishops of Rome up to 606, and the popes after 
that {taken chiefly from Bower), is printed in capitals with a cross f ; the kings 
of England, after the conquest, with an asterisk * : and other famous sovereigns 
in the same characters, without any mark. 

In reference to the General Councils, it is well known that Romanists are divided 
among themselves, into fiercely contending sects and parlies, as to which of the 
councils ■ possess a claim to that character. In compiling the complete list of the 
General Councils embodied in the following table, we have adopted the most popu- 
lar and generally received list among Romanists, as given by Father Gahan in 
his popular manual of Roman Catholic Church History. At the same time, we 
have mentioned some other Councils which have, by some Romish authors, been 
regarded as General. 



65. Martyrdom of the apostles Peter and Paul. 
Note.— Peter is asserted by Romanists to have 
been the first Pope of Rome. Of this, how- 
ever, there is not a particle of evidence. Dif- 
ferent and opposing lists are given of his sup- 
posed immediate successors, which have been 
mentioned in this work (page 48, note), but as 
Romish writers disagree among themselves, we 
shall commence our chronological catalogue of 
the bishops of Rome, with Victor, who is the 
first of whom anything of importance is cer- 
tainly known. The names previous to Victor, 
generally inserted in the catalogues by apos- 
tolic successionists, sometimes in one order 
and sometimes in another, are Linus, Cletus, or 
Anacletus (sometimes one and sometimes two 
persons), Clement, Evaristus, Alexander, Six- 
tus, Telesphorus, Hyginus, Pius, Anicetus, So- 
ter, and Eleutherius. 

100. Death of the apostle John, the last of the 
apostles. 

192. t VICTOR, bishop of Rome. In the dispute 
with the eastern Christians about the time of 
observing Easter, Victor excluded them from 
fellowship with the church of Rome. This 
is the first instance on record of this kind of 
Romish tyranny and assumption. His excom- 
munication of the eastern Christians was re- 
garded f>v them as of no authority whatever. 
(See p. 32.) 

201. jZEPHYRINUS 

219. tCALIXTUS. 

223. | URBANUS. 

230. fPONTIANUS. 

235. t ANTERIUS. 

236. jFABIANUS. 

250. Paul the hermit, during the persecution <>(' 
Decius, betakes himself to the deserts of Egypt, 
when' he lives lor upwards of 90 years. 

251. t CORNELIUS. 

252. f LUCIUS. 

253. | STEPHEN. 

256. Council' of Carthago relative to the baptism 

of heretics. St. Cyprian excomm cated by 

Stephen, bfshop nf Rome, for deciding con- 
trary to his opinion in this council. HI I I 
communication regarded as of no authority, 



which is a proof that papal supremacy was 
not yet established. 

257. fSIXTUS II. 

258. Martyrdom of Cyprian, bishop of Carthage. 

259. fDIONYSIUS. 

269. f FELIX. 

270. About this time, Anthony, an Egyptian, the 
founder of Monasticism, retires to the deserts, 
where he continued till his death in 35G, at the 
age of 105. 

275. jEUTYCHIANUS. 
283. tCAIUS. 
296. fMARCELLINUS. 
308. jMARCELLUS. 

310. fEUSEBIUS. 

311. fMELCHIADES. 

312. Supposed miraculous conversion of the em- 
peror Constantine. He takes Christianity un- 
der the patronage of the State. 

314. t SYLVESTER. 

314. Ministers forbidden to marry after ordination 

at the council of Ancyra. 
325. First General Council at JV/'c*. Arian- 

Ism Condemned, and the Nicene weed framed. 

336. tMARK. 

337. t JULIUS 

347. Council of Sardis allows ol" appeals to 

Rome. One of the first steps tow aid papal 

supremacy. 
352. tLlBERIDB. 

356. Death of Anthony the hermit, aged 105. 
363. Attempt of Julian the apostate to rebuild the 

temple at Jerusalem frustrated. 
366. D LMASTJS. Bloody contest i» t^> 

masus and I rival competitor tor 

the See of Rome. 131 persons killed m the 

church itself 
373. Law of Valentlnlan, empowi i 

ol Rome i" |udge other bishops. 

ttantinopte. Thedlstlncl personality tind deity 
of the Boly Spmt declared! In opposition to 
the tenets ol Biacedonlua. 



802 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 



384. t SIR1CIUS. The first bishop of Rome who 
issued decrees enjoining celibacy on the clergy. 

386. St. Ambrose professes miraculously to dis- 
cover the bodies of two saints, as he could not 
consecrate the church at Milan without relics. 

395. Jerome translates the bible into the Latin 
Vulgate. 

398. fANASTASIUS. 

402. f INNOCENT. 

410. Rome besieged and sacked by Alaric, king 
of the Goths. 

417. tZOSIMUS. 

417. Appeal of Apiarius, a presbyter of Africa, to 
Zosimus, bishop of Rome. The decree of 
Zosimus in his favor rejected by the African 
bishops, and their own independence asserted, 
proving that papal supremacy was not yet es- 
tablished. 

419. 1 BONIFACE. 

422. fCELESTINE 

430. Death of Augustine, bishop of Hippo. 

431. Third General Council, at Ephesus, con- 
demns Nestorius for refusing to apply to the 
Virgin Mary, the title of '• Mother of God." 
The result of this controversy contributes much 
toward originating the idolatrous worship of 
the Virgin. Opinions ot Pelagius also con- 
demned. 

432. fSIXTU3 IIT. 

440 |LEO THE GREAT. 

451. Fourth General Council at Chalcednn. 
The opinions of Eutyches condemned, relative 
to the nature of Christ. This council decrees 
the same rights and honors 10 the bishop of 
Constantinople as to the bishop of Rome. 

452. Leo, bishop of Rome, visits the camp of the 
ferocious Attila, king of the Huns, and pre- 
vails upon him to retire fiom Italy. 

454. Rome taken and pillaged by Genseric, king 
of the Vandals. 

461. tHILARIUS. 

461. Death of Symeon Stylites, the pillar saint, 
aged 69, after spending 47 years on tops of dif- 
ferent columns ; the last of which was 60 feet 
high. 

467. fSIMPLIClUS. 

476. End of the Western empire. Augustulus de- 
posed and banished by Odoacer, the Gothic 
conqueror, king of the Heruli. 

483. f FELIX II. 

492. fGELASIUS. 

496. fANASTASIUS II. 

496. Dec. 25, Clovis, king of the Franks, baptized 
with 3000 of his subjects. 

498. jSYMMACHUS. 

500. Fierce and bloody schism at Rome between 
the rival bishops Symmachus and Laurentius. 

514. tHORMlSDAS. 

523. tJOHN. 

526. f FELIX. 

529. Benedict founds the order of Benedictine 
monks, and builds his monastery on Mount 
Cassino. The monks of Clugni, the Carthu- 
sians, the Cistercians, and the Celestines, es- 
tablished in after ages, were regarded as dif- 
ferent branches of the Benedictine order. 

530. f RONIFACE II. Another disgraceful \ 
schism at Rome between Boniface II. and Di- 
oscurus. 

532. f JOHN II. 

535. f AGAPETUS. 

536. fSILVERIUS. 

537. t VIGILIUS, who succeeds Silverius, after 
intriguing with the Emperor to drive him from 
his See. 



553. Fifth General Council, second of Con- 
stantinople. The opinions of Origen con- 
demned. 

555. tPELAGrUS. 

560. tJOHN III. 

574. | BENEDICT. 

578. j PELAGIUS II. 

590. f GREGORY THE GREAT. 

591. Gregory strenuously opposes the title of 
Universal Bishop, which had been assumed 
by the bishop of Constantinople, and pro- 
nounces him who accepts it to have the pride 
and character of ami- Christ. In opposition to 
it, hypocritically adopts for himself the title 
' Servus Servorum Dei ' — 'Servant of the ser- 
vants of God." 

596. Augustin the monk lands in Kent, England, 
as a missionary from Rome. Ten thousand 
baptized on Christmas day. 

601. Gregory orders that images should be used 
in churches, but not worshipped. 

602. Phocas, a centurion, cruelly murders the em- 
peror Mauritius, his wife and children, and 
usurps his throne 

605. tSABINIAN. 

606. t POPE BONIFACE III. EPOCH OF THE 
PAPAL SUPREMACY. Birth of Popery pro- 
per. Boniface obtains from the tyrant and 
murderer Phocas the title of Universal 
Bishop, and the Pope is thus proved to be 
anti-Christ, Saint Gregory being witness. 
Boniface, properly speaking, was the first of 
the popes. 

608. f BONIFACE IV. 

615. tDEUSDEDIT. 

619. t BONIFACE V. 

622. Era of the Hegira, or flight of Mahomet 
from Mecca to Medina. 

625. tHONORIUS. 

634. Commencement of the Monothelite contro- 
versy. 

636. Jerusalem taken by the Saracens under 
Omar, who retain it 429 years, till taken by 
the Turks in 1065. 

638. tSEVERINUS. 

610. fJOHN IV. 

642. f THEODORE. 

649. t MARTIN, who was banished by the em- 
peror Constans II. to Taurica Chersonesus, 
where he died. 

656. jEUGENIUS. 

657. f VITA LI ANUS. 

667. The Pope by his sole authority appoints Theo- 
dore, archbishop of Canterbury, who is de- 
tained three months at Rome to have his head 
shaved with the Romish tonsure. 

672. tADEODATUS. 

676. fDONUS. 

678. fAGATHO. 

630. Sixth General Council, third of Constan- 
tinople, condemns Monothelitism and anathe* 
matizes pope Honorius for heresy. 

682. tLEO II. 

684. t BENEDICT II., who obtains a decree 
from the emperor Constantine IV., permitting 
the election of popes without imperial con- 
firmation. Revoked by Justinian two years 
after. 

685. fJOHN V. 

686. fCONON. 

687. tSERGIUS. 

692. The council at Constantinople called Qnini- 
sext, because regarded as supplementary to 
the fifth and sixth general councils. Caused 
great contention between the East and West. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



803 



701. fJOHN VI. 

715. JJOHN VII. 

708. tSISlNNIUS 

708. t CONST ANTINB. 

710. The emperor Justinian kisses the feet of pope 
Constantine, while on a visit to Constantinople. 
Supposed to be the origin of the custom of 
kissing the Pope's feet. 

715. t GREGORY II. 

726. Commencement of the great controversy on 
image worship. The emperor Leo issues his 
first decree against image-worship. 

730. Leo's second decree enjoining the removal or 
destruction of images, occasions tumults at 
Constantinople and Rome. 

732. f GREGORY III. 

734. The Emperor sends a fleet against the re- 
fractory Romans, which is lost at sea. 

740. Luitprand, king of the Lombards, invades 
and lays waste the papal territories, and the 
Pope applies for help toCharles Martel, mayor 
of the palace in France. 

741. Death of the emperor Leo, the great opposer, 
' and pope Gregory, the great advocate of 

image worship, and also of Charles Martel, all 
in the same year. 
741. fZACHARY. 

751. PEPIN of France, son of Martel, encouraged 
by pope Zachary, dethrones king Childeric 
III. of France, and usurps his place. 

752. f STEPHEN II. 

754. Council at Constantinople, called by the em- 
peror Constantine V., condemns image-wor- 
ship. The Greek church claims this as the 
seventh general council. The Romish church 
denies it. 

756. EPOCH OF THE POPES' TEMPORAL 
SOVEREIGNTY. Pepin of France compels 
Aistulphus, king of the Lombards, to yield up 
the exarchate of Ravenna, to the See of Rome, 
which thus becomes a temporal monarchy. 

757. fPAUL. 

767. t STEPHEN III. 

772. f ADRIAN. 

772. CHARLEMAGNE of France, son of Pepin. 

774 Charlemagne visits Rome, and confirms and 
enlarges the donation of Pepin. 

781. Charlemagne visits Rome a second time, and 
causes his son Carloman to be crowned king 
of Lombardy, and Lewis, king of Aqui faille. 

787. Skvknth General Council. The infamous 
empress Irene convenes the second council of 
Nice, called by the Latins the seventh general 
council, which establishes the worship of 
images. 

794. The body of Albanus, the proto-ninrtyr of 
Britain, said to be revealed to Of fa, king of 
Mercia, who build St. Alban's monastery. 

795. fLEO III. 

800. Charlemagne crowned kmpkror of the 

Romans by pope Leo, at Rome. 
817. t PASCHAL. 
824. jEUGENIUS II. 
S27. t VALENTINE. 

827. * EGBERT of England, who unites the se- 
ven kingdoms of the Saxon Heptarchy into 
one kingdom. 

828. \ GREGORY IV. 

831. Paschasius Radbert, the inventor of Ttanaub 
Btantiation, publishes his treatise on tint sub- 
ject. 

EH. jSERGIUS II. This pope changed his 

original na >f Os Porch upon the pretoxl of 

Imitating the Saviour, who altered Simon to 

Peter. This is the origin of the ensicun th.it 

has over since been followed of every pope 
fUHUjaiing anew appellative after his election, 



847. Rabanus Maurus writes in opposition to Pas- 
chasius, against the newly-invented doctrine 
of Transubstantiation. 

855. t BENEDICT III. 

858. t NICHOLAS. 

863. t Fatal schism between the Latin and the 
Orcek churches. Pope Nicholas excommuni- 
cates Photius, who had been appointed patri- 
arch of Constantinople by the emperor Michael, 
in the place of Ignatius, upon the appeal of the 
latter to Nicholas. The excommu-icaiion is 
disregarded, and Photius in his turn excommu- 
nicates the Pope. 

867. | ADRIAN II. 

869. Eiohth General Council, the fourth of 
Constantinople. At this council the legates of 
pope Adrian presided ; Photius, the patriarch 
of Constantinople, was deposed, and the ban- 
ished patriarch Ignatius appointed in his stead, 
who had been recalled from his exile by the 
emperor Basil, the murderer of his predecessor. 
This proceeding partially healed the schism 
between the Latin and Greek churches. 

872. tJOHN VIII. 

872. * ALFRED THE GREAT, of England. 

875. CHARLESTHEBALD.grandson of Charle- 
magne, after a fierce contest with other de- 
scendants of Charlemagne, crowned Emperor 
at Rome on Christmas day, by pope John VIII., 
who was rewarded by Charles with many 
costly presents. From this time, the popes 
claimed the right of confirming the election of 
the emperors. 

882. jMARINUS. 

884. 1 ADRIAN III. 

885. t STEPHEN V. 
891. fFORMOSUS. 
896. | BONIFACE VI. 

896. f STEPHEN VI. 

897. f ROMANUS. 

898. f THEODORE II. 
898. f JOHN IX. 

900. t lENEDICP IV 
903. tLEO V. 

903. t CHRISTOPHER. 

904. fSERGIUS III. At this time a notorious 
prostitute named Theodora and her two equal- 
ly infamous daughters, Theodora and Marozia, 
ruled at Rome, and appointed popes by their 
influence. Pope Sergius had a bastard son by 
Marozia, who was afterward made pope 
(.John XI.), through the influence of his mother. 

911. tANASTASIUS III 

913. fLANDO. 

914. tJOHN X. 
929. 1 LEO VI. 

929. t*TEPHEN VII. 

931. JOHN XI. He was the bastard son of the 

harlot Marozia, by pope Sergius 111. 
936. t LEO VII. 
939. f STEPHEN VIII. 
941. Dunstan, the English monk, made abbot of 

Qlastonbury. 

912. [MAIJI.MS II. 
948. fAGAPETUS n. 
9. r >6. 1JOIIN XII. 

960. Dunstan made archbishop of Canterbury. 
963. fLEO Viii. 
B65. [JOHN Mil. 

968. Custom of baptising belli Introduced by popo 

.luh 1 1 \ III., who places a new bell In the Late- 
ral), w huh he hapli/.es by tin- name ol John. 

969. v commission granted bj king Bdgar 10 
Dunstan against the murrled clorgj ol England* 

979. | HEN' EDICT VI. 



804 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



974. fDONUS H. 

975. j BENEDICT VII. 

984. fJOHN XIV. 

985. jJOHN XV. 

988. Death of Saint Dunstan. 
993. Pope John XV. canonizes Saint Udalric. 
This is the first time a pope exercised alone 
the prerogative of saint-making. In this year 
the feast of All Souls was established, through 
the influence of Odilo, abbot of Clugni. 
996. f GREGORY V. 
999. t SILVESTER II. 

1000. About this time a wide-spread panic pre- 
vailed relative to the expected conflagration 
of the earth. 
1003. fJOHN XVII. 
1003. tJOHN XVIII. 
1009. tSERGIUS IV. 
1012. t BENEDICT VIII. 
1024. fJOHN XIX. 
1033. f BENEDICT IX. 

1045. Berenger of Tours publicly opposes Transub- 
stantiation. 

1045. f GREGORY VI. 

1046. f CLEMENT VI. 

1047. t DAM ASUS II. 

1048. fLEO IX. 

1054. The schism between the Greek and Latin 
churches made irreparable. Vehement dispute 
between the patriarch Michael Cerularius and 
pope Leo IX. Three papal legates sent to 
Constantinople, who, before their return, pub- 
licly excommunicate Cerularius and all his ad- 
herents; who afterward excommunicates the 
legates and their followers, and burns the act 
of excommunication they had pronounced 
against the Greeks. 

1055. t VICTOR II. The monk Hildebrand, after- 
ward pope Gregory VII., empowered to go to 
Germany, and select a pope. Nominates Vic- 
tor II., who is chosen. 

1056. HENRY IV., emperor of Germany. 

1057. f STEPHEN IX. 

1058. t BENEDICT X. 

1058. t NICHOLAS II. 

1059. Origin of the college of Cardinals. Pope 
Nicholas issues a decree confining the elec- 
tion of future popes to the college of Cardinals. 
and granting to the great body of the clergy 
and the Roman people, who had heretofore 
had a vote in the elections, only a negative 
power. This negative power was annulled a 
century later under pope Alexander III. 

1061 t ALEXANDER II. 

1065. Jerusalem taken by the Turks from the Sara- 
cens. 

1066. * WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. Con- 
quest of England, under the sanction of the 
Pope, by William of Normandy. 

1073. t GREGORY VII., or HILDEBRAND. 

1075. Commencement of the controversy between 
the Pope and the Emperor relative to investi- 
tures of bishops. 

1077 The emperor Henry IV. excommunicated 
and deposed by pope Gregory VII., and his 
subjects absolved from their allegiance. Sub- 
mits to the Pope, and stands three days in the 
court of the Pope's palace before admitted to 
his presence. 

1078. Berenger compelled to renounce his opinions 
against Transubstantiation. 

1086. t VICTOR III. 

1087. * WILLIAM II. (Rufus) of England. 

1088. t URBAN II. 

1088 Berenger dies persisting in his opinions against 



Transubstantiation, and bitterly repenting his 
dissimulation. 

1091. Under pope Urban, the ceremony of sprink- 
ling the forehead with ashes on Ash-Wednes- 
day is established, in a council at Benevento. 

1095. First invention of rosaries to pray by. 

1095. Crusades to the Holy Land resolved on ia 
the council of Clermont, under pope Urban. 
First Crusade under Peter the hermit. 

1098. Council at Rome, in which pope Urban ar- 
gues against clerical homage to kings, because 
to priests it is granted "to create God, the 
Creator of all things. 1 ' 

1099. t PASCHAL II. 

1099. Jerusalem taken by the Crusaders. 

1100. * HENRY I., of England. 

1109. Death of Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, 
after a fierce contest with king Henry, who is 
in no haste to appoint a successor. 

1113. Knights of John of Jerusalem associated. 

1118. jGELASIUS II. 

1118. Order of Knights Templars formed. 

1119. jCALIXTUS II. 

1122. Ninth General Council. First itf the 
Lateran palace at Rome chiefly on the subject 
of investitures. Plenary indulgence granted 
to crusaders to Palestine. 

1124. fHONORIUS II. 

1126. The Pope grants a commission to his legate, 
cardinal Crema, against the married clergy of 
England, who is himself detected in the gross- 
est licentiousness, the night after the national 
council. 

1130. t INNOCENT II. 

1135. * STEPHEN (of BJojs), king of England. 

1139. Tenth General Council, second of Late- 
ran, relative to a schism in the papacy, caused 
by the claims of Peter Leo, called by his ad- 
herents Anacletus II. The doctrines of Arnold 
of Brescia condemned, who had maintained 
that the Pope and the priesthood should only 
possess a spiritual authority, and be supported 
by the voluntary offerings of the people. 

1143. j CELESTINE II. 

1144. | LUCIUS II. 
1115. fEUGENIUS III. 

1147. Second crusade, excited by St. Bernard. 
1152. FREDERICK (Barbarossa), of Germany. 

1152. Gratian's papal decretals collected. 

1153. fANASTASIUS IV. 

1154. f ADRIAN IV. 

1154. * HENRY II. (Plantagenet), king of England. 

1155. Arnold of Brescia burnt. 

1155. King Henry receives Ireland as a gift from 
pope Adrian. Commencement of the contest 
between the popes and the emperor Frederick 
Barbarossa. 

1159. t ALEXANDER III. 

1159. Thirty dissenters from Popery are persecuted 
to death in England. First instances of death 
for heresy in that country. 
159. Peter Waldo preaches against the corruptions 
of Popery. 

1161. Kings Henry II. of England, and Louis VII. 
of France, lead together the Pope's horse at 
the castle of Toici on the Loire. 

1163. Beginning of the dispute between the king 
of England and Thomas a Becket. 

1171. Murder of Becket, who is soon after canon- 
ized. 

1177. Frederick Barbarossa leads the Pope's mule 
through St. Marks Square. 

1179. Eleventh General Council, third of 
Lateran. Pope Alexander issues a violent 
and cruel edict again&t the Albigenses, or Wal- 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



805 



denses. At this council it was ordained that a 
two-thirds vote of the cardinals should in fu- 
ture be necessary to the election of a pope. 
1181. t LUCIUS III. 

1184. Pope Lucius issues a cruel edict against the 
Waldensian heretics. 

1185. f URBAN III. 
1187. t GREGORY VIII. 

1187. Jerusalem re-taken by Saladin. 

1188. t CLEMENT III. 

1189. * RICHARD II. (Coeur de Lion), of England. 
1189. Third crusade, under king Richard of Eng- 
land, and Philip Augustus of France. 

1191. t CELESTINE III. 

1192. Battle of Ascalon. Saladin defeated by 
Richard,rCceur de Lion. 

1198. t INNOCENT III. 

1198. Pope Innocent sends his orders to king Rich- 
ard of England, and the archbishop of Can- 
to bury, to demolish the works of an episcopal 
palace commenced at Lambeth, which they re- 
luctantly obeyed in the January and February 
following. With this year the Annals of 
Baronius close, and the Annals of Raynaldus 
commence. 

1199. *JOHN of England. 

1202. Fourth crusade sets out from Venice. 

1207. Pope Innocent and his legate excommunicate 
count Raimond of Thoulouse for refusing to 
exterminate his heretical subjects. Compels a 
few monks at Rome to choose Langton arch- 
bishop of Canterbury. Commencement of the 
Mendicant orders, the Dominicans and Fran- 
ciscans. 

1208. In consequence of king John s opposition to 
Langton, the Pope lays England under an in- 
terdict. 

1209. Otho crowned Emperor at Rome, after tak- 
ing an oath of allegiance to the Pope. Cru- 
sade against the Albigenses in Fiance com- 
menced. Destruction of Beziers, &c. 

1211. King John excommunicated. Lavaur taken 
by the bloody Montfort and the crusaders in 
France, and the inhabitants burnt for heresy. 

1212. FREDERICK II., of Germany. 

1213. King John's disgraceful submission to Pan- 
dulph, the Pope's Legate. Yields up his king- 
dom, and receives it back as a vassal of the 
Pope. 

1215. Twelfth General Council, fourth of 
Lateran. Transubstantiation first declared an 
article of faith. Auricular confession, to a 
priest enjoined at least once a year. Decree 
of pope Innocent 111. passed for the persecu- 
tion of heretics, and enjoining upon all princes 
the duty of extirpating them out of their do- 
minions. In the same council, Innocent ex- 
communicated the barons of England, lor their 
opposition to his now faithful vassal, king 
John. 

1215. Magna Gharta, the great charter of English 
liberty, extorted by the barons of England 
from king John, who signs it at Runnymede. 

J2IG. * HENRY III , of England. 

1210. jHONORIUS III. 

1227. f GREGORY IX. 

1228. The emperor Frederick makes an expedition 

to Palestine, and the Pope invades his do- 
minions in his absence. 

1233. The Inquisition established, ami committed 
to the charge of the Ddminicans. 

1239. Frederick is publicly and solemnlj excommu 
nicated on account of his quarrel with pope 

Gregory. 

1211. f CELESTINE IV. 
1243. t INNOCENT IV. 

1245. Thirteenth General Council. First 



of Lyons. The emperor Frederick deposed 
by pope Innocent IV. The Cardinals first dis 
tinguished in this council by the red hat. 

1248. Fifth crusade, under St. Louis of France. 

1250. Frederick II. dies after a long and successful 
opposition both to the temporal and spiritual 
weapons of the Pope. 

1254. t ALEXANDER IV. 

1261. f URBAN IV. 

1264. The festival of Corpus Chrisii, or body of 
Christ, in which the consecrated wafer is car- 
ried about in procession, instituted by pope 
Urban IV. 

1265. f CLEMENT IX. 

1265. Charles of Anjou, at the invitation of the 
Pope, invades Sicily; kills Manfred, son of 
Frederick II., the head of the Ghibeline party, 
and usurps his throne. 

1268. t GREGORY X. 

1272. * EDWARD I., of England. 

1274. Fourteenth General Council. Second 
of Lyons. To consider the re-union of the 
Greek and Latin churches, and the state of 
the Christians in Palestine. Election of popes 
in conclave decreed. 

1276. t INNOCENT V. 

1276. | ADRIAN V. 

1277. t NICHOLAS III. 

1278. Pope Nicholas III. obtains from the emperor 
Rudolph of Hapsburg, a deed of the independ- 
ence of the Papal States on the Empire. 

1280. f MARTIN IV. 

1281. Pope Martin excommunicates the emperor 
of Constantinople. 

1282. The Sicilian vespers, a massacre in which 
more than 4000 French were destroyed in 
Sicily. 

1285. fHONORIUS IV. 

1288. f NICHOLAS IV. 

1292. f CELESTINE V., the hermit. 

1294. j BONIFACE VIII. This haughty and ty- 
rannical man ascends the papal throne after 
persuading the simple-minded Celestine to re- 
sign. 

1298. OTTOMAN, or OTI-IMAN, the founder and 
first Sultan of the Turkish empire. 

1300. Establishment of the Romish Jubilee. A 
vast multitude at the Jubilee of Boniface at 
Rome. Commencement of the quarrel be- 
tween pope Boniface and Philip the Fair of 
France. Boniface issues his famous bull 
Unam SaJictam. 

1303. | BENEDICT XI. 

1304. j CLEMENT V. 

1305. Commencement of the residence of the 

popes at Avignon in fiance, frequently called 

by the Romans the Seventy \eais captivity in 

Babylon. 
1307. * EDWARD II. 
1309. Fn tkknth General Council, at rimnr, 

in France. The order of Knights Templars 

suppressed, and many of them cruelly toiiuivd 
and slain upon most absurd charges. 

1311 t.lOHN XXII. 

1324. Birth of the English Reformer, John Wick- 
cm i. the n tag star of the Reformation. 

1327. » EBW \KI) ill. 

1331. f BENEDICT \n 

1342. f CLEMENT vi„ who reduce! the time o( 

the Jubilee to once in ..0 >eai<. 

1347. Suppression of the Flagellant* orrelf-wbjp- 

pers, on account ol tin h en uality. 
1350. Celebrated Jubilee of Clement VI, at Rome. 
1353. t INNOCENT \ t, 
1362. 1 1' Kit AN V. 



806 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



1354. Wiekliff dies, and is buried in the chancel 

of his church at Lutterworth. 
1359. f BONIFACE IX. 

1399. * HENRY IV. 

1400. Cruel outrage of the papists upon the Wal- 
denses in the valley of Pragela. 

1404. f INNOCENT YH. 
1406. f GREGORY XII. 
1409. t ALEXANDER V. 

1409. Council of Pisa, called by some writers the 
Sixteenth General Council, assembles to heal 
the papal Schism, but only makes it worse by 
electing a third pope, known as Alexander V. 
There were now three rival popes, cursing and 
excommunicating each other. 

1410. f JOHN XXHI. 

1410. John Huss excommunicated by the Pope. 

1413. * HENRY V. of England. 

1414-1413. Sixteenth General Cot:ncil, at Con- 
stance, which condemns John Huss and Je- 
rome, who are burnt alive, orders Wick- 
IirT's bones to be dug up and burnt, and ter- 
minates the Western Schism by the election 
of pope Martin V. 

1417. f MARTIN V. 

1418. John Oldcastle (Lord Cobham) roasted alive 
by the papists in England. 

1423."* HENRY VI. 

1424. Death of John Zisca of Bohemia. 

1423. The bones of Wiekliff, the first translator of 
the New Testament into English, dug up and 
burned. 44 years after his death, according to 
the sentence of the council of Constance. - 

1431. f EUGENICS IV. 

1431-1443. Council of Basil, regarded by some as a 
General Council. Protracted quarrel between , 
this council and pope Eugenius, with his oppo- j 
sition council of Ferrara. 

143T. Seventeenth General Council, at Fer- 
rara, and afterwards at Florence. Sustains 
the cause of pope Eusenius asainst the council , 
of Basil. 

1444. Invention of printing. 

1447. f NICHOLAS Y. 

1450. Jubilee of pope Nicholas at Rome. Acci- 
dent by which ninety- seven persons were 
thrown from the bridge of St. Angelo and 
drowned, in consequence of the throng. 

1453. Capture of Constantinople by the Turks. 

1455- t CALIXTUS HX 

1458. fPIUS H. ^Eneas Sylvius). 

1461. * EDWARD IV. of England. 

1464. fPAUL H. 

1471. t SIXTUS IV. 

1473. Pope Sixtus issues his bulls against the free- 
dom of the press. 



1371. tGREGORY XI 1453. * EDWARD V. of England. 

1373. Birth of John Huss, the Bohemian reformer 1433. * RICHARD HI. of England. 

and martyr. . 1433. Birth of Martin Luther* the' great German 

13,4. Pope Gregory XL, at the persuasions of ' reformer. 

Saint Catherine of Sienna, removes his court ^34 * INNOCENT YTH 

from Avignon to Rome. End of the seventy ,.«- Inunrovin <• ^ , 3 

years' captivity. 1 14 ^° HENRY \ II of England. 

137~" * RICHARD II. 1487. Pope Innocent YHI. issues a violent bull 

1373. * URBAN YI. Tumult of the populace at ' , ,*' the eiti n»f ° of ^ Waldenses. 

Rome for an Italian pope, in consequence of : uyi _ Conquest of Granada by Ferdinand and 

which Urban YI. is elected. The cardinals Isabella. End of the Moorish kingdom in 

retire to Fondi, and elect another pope, the : &pain. 

cardinal of Geneva, known as Clement YII. 1491. Birth of Ignatius Loyala, the founder of the 

This is the origin of the Great Western Schism, j Jesuits. 

which con- in ued till the election of Martin Y. . 1492. f ALEXANDER YI., the Devil's master- 

bv the council ot Constance, A. D. 1417. John piece 

U? Pof P*™ tiS Vmk "°° "* SCtiSm ° f I US2 - Columbus discovered America. 

America to the Spaniards. 

1501. Pope Alexander YI. decrees that no book 
shall be printed in any diocess without the 
sanction of the bishop. " 

1502. Tetzel, the Dominican friar, appointed seller 
of indulgences. 

j 1503. f JULIUS II.. the warrior. 
1506. Foundation stone of St. Peter's church laid 
by pope Julius. 

1509. * HENRY Y1TI. of England. 

1510. Luther dispatched on a journey to Rome on 
behalf of his monastery at Wittemberg. 

1511. Council of Pisa. They quarrel with pope 
Julius, and pass a decree suspending him from 
his office. 

1512-1517. Fifth council of Lateran. The pro- 
ceedings of the council of Pisa annulled and 
condemned by order of pope Julius. Decrees 
passed forbidding, under heavy penalties, the 
freedom of the press, and enjoining the extirpa- 
tion of heretics. 

1513. tLEO X. 

1515. FRANCIS I. of France. 

1516. CHARLES Y., emperor 

1516. Zwingle, the Swiss reformer, besins to pub- 
lish the gospel at the convent of Einsidlen. 

1517. Luther begins his opposition to the proceed- 
ings of Tetzel, the peddler of indulgences. 
Oct. 31. Fixes his theses against indulgences to 
the door of the church at Wittemberg. 

1518. August 23d. Cardinal Cajetan commissioned 
as legate by pope Leo to reduce Luther to sub- 
mission. 

October 7-17th. Luther at Augsburg before 
Cajetan. 

November 28th. Luther appeals from thePopo 
to a general council. 

December. Zwingle appointed preacher in the 
cathedral of Zurich, in Switzerland. 

1520. June 15. Bull of pope Leo anathematizing the 
books and doctrines of Luther. 
October 6th. Luther publishes his famous 
tract on the Babylonish captivity of the church. 
December 10th. Luther bums the Pope's bull 
in Wittemberg. 

1521. Cortez completes his conquest of Mexico 

1521. January 3d. Leo issues his hull excommuni- 
cating Luther as an incorrigible heretic. 
April 17. Luther's first appearance before the 
Diet of Worms. 

April 28. On his return from the Diet, he is 
seized and confined in the castle of Wartburg. 
where he translates the New Testament into 
German. 

1522. + ADRIAN YI. 

1523. t CLEMENT YD! 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



807 



1525. Battle of Pavia. Francis I. taken prisoner 

by Charles V. 
1529. Diet of Spires, in which the popish party 

triumphed. Reformers called Protestants 

for protesting against the decision of this Diet. 
1534. tPAUL III. 
1534. Ignatius Loyal a, Lainez, Xavier, and four 

others, form themselves into "the Society 

of Jesus." 
1540. The order of Jesuits sanctioned by a bull 

of pope Paul. 
1540. Dissolution of monasteries in England by 

Henry VIII. 

1545. Eighteenth General Council at Trent 
begins Dec. 13th. 

1546. Feb. 18th. Luther's death during a visit to 
his native village at Eisleben. 

1547. * EDWARD VI. of England. 
1550. f JULIUS III. 

1552. Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Indians, 
dies in sight of China. 

1553. * MARY of England. 
1555. t MARCELLUS II. 
1555. jPAUL IV. 

1555. Queen Mary begins her persecutions. 
Oct. 16th. Latimer and Ridley burnt. 

1556. March 21st. Cranmer burnt. 
1558. * ELIZABETH of England. 
1560. fPlUS IV. 

1560. CHARLES IX. of France. 

1560. Inquiry in Spain relative to priestly solicita- 
tion of females at confession. Number of 
criminals found so great that the Inquisition 
deemed it expedient to hush it up, and consign 
the depositions to oblivion. 

1560. Horrible butchery of the Waldenses of Cala- 
bria, by order of Pius IV. 

1560. Reformation in Scotland, completed by John 
Knox. 

1563. December 4th. Closing session of the council 
of Trent. 

1566. fPIUS V. 

1569. Pope Pius V. issues his bull of excommuni- 
cation and deposition against queen Elizabeth. 

1572. t GREGORY XIII. 

1572. August 24. The horrible massacre of St. Bar- 
tholomew's in France. 

1582. The New Style introduced into Italy by pope 
Gregory, who ordered the 5th of October to be 
counted the 15th. 

1585. fSIXTUS V. 

1587. Mary, queen of Scots, beheaded. 

1590. fURHAN VII. 

1590. t GREGORY XIV. 

1591. t INNOCENT IX. 

1592. r CLEMENT VIII. 

1596. Baronius, the great Romish annalist, raised 

to the dignity of Cardinal. 
1598. Tolerating edict in France, called the edict 

of Nantes. 

1603. * JAMES I. of England. 

1604. Jesuits expelled from England by royal pro- 
clamation. 

1605. The gunpowder plot of the Jesuit Game] 
and others, to blow up the Englilh king and 
both houses of parliament. 

1606. t LEO XI. 
icon. tPAUL V. 

1609. Galileo discovert the Satellites of Jupiter. 

10-21. t GREGORY XV. 

lirll. Establishment of the Congregation De Pro 

pnganda Fide ai Some. 
1623 t URBAN VIII. 



1625. * CHARLES I. of England. 

1627. Establishment of the College De Propaganda 
Fide. 

1631. Daille writes his celebrated work on the 
Fathers. 

1633. Galileo imprisoned by the Inquisition for as- 
serting that the earth moves. 

1641. October 23. Irish rebellion, and bloody mas- 
sacre of the Protestants. 

1643. LOUIS XIV. of France. 

1644. f INNOCENT X. 

1649. * COMMONWEALTH. Oliver Cromwell. 

1655. | ALEXANDER VII. 

1660. * CHARLES II. of England. 

1666. Great fire of London. 

1667. t CLEMENT IX. 
1670. t CLEMENT X. 
1676. t INNOCENT XL 
1685. * JAMES II. 

1685. Revocation of the edict of Nantes by LouLa 
XIV. Renewal of cruel persecutions in France. 

1689. * WILLIAM III. and MARY of England. 

1689. t ALEXANDER VIII. 

1692. f INNOCENT XII 

1700. f CLEMENT XL 

1702. *ANNE of England. 

1704. Pope Clement XI. decides against the Jesuits' 
mode of converting the Chinese, by adopting 
their heathen ceremonies. 

1713. Pope Clement's bull unigtnitus, against the 
Jansenist Quesnel's work on the New Testa- 
ment. 

1714. * GEORGE I. of England. 

1715. LOUIS XV. of France. 

1715. Pope Clement's second decree allowing the 
Chinese heathen ceremonies in Christian wor- 
ship, if regarded as civil and not religious in- 
stitutions. 

1724. f BENEDICT XIII. 

1727. * GEORGE II. of England. 

1730. f CLEMENT XII. 

1740. t BENEDICT XIV. 

1752. New Style introduced in Britain. Septem- 
ber 3d reckoned 14th. 

1758. f CLEMENT XIII. 

1759. Jesuits expelled from Portugal. 

1760. * GEORGE III. of England. 

1762. Martyrdom of the Huguenot pastor Rochet'e 
and the brothers Grenier, at Thoulouse la 
France. 

1764. Jesuits expelled from France. 

1767. " " from Spain. 

17C8. " " from the Two Sicilies and 

Parma. 

1769. t CLEMENT XIV. 

1773. July Slat Bull of pope Ganganelll, or Cle- 
ment XIV., finally abolishing the ouler of the 
Jesuits. 

1774. THUS VI. 

1774. LOUIS XVI. Of Frame. 

1781. November 7th. A woman burnt alive :it Se- 
ville. The last public burning of the Inquisi- 
tion in Bpain. 

1798. The papal government suppressed by the 
French. 

Feb. B6\ The Pope quits Rome, and retires Ibi 
refuge to aconveni aeai Flon nee. Ifterward 
transferred to France, when he died n Au- 

gUBt, 1799. 

1800, fPIUS vii. The Cardinals ai Vei 

cardinal Chlaramontl as Pope, " hois oroivned 
:it Venice <"i ti><' - 1 * 1 ol starch, 



808 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



1900. July 25. Bonaparte restores the Pope to his 
sovereignty at Rome, who makes his public 
entry July 25th. 

1808. The Inquisition in Spain suppressed by Bona- 
parte. 

1809. Pope Pius VII. deposed by the French (May 
17th), and taken captive to France. 

1814. The Pope is restored to freedom and power, 
after a captivity of five years, upon the over- 
throw of Bonaparte by the allied armies. 

1814. July 21st. Inquisition in Spain re-established 
upon" the restoration of the Catholic king Fer- 
dinand VII. 

1814. August 7th. Bull of pope Pius VII. restoring 
the order of the Jesuits. 

1820. * GEORGE IV. of England. 

1820. Inquisition In Spain finally suppressed by 
tbe Cortes. 

1822. t LEO XII. 

1825. The last popish Jubilee at Rome. 

1829 jPIUS VIII. 

1830. * WILLIAM IV. of England. 

1831. t GREGORY XVI. 

L»37. Persecutions by the papists of the protestant 
exiles of Zillerthal, who are driven from their 



homes in the Tyrol, to seek an asylum in 
Prussia. 

1837. * VICTORIA of England. 

1842. October 27th. Public burning of bibles by 
the Romish priests at Champlain, N. Y. 

1844. May 2d. A woman condemned to death for 
heresy by the papists of the Portuguese island 
of Madeira. 

1844. May 8th. Bull of pope Gregory XVI. against 
the Christian Alliance and Bible Societies. 

1844. August 8th. The exhibition of the pretended 
holy coat of our Saviour by the Rnmish priests 
at Treves, which continues till October 6th. 
John Ronge, for protesting against this impos- 
ture, is excommunicated, and forms a new 
German Catholic church upon protestant 
principles. 

1844. Civil war caused in Switzerland by the ef- 
forts of the Jesuits to obtain the control of 
education. 

1845. The British government (chiefly by means 
of Sir Robert Peel) grants an endowment to 
Mavnooth Roman Catholic College in Ireland, 
of 26,000 pounds, or over $120,000, annually 
Causes an immense excitement among pro 
testants in Great Britain. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



A. 

Acclamation of the Fathers at Trent, 535. 

Adolorata of Capriana, 631. 

Aistulphus, king of the Lombards, 168, 172. 

Alaric, king of the Goths, ravages Rome, 42. 

Albanus, St., the protomartyr of Great Britain, 229. 

Albigenses, 299 ; bloody crusade against, under 
Montfort and the Pope's legate, 307, &c. ; slan- 
ders against them, 322. 

Aleander, the Pope's legate, burns Luther's books, 
but cannot get permission from Charles V., or 
the elector Frederick, to burn him, 464 

Alexander III., pope, his horse led by two kings, 
274. 

Alexander VI., pope, his horrible crimes and de- 
baucheries, 42t3, 427 ; dies of poison he had pre- 
pared for the murder of another, 428. 

Alphonsus, quoted on Indulgences, 356. 

Alredus, the abbot, his description of the vices of 
priests and monks, 222. 

Ambrose, St., miraculously discovers some holy 
bones, without which he could not consecrate a 
church, 94. 

America discovered, and given by a papal bull to 
the Spaniards, 428. 

Ancyra, council of, forbids marriage after ordina- 
tion, A. D. 314, 72. 

Angelo, St., bridge of, accident at, during the Jubi- 
lee of 1450, 420. 

Anselm elected archbishop of Canterbury, 268; 
his quarrel with king William Ilufus and Hen- 
ry I., 268, 270. 

Anthony the heimit, 88. 

" St., blessing of horses on his festival, 117. 

Apocrypha, decree of Trent on, 480; arguments 
against the inspiration of, 481. 

Appeals to Rome encouraged by the Pope, 40, 139. 

Apostolic succession, absurdity of this pretence, 48. 

Aquinas, St., quoted in favor of persecution, 545. 

Aringhus defends the adoption of pagan rites by 
his church, 129. 

Arsenal, a bishop's library, 376. 

Ashes, marking with, on Ash- Wednesday, 256. 

Ass, festival of. 213. 

Asses kneeling to the wafer-idol, 199. 

Attila, king of the Huns, lays waste Italy, 42. 

Augustin the monk arrives in England fioin Rome. 
11 is progress and success, 228. 

Augustine quoted on Christ the Rock, 47, on 
image worship, 154; his contradictory c.xpies 
sions about a purgatory, 358, 359. 

Authors in the Index prohibitorius, 497. 

Avignon popes, 369. 



H. 



Baptism, decree of Trent on, 510. 

Baronlus, cardinal, bis account of the Origin of the 

baptism of ixi is, 207 ; his language In relation to 
the profligate popes and their harlots of the tenth 



century, 219, 220; his annals, and continuation 
by Raynaldus, 349, note. 

Barons of England, excommunicated by pope In- 
nocent III., 292. 

Bartholomew, massacre of, 587 — 590. 

Becket, his quarrel with king Henry II., 274 — 279 
his death, canonization, and shrine, 279. 

Bede quoted on Christ the Rock, 49. 

Bees worshipping the wafer-idol, 198, 199. 

Bellarmine quoted on the infallibility of the Pope, 
153 ; advocates the temporal power of the popes, 
254 ; his celebrated argument for burning here- 
tics, quoted, 546. 

Bells, baptism of, described, 207. 

Benedict IX., a most profligate pope, 221. 

Berenger of Tours opposes Transubstantiation, 195. 
his persecutions and death, 196, 197. 

Beziers, siege of, and slaughter of the heretical in- 
habitants by the popish crusaders, 314. 

Bible, Rome's hatred to it, 621. 

Biel, cardinal, blasphemous expression of, 203. 

Bigotry of the creed of Rome, 539. 

Bishops and presbyters or elders the same in primi- 
tive times, 36, 37. 

Boeton broken on the wheel in France, 607. 

Boniface III , properly the first pope, obtains form 
the tyrant Phocas the title of Universal Bishop, 
55 ; exercises his newly obtained power, 64. 

IV. dedicates the Pantheon to the blessed 

Virgin and all the saints, 124. 

VIII., his dispute with Philip the Fair 

of France, 352 ; his imperious bull Unam Sanc- 
tum, 353 ; his death, 354 ; his reSgti fatal to the 
despotic power of the popes, 36d, 369. 

bishop of Germany, takes an oath of al- 
legiance to the Pope, 140. 

Bordeaux Testament, 523 note. 

Britain, Great, statistics of Popery in, 614 

Brovvnson, O. A., quoted on the designs of the 
Pope in America, 643. 

Bull Unam Sanctam, 353; of Gregory XVI., in 
1844, C22, 634. 

Burning bibles at Champlain, 612; at Chili, South 
America, 625. 

Butler, Chas., quoted oil Popery unchangeable, 548. 



Oajetan, cardinal, commissioned by pope Leo x. 

to reduce Luther to sui sslon, 451 : summons 

Luther to Augsburg, i>m falls hi ins attempt to 

reduce him to submission, 432 459. 
Candies, burning, In the daj lime, adopted from 

Paganism, 121. 
Cannibalism <>(' Transubstantiation, 901. 
Canonization made a prerogative of the popes, 188, 
Carcassnne, siege <>r, and escape "i the Inhabitants 

from the popi.-h crusaders, 316. 

Cardinals made the exclusive electors of the popes, 

936, 930. 
Catharine of Sienna, Bnlnt, and her holy stigmas 

or wounds of .lesus, liti'.l, iwlc. 



810 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



Catholic religion not the right name for Popery, 56. 

Celestine V., the hermit pope, 33.1. 

Celibacy, early superstitious notions as to its sup- 
posed merit. 70. 

, clerical, gradually introduced, 70 — 77; 

means employed to enforc? it £. England, 23-2, 
235. 

Cerda the Jesuit, confesses the use of holy water 
deiived from Paganism, 116. 

Cevennes, the persecutions in, 606. 

Chalcedon. council of, 41. 

Charlemagne, son of Pepin, 174. 175; crowned Em- 
peror at Rome by the Pope, 176. 

Charles of Anjou, inyited by the Pope to inyade 
Sicily, 346. 

Chilling worth's immortal sentiment quoted. 66. 

Chrysostom, his strange exposition of the parable 
of the ten virgins, 75, 76 ; extravagant praise of 
virginity, 80, 81. 

Cicero quoted. 13S, 1-9. 

Ciocci, Raffade, narrative of, 610. 

Clement of Alexandria quoted, 71 

VII.. rival of Urban VI., his election the com- 
mencement of the Great Western Schism. 37-2. 

Coat holv, of the Saviour, imposture of, at Treves 
636. 

Collvridians, ancient worshippers of the Virgin 
Man-. 52. 

Conclave, election of the popes in. decreed, A. D. 
1-274. 24a 

Concubinage of the priesthood. Concubines of the 
priests confessing to their paramours, -222 ; pre- 
ferred to marriage, 223. 

Confession, auricular, decreed by the fourth coun- 
cil of Lateran. 333 : licentiousness of the priests 
promoted by it. 334, 337, 518; decree of Trent 
on, 515 

Confirmation, decree of Trent on, 510, 

Constance, council of, 376. 

Constantine the Great, his worldly patronage of 
the church disastrous to its spirituality, 29. 31 ; 
his supposed miraculous conversion, 30. 

Constantine, pope, his visit to Constantinople, 142. 
Copronymus, amusing anecdote of, 



86. note. 
161. 



V., emperor, opposes image worship. 



Constantinople, bishop of, becomes a rival to the 

bishop of Rome. 41. 

, citv of, taken bv the Turks, A. D. 

1453. 423. 
Corpus Christi, festival of. 337, 339—341. 
Councils or Synods, origin of, 35. 

.first general, Nice I.. A. D. 325. 72. 

. second general, Constantinople I., A. D. 

381. Chron. Table. 
, third genera!, at Ephesus, A. D. 431. 

Nestorianism condemned, 56. 
, fourth general, at Chalcedon, A. D. 451. 

Chron. 'Table. 
. fifth general, Constantinople II., A. D. 

553. Chron. Table. 
, sizth general, Constantinople III., A. D. 

680. 151. 
at Constantinople, A. D. 754. condemns 

image- worship, 162. 
. seventh general, Nice II., A. D. 757. es- 
tablishes image-worship, 164. 
, eighth general, Constantinople IV., A. D. i 

869. ChPon. fable. 
, ninth general. Lateran I. (at Rome . A.D. 

1122. Chron: Table. 
. tenth general. Lateran II., A. D. 1139. j 

Condemns heretics, 543. 



. eleventh general, Lateran III., A. D. 1179 

Decrees the extermination of heretics, 302, 543. 

, twelfth general, Lateran IV . A. D. 1215, 

decrees Trausubstantiation, extermination of 
heretics, ace, 197, 331, 543. 

thirceenth general, Lyons I., A. D. 1245, 



344. 



348. 



. fourteenth general, Lyons II.. A. D. 1274. 



-.fifteenth general, at Vienne, A. D. 1309, 
and Chron. Table. 
-. of Pisa, A. D. 1409. assembles to termi- 



nate the great Western Schism. 373. 

sixteenth general, at Constance, A. D. 

1414. 376; condemns the writings of W .-: S, 
355: orders his bones to be dug up and burnt, 
386: condemns Huss to the names, 401 — 104 ; and 
Jerome, 411, 412; close of, the members dis- 
missed with indulgences as a fitting reward, 
415, 416. 

of Basil, A. D. 1431; its contest with 

pope Eugenius, 418 — 420. 

, seventeenth general, at Ferrara and Flo- 
rence, A. D. 1437, 4l9 and Chron. Table. 

, fifth of Lateran, A. D. 1512, 434. 

, eighteenth general, Trent, A.D. 1545— 

1563, 475—540. 

Cranmer, his martyrdom, 556. 

Creating God the Creator of all things, 203. 

Creed of pope Pius IV.. 537. 

Crema, cardinal, detected in gross licentiousness, 

Cromwell, his interposition on behalf of the per- 
secuted Waldenses, 585. 

Cross, figure of, 105 ; incensing one, 259. 

Crusades to Palestine, resolved upon by pope Ur- 
ban IL, in the council of Clermont, A. D. 1095, 



259—263. 

Effects of, in enriching the church and 

the clergy, 265; crusade against the Albigenses 
of the south of France, under Montlort and the 
Pipe's legate. 307. 

Cup denied to the laity by the council of Constance, 
416 ; by the council of Trent, 527. 

Curse, annual, upon heretics at Rome, &c, 617. 

Cyprian of Carthage, excommunicated by Stephen, 
bishop of Rome, 33; the act of no authority, be- 
cause papal supremacy was not establishedj 34. 

quoted, 71. 



Damasus and Ursicinus, bloody contest between 
them for the popedom. 35. 

Daniel the prophet, meaning of the little horn, 133. 

Death for heresy, first instance in England, 272. 273. 

Decretals, forged. 152—155. 224, 225: Wickliffcon- 
demned by the council of Constance for denying 
their authority. 386. 

Degradation, ceremony of. and reason. 551. 

De Mainre. his treatise published in 1819, advocat- 
ing the temporal su: rernacy of the popes, and 
defending to the fullest extent th^ doctrines of 
pope Hildebrand or Gregory VII., 254. 

Dons quoted on the papal supremacy. 44. 

Desubas, martyrdom of, in 1745, 608. 

Deylingius. his eleven propositions on the gradual 
riseof the popes' tyrannical power. 255. 

Diagoras, the philosopher, anecdote of, 122. 

Dictates or maxims of Hildebrand, 252, 253. 

Dominic. St., his history, 324 ; his wonderful mira- 
cles, 325. 

Dominican friars, 324 ; great champions of the Vir- 
gin, 326. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



811 



Donation of Constantine, forged, 182, 183 ; remark 

of Daille on, 224. 
Dotage, Popery is in its, notwithstanding its boasted 

numbers, 644. 
Drithelm, his visit to purgatory, 361. 
Dublin, baptism of bells at, 211. 
Dunstan, St., his birth, life, and miracles, 230—235. 

E. 

East, worshipping towards, adopted from Pagan- 
ism, 114. 

Easter, dispute concerning, 32. 

Echthesis, the decree called, 134, 147, 148, 150. 

Ecstatica of Caldaro, 631. 

Edgar, king of England, persecutes the married 
clergy, 232, 233. 

Eligius, bishop of Noyon, specimen of his doc- 
trine, 144. 145. 

Elizabeth, queen, excommunication of, by pope 
Pius V., 563. 

End of the world in the year 1000, wide-spread 
panic, 260. 

England, popery in, prior to the conquest, 227 — 
235 ; after the conquest, 266-292. 

, the kingdom of, laid under an interdict, 

286. 

Epiphanius, in the fourth century, tears a painting 
down from a church, 98. 

Etheldreda, queen of Northumberland, forsakes her 
husband, and retires to a monastery, 139. 

Etna, howling of devils in, heard by Odilo, 191,360. 

Excommunication and interdict, fearful conse- 
quences of, 225. 

Extreme unction, decree of Trent on, 524. 



F. 



Faith, none to be kept with heretics, 134, 309, 316, 
325 (note), 400. Decrees of the council of Con- 
stance establishing this doctrine, 413; plainly 
avowed bv pope Martin V. in 1421, 414; also by 
Innocent VIII., 426. 

Fasts, decree of Trent on, 533. 

Feast of All Saints, established by pope Boniface 
IV. 

of All Souls, to pray souls out of Purgatory, 

established by Odilo, 191, 360. 

Felix, bishop of Ravenna, his eyes put out by the 
Pope and the Emperor, 141. 

Festivals or saints' days increased, 188. 

of the Ass described, 213. 

of Corpus Christi established, 337 ; man- 
ner of observing it in Spain, 338: in Rome, 341. 

Fornication sanctioned by the popish council of 
Toledo, 223. 

Francis, St., his life, 329. 

Frauds and lying wonders of Romanists, 99. 

Frederick I., Barbarossa, emperor, his dispute with 
the Pope, 293 ; deposed by pope Alexander III., 
294 ; his submission, leads the Pope's horse, 294. 

Frederick II., emperor, his quarrel with the popes, 
342-345. 

Fuller, the historian, his remark on the ashes of 
Wickliir cast into the rivtr Severn, 387. 

G. 

Garden of the Soul, its indecent confessional <|ues 
tions for females relative to the seventh com- 
mandment, 517 

Genseric, king of the Vandals, takes and pillages 
Rome, 4'2. 

Glastonbury Abbey, 231. 

Golden age of Popery the iron age of the world, 338, 



Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, his letters re- 
lative to what he calls the blasphemous and in- 
fernal title of Universal Bishop, 52-55. 

his flattery of the tyrant Phocaa, 61 ; hia 



abuse of the emperor Mauritius after Phocas had 
murdered him, 62-63 ; his inhuman severity to a 
poor monk, 91 ; his letter to the Empress in re- 
ply to her request for the head of St. Paul, 107; 
his letters to Augustin and Serenus, directing 
them to connive at pagan rites, 130, 156, 228. 

■ II., pope, his abusive letter to*the emperor 

Leo for his opposition to images, 158, 159. 

III., his letter to the Emperor on image- 
worship, 160. 

encourages the worship of images, saint3, 

and relics, 161. 

VII., pope, 238, &c. ; his inordinate am- 
bition and plans for universal empire, 240; his 
violent dispute with, and excommunication of 
the emperor Henry VI., 243-248; several other 
instances of his tyranny and usurpation over 
nations and kings, 249-252; his dictates, or max- 
ims, 252, 253; made a Saint, and reverenced as 
such on the festival day of Saint Gregory VII., 
May 25th. 

IX., pope, his quarrel with the emperor 

Frederick II., 342, 343. 

X., 349. 

XVI., his encvclical letter of 1832, 610, 

620; his bull of 1844,"622, 634. 

Gregory Nazianzen, his eulogy on the monastic 
life, 89. 

his invocation to his departed 



father, and to St. Cyprian, 97. 
Guibert of Nogent, his account of the multitudes 
that engaged in the crusades, 263, 264. 



If. 



Heathen rites adopted at Rome, 43 ; also in Eng- 
land, 228. 

Helena, the discoverer of the wood of the truo 
cross, (?) 31. 

Henry, bishop of Liege, his horrid profligacy, 348. 

Henry I., king of England, his quarrel with arch- 
bishop Ansel m, 269, 270. 

Henry II., his quarrel with Becket, 274-279. 

Henry IV., emperor, excommunicated by Gregory 
Vlf., 243; stands three days at the Pope's gate 
before being admitted to kiss his toe, 244 ; his 
subsequent misfortunes and death, 247-219. 

Heretics, decree for the extermination of, by the 
third council of Lateral), 302; another of pope 
Lucius, 304 : another of the emperor Frederick, 
issued to oblige the Pope. 305; hull of Innocent 
III. against Albigenses, 309, right to extirpate, 
claimed by the Romish church, 320; decree of 
the fourth council of Lnteran, commanding 
princes to extirpate them, 332; bull of Innocent 
VIII., against them, 425; decree ngalnst, by the 
fifth council of l.iteian, 134 ; cursed by the 
fathers of Trent, 536. 

Ililarion, tin- Syrian hermit, 88. 

Hilary, quoted on "the Rock," IT. 

Hildebrand, or Gregory YH , 238, &c. 

Holy water, 99. 

, use of, adopted from Paganism, lie 



Honorlus, pope, l id, I IT. 

condemned and anathematised for heresy 

by a general council, 152. 

Horses, blessing and ipi inkling, on St, Anthony's 
day, 117. 

kneeling to the w nfer Idol, 190. 

Host, or consecrated wafer, woi ship of, 204, 337. 

Muss, John, of Bohemia, preaches against pop* 
John's murderous crusnde ngninst Lnaislaus, 375 { 
i,w enrly life, 387; axcommunlcnUHi by pope 
John win, 3'.io; hti opposition to Indulgence*! 



812 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



392; writes the Six Errors, Members of anti- 
Christ, &c, and is summoned to the council of 
Constance, 397 ; imprisoned in violatiou of his 
safe-conduct, 400; his condemnation and degra- 
dation, 401 ; his martyrdom, 403, 404. 



Idols of the heathen turned into popish saints, 124, 
125. 

Isnorance of the bishops of the seventh century, 
144. 

Image-worship, condemned by Justin martyr, Au- 
gustine, Origen, &.c, 154 ; gradual introduction of, 
155, 156 ; opposed by the emperor Leo, 157, &c. ; 
condemned by the council of Constantinople, 
A. D. 754, 162; established by the seventh gene- 
ral council at Nice, A. D. 787, 164; decree of 
Trent on, 534. 

Incense, use of, adopted from Paganism, 115. 

Index of prohibited books, ten rules on at Trent, 
491. 

Indulgences, granted to the crusaders to Palestine, 
36-2; for destroying the Waldensian heretics, 
309,36-2; origin and history of, 356-366; granted 
as a reward to the members of the council of 
Constance, 415, 416 ; the preaching of by Tetzel 
the occasion of the reformation, 436 ; decree of 
Trent on, 583. 

Infallibility of the popes, disproved, 153. 

advocated by Bellarmine and Lewis 

Capsensis, 153. 

Infidelity gains nothing from the abominations of 
Popery, because Popery is not Christianity, and 
therefore not chargeable with them, 646. 

Innocent III., pope, establishes Transubstantiation, 
197 ; his tyrannical treatment of king John of 
England, 282-291 ; his tyranny toward other 
nations, 294-299 ; his bloody crusade against the 
Albigenses, 307 ; favors the establishment of the 
Mendicant Orders, 324. 

Innocent IV., pope, issues a sentence of deposition 
against the emperor Frederick II., 344; his joy 
at Frederick's death, 345. 

VIII.. pope, and his seven bastards, 425; 

his furious bull against the Waldenses, 425, 426. 

Inquisition, its victims, tortures, &c, 568 ; burns a 
woman in 1781, 610 ; suppressed by Napoleon, 610. 

Intention, doctrine of, decreed at Trent, its ab- 
surdity, 506 ; anecdote relative to, 509. 

Interdict, fearful consequences of, 225; laid upon 
England, its effects described, 286. 

Intolerance of Popery, 206 ; still the same, 612-61S. 

Investiture of bishops with ring and crosier, dis- 
pute about, 24] , 242. 

Ireland given to king Henry by the Pope, 272. 

Irene, the wicked empress, her cruelties to her son 
Constantine, 163; favors image-worship, 164. 

Iron age of the world, Popery in its glory, 181, &c. 

Iron age of the world the golden age of Popery, 226. 



Jansenists, opponents of the Jesuits, 601. 

Januarius, St., miracle of liquefying his blood, 629. 

Jerome's abuse of the heretic Vigilantius, 78, note ; 
his definition of idols, 123. 

Jerome of Prague, 391-396 ; sets out for Constance, 
flees in alarm, and is arrested, 407 ; his cruel im- 
prisonment, recants, but soon renounces his re- 
cantation, 408 ; his noble and eloquent protesta- 
tions before the council, 409 ; his sentence, 411 ; 
martyrdom, 412. 

Jerusalem taken by the crusaders, A. D. 1099, 264. 

Jesuits, establishment of the order of, 473; their 
missions in China, &c, 599 ; their plots against 



the lives of princes, 603 ; their suppression, 604 ; 
their oath, 605 ; their recent proceedings in Swit- 
zerland, 639. 

Jew, unbelieving, fetches blood from the conse- 
crated wafer, 200. 

Jewish priesthood, rights and privileges of, claimed 
for the Christian clergy, 38. 

Jew's dog worships the wafer-idol, 199. 

John, king of England, commencement of his dis- 
pute with pope Innocent, 282 ; his kingdom laid 
under an interdict, 286; excommunicated, 287; 
his degrading and abject submission to the ty- 
ranny and insolence of the Pope and his legate, 
Pandulph, 288-291. 

VIII., pope, a most profligate pontiff, 216. 

X., XL, XII , popes, their horrible licentious- 
ness and profligacy, 217, 218. 

XXIIL, pope, his ferocious crusade against 

Ladislaus, 375. 

Jovinian and Vigilantius, early reformers, 78. 

Jubilee, popish, established by Boniface VIII., 
A. D. 1300, 364 ; Jubilee bull of 1824, 363 

on a smaller scale, 364. 

of pope Clement in 1350, 366. 

Julius II., pope, absolves himself from his oath, 
429 ; a warlike Pope, his battles and slaughters, 
433. 

Justification, decree of Trent on, 499; Tyndal 
quoted on, 502 ; Luther's experience on, 502. 

Justinian, the tyrant, kisses the Pope's foot, 142; 
his cruelties and tyranny, 142, 143. 

Justin Martyr quoted on image-worship, 154. 



K, 



Kincaid, Rev. Eugenio, letter of, on resemblance 
between Bhoodhism and Popery, 628. 

Kissing the Pope's toe, imitated from the pagan ty- 
rant Caligula, 126 ; done by the emperor Jus- 
tinian, 141. 



L. 



Ladislaus, king of Hungary, crusade against him 

by pope John XXLII., 374, 375. 
Lainez, the Jesuit, at Trent, 527, note. 
Lambeth palace, the building of, stopped by order 

of pope Innocent III., 280, 281. 
Lancaster, duke of, favors Wickliff's bible, 383. 
Langton, archbishop of Canterbury, 285. 
Lateran, third council of, its cruel decree against 

the heretical Waldenses, 302-304. 

, fourth, ditto, 332. 

, fifth, ditto, 434. 



Latimer and Ridley, martyrdom of, 550. 

Latin tongue, mass to be performed in, 529 

Lavaur taken by the popish crusaders, and the 
heretics burnt "with infinite joy," 319, 

Le Febvre, his sufferings in France, 595. 

Leo the Great, bishop of Rome, 41, 42. 

ni., emperor, issues his first decree against 

images, A. JJ. 726, 157; his second decree, which 
causes tumults, 158,160. 

X., pope, his accession, 434; his careless re- 
mark concerning Luther, 448. 

Letter from St. Peter in heaven to king Pepin, 171. 

Liberty of opinion and press, Popery opposed to, 
620. 

Licence to read heretical books. Copy of one 
granted to Sir Thomas More, 497. 

Lodi, the popish bishop of, his ferocious harangue 
at the condemnation of Huss, 401 ; and of Je- 
rome, in which he mourns that he had not been 
tortured, 410, 411. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



813 



Lollard's tower described, 281, 282. 

Loretto, miracle of the holy house, and porringer, 
flying through the air, 630. 

Loyala, Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, 472 ; 
popish parallel between him and Luther, 473. 

Louis XII., of France, his quarrel with the war- 
rior-pope Julius, 433. 

Luitprand, king of the Lombards, 166. 

Luther, the great German reformer, 425,435; his 
opposition to Tetzel and indulgences, 446 ; writes 
to pope Leo, and sends a copy of his solutions, 
449; appears before cardinal Uajetan at Augs- 
burg, his noble constancy, and return to Wittem- 
berg, 454-459 : discovers, by reading the Decre- 
tals, that the Pope is anti-Christ, 459, 460; dis- 
?utes with Doctor Eck on the primacy of the 
ope at Leipsic, 460; burns the Pope's bull at 
Wittemberg, 463; finally excommunicated as an 
incorrigible heretic, 463, 464 ; appears before the 
Diet of Worms, 466-468; is seized and con- 
fined in the castle of Wartburg, 469; translates 
the New Testament, 471 ; his death, 472; his 
experience, relative to justification, 503. 



M. 



Mabillon, his confession of fictitious Romish saints, 

100. 
Madeira, a woman condemned to death for heresy 

there in 1844, 614. 
Mahomet, 145. 
Man, Isle of, made a fief of the Romish church, 

342. 
Manfred, son of the emperor Frederick, 345-347. 
Marolles, his sufferings in France, 596. 
Marriage, according to Taylor and Elliott, a neces- 
sary qualification for a minister, 69, note. 
of the clergy, efforts to suppress, 232, 235, 

271, 272. 
Mantel, Charles, 166. 

Martin, bishop of Tours, his rudeness to the em- 
peror Maximus, 35; his character by father'Ga- 

han, 35: his funeral attended by 2000 of his 

monks, 89. 
Martin I., pope, banished by the Emperor, 151. 
IV., pope, deposes Don Pedro, king of Ar- 

ragon, 350. 
. V., pope, advocates the doctrine of no faith 

with heretics, 414; his lofty titles, 418. 
Mary, bloody queen, her persecutions, 549. 
Mass, defects in, curious extract on, from the 

Romish missal, 507; decrees of Trent on the 

mass, 528. 
Matrimony, sacrament of, decree of Trent on, 531. 
Mauritius, emperor, and his family, murdered by 

the tyrant Phocas, 58, 59. 
Mauru, Pierre, his sufferings as a galley-slave, 596. 
Maximus, the monk, 148; disputes with Pyrrhus, 

149. 
Medal, miraculous, 632. 
Mendicant orders establishment of, 323; their vast 

increase, 330, 331; reproved by Wickliff on his 

sick bed, 380. 
Menerbe taken by the popish crusaders, and M0 of 

the Waldcnsian inhabitants burnPin one Are, 318. 
Middleton, Dr. Conyers, letters from Rome, 100, 

112, &c. 
Midnight of the world, Popery in its glory, 181, fcc. 
Miltitz dispatched to Germany aa legate to reduce 

Luther to submission, 459. 
Milton, his sonnet on the slaughtered Watdenses, 

585. 
Miracles, pretended, of the Virgin, 189, 190 J i" 

establish the belief in the wafer-idol, 198 199, 

226; to enforce clerical celibacy in England, 232; 

of St. Dunstan, 231-235; of Hi. Dominic, 325; 



of the Virgin and the Rosary, 326 ; of St. Fran- 
cis, 330 ; Januarius, St., 629 ; Loretto, 630 ; weep- 
ing image, 631. 
Monasteries erected, 90 ; fertile in pretended saints, 

Monkery, its early origin and growth, 87-92 ; imi- 
tated from Paganism, 128 ; increase of reverence 
for, 185. 

Monks, profligacy of, 323. 

Monothelite controversy, origin and history of, 146- 
153. 

Monte, De, cardinal, legate at Trent, 477 ; chosen 
pope though a Sodomite, 511. 

Montfaucon, his reflection on pagan tricks, equally 
applicable to popish, 122. 

Montfort, leader of the crusades against the here- 
tical Albigenses, or Waldenses, 307; his horrible 
cruelty, 317, 318. 

Montreal, baptism of bells at, 207. 

Morse, professor, abused at Rome for not bowing 
to the popish idol, 341. 

Mount Soracte changed into St. Oreste, and wor- 
shipped, 100. 



N. 



Nantes, revocation of edict of, and cruel persecu- 
tions which followed, 593-598. 

Naples, baptism of bells at, 207. 

Nestorian controversy, origin of, 86 

Nice, council of, A. D. 325, 72. 

Nicholas, III., pope, formerly cardinal John Cnje- 
tan, secures the independence of the popedom 
on the empire, 350. 

Nuns, crowning and consecrating of, 72. 



O. 



Oath of allegiance to the Pope, the first instance, 
140; form of one taken by the emperor Otho, of 
allegiance to pope Innocent III., 298 ; the Jesuits', 
605 ; the bishops', 615. 

Oaths, right of dissolving claimed by popes, 312, 
429, 430. 

Odo, archbishop of Canterbury, his haughty pre- 
tensions and letter, 230. 

Odoacer, king of the Ileruli, subverts the western 
Roman empire, A. D. 476, 42. 

Orders, sacrament of, decree of Trent on, 530. 

Origen quoted on image worship, 154. 

Original sin decree of Trent on, 499. 



P. 



Pagan rites imitated, 9R, 109-132, 228. 

, close resemblance between popish and, 



110, Slc. 
Pandulph, the Pope's legate in England, 287, 290, 

291. 
Pantheon, dedicated to the Virgin and all the saint-, 

124. 
Papal States, 178, 179, 633. 

Paphnutiua opposes the progress of clerical ce- 
libacy, 72. 

Pascal, his provinci.il letters, <">0'J. 

PaschaslUB Radbert, in the ninth century. Invents 

the doctrine <>i Transubstantiation, 194. 

Patriarch, title ami office of, 31, 38. 

Paul the hermit, 88. 

, saint, his leaping head, and the fountains, l in 

Penance, decrees of Trent on, 514; "doing pen- 
ance," false translation, 5 

Pepin, may oi "i the palace t" the Kim: of France, 
under the advice "i tin- Pone, dethrones his eo- 
\, i, |gn, Chtlderlc in., h'.t. 168 ; succors Roma ru 
the application oi pope Stephen, 172, 

2 



814 



ALPHABETICAL LNDEX. 



Persecution, purifying influence of, on the primitive 

chuicli, 26; origin of doctrine of the right of, lu5; 
first instances of, in England, 272, 273 ; of the 
Albigeuses, 3u7-3;9; one hundred and forty 
burnt in one tire at Menerbe, 3J8; an essential 
attribute of Popery, 320; fifty millions of vic- 
tims, 541 ; enjoined by its general councils, 542. 

Peter, no proof that he was ever at Rome, much 
less that he was bishop of Rome, 45 ; no proof 
that he was ever constituted by Christ head of 
the church, 46. 

Peter, Saint, consecrating a church in person at 
Westminster, (:) 144. 

Peter's, St., church, described, 423. 

Peter the hermit preaches the Crusades, 259, 251. 

Petrus Vallensis, the monkish historian of the cru- 
sades against the Albigenses, his rapture at the 
success of the popish crusades, and at the burn- 
ing of the heretics, 317-319. 

Phocas the tyrant grants to pope Boniface the title 
of Universal Bishop, 55. 

Pilgrimages to Palestine, 98; encouraged by St. 
Gregory, 108 ; previous to the crusades, 259. 

Pious frauds, doctrine, 105. 

Polydore Virgil confesses wax images as votive 
offerings, to be derived from Paganism, 122; 
quoted on indulgences, 57. 

POPE, establishment of his spiritual supremacv, 
A. D. 6j6, 55. 

of his temporal sovereigntv, 

A. D. 756, 172, 173. 

Popery a subject of prophecy, 27. 

, properly so called, established in 696, 56 ; 
according to its advocates, uncnangable, 292, 548, 
618. 

Pratextatus, a heathen, his remark upon the ex- 
travagance of the Roman bishops, 34. 

Press, freedom of, forbidden bv pope Sixtus, A. D. 
1472, by Alexander VI., A. D. 1501, and by the 
fifth council ofLateran. and Leo X., A. D. 1517, 
434; decree against at Trent, 488; rules of the 
Index, 491. 

Primitive churches, the simplicity of their organiza- 
tion and government, according to Waddington, 
36 , to Gieseler and Mosheim, 37. 

Printing, invention of, a great blow to Popery, 434. 

Private judgment, decree against at Trent, 4s8. 

Processions of worshippers and self-whippers, imi- 
tated from Paganism, 127. 

Profligacy of popish priests. 274, 343. 349. 

Profligate popes— John VIII.. 216; Sergius TIT., 
217": John X., 217: John XL, 217; John XII., 
218; Benedict IX., 221 ; Alexandei VI., 426. 

Prohibited books, rules on, at Trent, 491. 

Purgatory advocated by St Gregory, 108; his con- 
tradictory expressions, 359, 360 ; fears of, in the 
dark ages. 190. 361 ; this fiction the cause of in- 
dulgences, 357,361, 362; description of the tor- 
ments in. 361 ; decree of Trent on, 532. 

Puseyism, or Oxford Romanism, rise of, 634. 

Pyrrhus, b ; shop of Constantinople, 147, 148: ex- 
communicated by the Pope, and the sentence 
signed w:th the consecrated wine of the sacra- 
ment, 149, 150. 



a. 



Quesnel, Father, his reflections on the New Testa- 
ment condemned, 602. 



R. 



Rabanus Maurusin the ninth century wri ten against 
the npwiy-invenied doctrine of Transubstau ela- 
tion, 194, 195. 



Raimond, count of Thoulouse. refuses to batcher 
his heretical subjects, 3u,~ ; excommunicated, 308; 
his submission and degrading penance, whipped 
on the naked shoulders by the Popr's legate, 313; 
his dominions given to the earl of Monttort, 332. 

Reformation, account of the, 436, <kc. 

Relics enshrined in churches, 93, 94 ; reverence for, 
105, 106, 185; spurious, 186; traffic in England, 
229 ; spurious brought in vast quantities from 
Palestiue by the crusaders, 265, 266; decree of 
Trent on reverence to, 533. 

Reverence of the barbarian conquerors for the 
priests of Rome, transferred to them the reverence 
they bore to their heathen priests, 43. 

Rhemish testament, 77, note ; quoted on clerical 
celibacy, 78 ; translated from the Vulgate, 488. 

Road-gods of the heathen imitated by papists, 125. 

Robert the monk, his account of pope Urban's 
speech on the Crusades, 262, 263. 

Robert of Normandy acknowledges himself a vas- 
sal of the Pope, 238. 

Rochette, martyrdom of, in 1762, 608. 

Rock on which the church is built not Peter, but 
Christ, 46. 

Roger, count of Beziers. his treacherous and cruel 
treatment by the Pope's legate, 315. 

Roi:ge, his noble expostulation against the impos- 
ture ot the holy coat at Treves, 637 ; founds a 
new church in Germany, 638. 

Rosary of the Virgin described, 189; pretended 
miracles performed by means of, 326 

S. 

Sacraments, decree of Trent on, 505. 

Sardis, council of, 39. 

Satisfaction, decree of Trent on, 522. 

Saints, pretended, lives of, 92; invocation of, 93; 
decree of Trent on. 533 fictitious, St Viar, Am- 
phibol us, Veronica, &.C., 301 ; multiplication of 
new, le6, 137. 

Schism in the Popedom, between Damasus and 
Ursicinus in 366. 'accompanied with civil war 
and bloodshed. 35 ; between Symmuchus and 
Lauren ti us, about A. D. 500, 50. 

Schism. Great Western, 370-377, revived, 420. 

Scriptures, a popish priest's lament that they should 
be in de common to the laity and to women, 
383, 417 ; noble defence of, by 'Wickliff, 384; re- 
garded by Huss as the only infallible authority, 
3*9 ; and by Jerome, 410. 

Seneca quoted on the heathen self-whippers, 123. 

Sepulchres, praying at, 105. 

^erenus, bishop of Marseilles, destroys images, but 
is directed by Saint Gregory to connive at them 
to gratify the pagans, 131. 

Serai us I., pope, pays the exarch of Ravenna 100 
pounds of gold for securing his election, 135. 

III., pope, the father of pope John lhfl 

bastard, by the harlot Marozia. 

Sicilian vespers, 343. 

Sigismund. the emperor, his safe-conduct of Hnss, 
398; the safe-conduct shamefully violated, 400; 
his blushes at his baseness, 402, 468. 

Siricius, bishop of Rome, decrees the celibacy of 
the clergy, about A. D. 385, 77. 

Solicitation of females at confession, instances ot, 
330. 

Sovereigntv. temporal of the Pope established, 
A. D. 756, 172, 173, 177, 178, 350. 

Spain, ignorance of the Bible there, 224, note. 

Stephen, bishop of Rome, excommunicates St. 
Cvpriau of Carthage, 33; his tyranny disre- 
garded, 34. 

, pope, forges a letter from St. Peter tB 

heaven to king Pepin, 171. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



815 






Btubbes, old Philip, his curious account of the 
baptism of bells, A. D. 1598, 212. 

Supererogation, works of, 363; still believed by 
papists evident from Jubilee bull of 1824, 363. 

Supremacy, papal, not established in the fourth 
century, 39; steps toward it, 39-44 ; divine right 
of, claimed after the fall of Rome, 44; this claim 
disproved, 44-50 ; Anally established by the favor 
of Phocas the tyrant, A. D. 6U6, 55; immediate 
consequences of its establishment, 57. 

Switzerland, recent proceedings of the Jesuits in, 
639. 

Sylvius, iEneas, afterwards pope Pius II., 388, 418— 
423 ; when Pope, renounces his former opinions 
against the supreme authority of the popes, and 
condemns his former self, 424. 

Symmachus and Laurentius, bloody struggle be- 
tween them for the popedom, 50. 

Symeon, the pillar saint, 90. 

Synods, or Councils, origin of, 38. 

T. 

Tax-book for sins, extract from, 437; its different 
editions and genuineness proved, 437, 438. 

Temperance argument, against the inspiration of 
the Apocrypha 484. 

Tertullian quoted, 28, 70. 

Tetzel, the famous peddler of indulgences for pope 
Leo X., 439 ; his mode of disposing of his com 
modifies, 440-445; burns Luther's theses against 
indulgences, 447 ; his own theses burnt by the 
students of Wi item berg, 448. 

Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, 135 ; tarries 
three months to have his head shaved, 139. 

Tonsure, disputes about different forms, 136. 

Tradition regarded by the papist and the Puseyite 
as of equal or superior authority to the Bible, 68; 
decree of Trent on, 479. 

Transubstantiation, the most absurd of all inven- 
tions of the dark ages, 192; its origin in the eighth 
and ninth centuries, 193, 194; decreed by the 
fourth council of Latcran in 1215, 197, 337; 
anecdote to show its absurdity, 197 ; its canni- 
balism, 201 ; curses of Trent against those who 
refuse to believe it, 205; the great burning arti- 
cle, 337 ; decree of Trent on, 511. 

Trent, council of, 475-540. 

Turnbull, Rev. Robert, his letter on Popery in Italy, 
626. 

Tyudal quoted on Justification, 502. 

Type, the decree called, 150. 



U. 



United States, Romish missions in, 641 ; statistics 
of Romanism in, 642. 

Universal Bishop, contest about this title between 
the bishops of Rome and Constantinople, 51 ; St. 
Gregory writes against, 52-54 ; pope Boniface, 
his successor, a few years later, solicits and ob- 
tains it, 55. 

, the badge and the brand of anti- 
Christ, 64. 

Urban II., pope, horribly blasphemous expression 
of, 203, 269 ; his eloquent speech in the council 



of Clermont on behalf of the crusades to Pales- 
tine, 262, 263. 

VI., election of, commencement of the 

Great Western Schism, 371, 372; raises a cru- 
sade against his rival pope, 378 ; against which 
Wickliff protests in England, 378 



V. 

Valentinian the emperor, law of, favoring the pow- 
er of the bishop of Rome, 40. 

Veronica, St., and the holy handkerchief, 102. 

Vicini, his insurrection in 1832, in the papal States, 
633. 

Victor, bishop of Rome, presumes to excommuni- 
cate his brethren of the East, 32. 

Vigilantius and Jovinian, the early reformers, 78. 

Virginity, Chrysostom's extravagant praise of, 75, 
80. 

Virgin Mary, early superstitious notions concerning 
her, 81 ; worship of, 82-86, 189 ; her pretended 
miracles, 189, 190, 326, 631. 

Virgins of the Tyrol and their stigmata, 630. 

Vomit of the wafer ordered in the Romish missal 
to be swallowed again by the priest, 509. 

Votive gifts and offerings, imitated from Paganism, 
121. 

Vulgate, Latin, decree of Trent establishes it as 
authentic, 486; two infallible editions of, with 
2,000 variations between them, 487 



W. 



Wafer-idol, worship of, worse than heathenism 
204. 

Walch quoted on the uncertainty of the first 
bishops of Rome, 48, note. 

Waldenses, testimonies to their characters and mo- 
rals, by Evervinus, 299, 300 ; by Bernard. Claudius- 
and Thuanus, 301 ; persecution of, 304, 314-319, 
579-586. 

Waldo, Peter, 304 

Whately quoted on uncertainty of the apostolic 
succession, 49, note. 

Wickliff, his birth, life, and death, 377-383 ; speci- 
men of his translation of the New Testament, 
380; his bones dug up and burnt by the papists 
44 years after his death, 386. 

Wilfrid, bishop of York, appeals with success to 
the Pope, 139. 

William the Conqueror appeals to the Pope to li- 
cense his invasion of England, 266; pays Peter- 
pence, but refuses to do homage to pope Gregory 
for the kingdom of England, 252 ; arrests Odo, 
bishop of Bayeux, not as a bishop, but as an earl, 
267. 

William Rufus, 267. 

Worms, Diet of, and Luther's noble defence before 
it, 465-468. 



Z. 



Zillerthnl, exiles of, in the Tyrol, 612. 
Zwingle, Ulric, the Swiss reformer, 461 



PUBLISHED BY E. WALKER, NEW YORK. 39 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON "1776." 

"This book appeals to our whole nation. It is a well written, and 
beautifully illustrated history of the Anglo-Americans from the period at 
which the colonies united against the French to the inauguration of Wash- 
ington. The style is felicitous, the spirit eminently patriotic. The volume 
is a faithful chronicle of our Revolutionary period, and will gain for its 
author high reputation as a historian." — Literary American. 

" We have been deeply interested in reading this new and splendid pa- 
triotic volume. The embellishments, which are very numerous, are of the 
most perfect description, and carry the mind of the reader back to the pe- 
riod when the Continental Armies were marshalled to defend our native 
land. We advise all our readers to add this book to their libraries." — 
American Signal. 

" The book is elegantly printed and bound, and the engravings, (seventy- 
eight in number,) form in themselves a rare historical gallery of great in- 
terest and variety, displaying the originality and taste of the author-artist 
in this department. As a whole, we have no hesitation in commending 
this volume as the best popular history of our revolution vet published." 
— New York Express. 

" This is a very elegant book, beautifully illustrated with a great number 
of engravings, and the typography and binding are absolutely faultless. It 
contains a great amount and variety of information relating to the Revo- 
lutionary period of American history, and is a work which will, doubtless, 
command a very extensive sale." — Evening Mirror. 

« With regard to the tone and spirit of the volume, the felicity of the 
style of narrative and reflections, and the great care taken to insure accu- 
racy, as is shown by the author's frequent reference to the best authorities, 
I am confident that he is entitled to the reputation of a competent and 
faithful historian." — Edwin Williams. 

"This is a great national work, the beauties and excellencies of which 
should be studied by every one who would understand the history of hu- 
man freedom, and the inalienable rights of man." — Albany Spectator. 

" The enterprising publisher of this exceedingly beautiful volume will 
surely find that he has not misjudged in believing that ' a book in one vol- 
ume, well written, and embracing a faithful chronicle of events which ac- 
complished the laying of the foundation-stone of this great Republic, would 
be invaluable to the present and future generations." — Knickerbocker 
Magazine. 

"The book is richly embellished with numerous as well as the most 
beautiful engravings, forming in themselves a rare historical gallery, and 
which display the great skill of the author-artist, B. J. Lossing. We shall 
here enumerate a few, which to us appear particularly interesting. The 
frontispiece is a very fine engraving, printed with blue and black ink, 
representing that ever-memorable scene — the signing of the Declaration 
of Independence — the title-page is highly instructive, representing the 
aged in the act of communicating to the young the facts how the mighty 



40 NATIONAL AND STANDARD WORKS 

structure of the compact and Independence of these United States was erected 
in 1776. Portraits of George III., Pitt, Washington, Wolfe, Franklin, Green- 
ville, Henry, Samuel Adams, Barre, North, Hancock, Burke, Conway, Mont- 
gomery, Putnam, Warren, Lee, Cornwallis, Clinton, of the Committee who 
drafted the Declaration of Independence, Schuyler, Burgoyne, Gates, Lafay- 
ette, Steuben, Jones, Lincoln, Deane, Wayne, Green, Andre, Arnold, Jay, 
Morgan, Sumpter, Laurens, Mifflin, Shelburne, Hamilton, and Knox, also one 
of the best fac-similes of the Signatures of the Declaration of Independence 
which we have ever seen. Besides those enumerated, there are upwards of 
sixty others more or less valuable, attractive, and instructive. 

" But the reading matter is that which is the most valuable feature of the 
work. We cordially recommend it to every Christian parent, as a book in 
every point worthy to occupy a place in his library, and he who is aware of 
his responsibility will feel it to be his duty to provide such information for his 
children, to make them useful and intelligent citizens of our free and happy 
country. Here you have a condensed, accurate, and attractive history of the 
rise and progress of the most powerful and enlightened Republic that has 
ever existed on the face of the earth. It is true there are quite a number of 
books giving an account of our revolutionary struggle, but this leaves them 
all in the back-ground ; there is doubtless none so much to the point, none 
so attractive to the young, and none so well suited for all classes." — Monthly 
Friend. 

" We have heretofore noticed this admirable book in terms of the highest 
praise. It is a work that should be in every family." — Godey's Lady's Book. 

" Amidst the accumulating literature of our country, we must hail with 
peculiar satisfaction the appearance of a volume perpetuating the history and 
incidents of a period destined to give a new impulse to the civil aspect of 
society over the face of the globe. The industry which accumulated these 
facts, and the volume which presents them to the world, come to us with a 
special call for our gratitude. The character of the man takes color from 
the associations he forms, and where can we turn for better society for our 
youthful friends, than to the pages where we find recorded the sentiments, 
acts, and aims, of our revolutionary fathers. The perusal of this volume is 
calculated to strengthen in its readers the love of country, the love of justice, 
and the love of humanity. We congratulate the reading public, especially 
those who are interested in the culture of mind and propagation of useful 
knowledge, on the appearance of so important and interesting a volume." — 
Georgetown Advocate. 

" This will be one of the most widely circulated works ever issued from 
the press. It gives without unnecessary prolixity in detail, a full and com- 
plete narrative of ' The War of Independence,' illustrated by numerous en- 
gravings of plans of battles, prominent events, interesting localities, and por- 
traits of distinguished men of the period. To the work is added an appendix 
and analytical index, alphabetically arranged. The appendix contains several 
State documents of great interest to every American. They are drawn from 
sources not generally accessible. The work is got up by Mr. Walker, in 
superb style ; the letter-press, and the paper on which it is printed, are alike 
beautiful. The book is elegantly bound and gilt. The emblematic plates on 
the sides and back, engraved on brass, expressly for the work, by Thompson. 
They represent Washington receiving his commission, the capture of Major 
Andre, and other national subjects, and are alike tasteful and beautiful."- 
JV. Y. Atlas. 



THE 



GUIDE TO KNOWLEDGE; 



OR 



REPEKTOKY OF FACTS ; 



FORMING A COMPLETE LIBRARY OF ENTERTAINING INFOR- 

MATION IN THE SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS OF SCIENCE, 

LITERATURE AND ART. 



WITH THREE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS. 

NEW EDITION. 



PRICE $2.50. 



NEW YORK : 
EDWARD WALKER, 114 FULTON STREET. 



Conditions of the Work. — A large octavo volume, comprising 464 
pages, double columns, illustrated by nearly two hundred spririted engrav- 
ings, and bound in muslin gilt. Copies in sheep binding, 25 cents extra. 



The literary contents of this excellent volume consist of choice selec- 
tions from the renowned publications of the London " Society for the Dif- 
fusion of Useful Knowledge," and comprehend valuable and attractive 
articles by eminent writers in the several departments of literature, including 
history, biography, natural history, moral and physical science, fine arts, 
manufactures, essays, poetry, &c. This popular work presents a more 
varied, comprehensive and valuable digest of general knowledge than is 
to be met with in any single book yet issued from the press. As a proof 
of its undoubted value, it may be stated that upwards of 20,000 copies 
have already been sold, while the sales are constantly increasing. It is a 
work especially adapted for the domestic circle, combining a pleasing vari- 
ety of subjects, both amusing and instructive, and peculiarly suited for the 
perusal of youth. 



THE 



WONDERS OF THE WORLD, 

IN 

NATURE, ART, AND MIND ; 

COMPRISING 

A. COMPLETE LIBRARY 

OF 

USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING KNOWLEDGE ; 

ILLUSTRATED WITH 

TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY ENGRAVINGS, 

NEW EDITION. 

PRICE $2.50. 

NEW YORK : 
EDWARD WALKER, 114 FULTON STRRET. 



Conditions of the Work. — A handsome octavo volume of 528 pages, 
with about two hundred and fifty engravings, and bound in muslin gilt. 



The "Wonders of the World" are both more numerous and more vari- 
ous than many may be inclined to suppose ; and it has been the design of 
the editor to embody all the most remarkable facts in natural history, phy- 
sical geography, curious customs, eccentric biography, &c. If the great 
variety in the subjects treated of in any work be considered its recommen- 
dation, the present production will not fail of proving universally accepta- 
ble; for it is an attempt to combine in an attractive and portable form, a 
most expanded range of topics of information ami amusement, The sub- 
jects referred to in the volume, comprise among many others, the follow- 
ing : — Atmospheric phenomena, remarkable facts in astronomical science, 
the most remarkable earthquakes in various parts of the world, caverns, 
caves and grottos, volcanoes, cateracts, eccentricities and anomalies in 
men and animals, curiosities of the vegetable krngdom, celebrated local- 
ities, cities, ruins, &c. ; ancient ami modern, curious customs, manners and 
costumes, the Druids, &c. 



THE 



FARMER'S GUIDE 



TO 



SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 



PROSPECTUS. 

HENRY STEPHENS, F.R.S.E., of Edinburgh, the celebrated author of the "Book o, 
the Farm," and PROF. NORTON, of Yale College, New Haven, are preparing 
for the Press, a Book under the above title. 
It will embrace every subject of importance connected with Agriculture in all its various 
branches, both Theoretical and Practical. " Science, in as far as it has, up to the present 
time, been made available to Practice by Experiment, will be treated in its relation to every 
operation as it occurs in the course of the seasons." r fhe work will be arranged under four 
distinct heads, representing the seasons, beginning with Winter and ending with Autumn. 
The following are among the subjects to be treated of in the first and second seasons in- 
cluding the Introductory, viz : 

INITIATION. 



On the best of the existing Methods for acquir- 
ing a thorough knowledge of Practical Hus- 
bandry. 

On the Difficulties to be encountered in learning 
Practical Husbandry, and on the Means of over- 
coming them. 

On the Different kinds of Farming. 

On the Persons required to Conduct and Execute 
the Labor of the Farm. 



On the Branches of Science most applicable to 
Agriculture. 

On the Institutions of Education best suited to 
Agricultural Science. 

On the Evils attending the neglect of Land- 
owners and others to learn practical Agricul- 
ture. 

On observing the details and recording the facts 
of Farming by the Agricultural Student. 



PRACTICE-WINTER, 



On the Treatment of Farm-horses in Winter. 
On the Treatment of the Farmer's Saddle and 

Harness Horse in Winter. 
On the Fattening of Swine in Winter. 
On the Treatment of Fowls in Winter. 
On the Rationale of the Feeding of Animals. 
On the Thrashing and Winnowing of Grain. 



On the Accommodation of the Grain Crops in 

the Steading. 
On the Forming of Dunghills in Winter. 
On the Forming of Composts in Winter. 
On Liquid Manure. 
On Seaweed as Manure. 
On Gaulting or Claying the Soil. 



PRACTICE— SPRING, 



Summary of the Field Operations, 

Weather in Sprhg. 
On the Calving of Cows. 
On the Milking of Cows. 
On the Rearing of Calves. 
On the Sowing of Spring Wheat. 
On Drilling up the Land. 
On the Sowing of Beans. 
On the Sowing of Peas. 
On the Sowing of Tares. 



id of the 



On the Rolling of Land. 

On the Sowing of Oats. 

On the Lambing of Ewes 

On Cross-ploughing Land. 

On Ribbing Land for the Seed-Furrow. 

On the Sowing of Grass-Seeds. 

On the Sowing of Barley. 

On the Turning of Dunghills. 

On the Planting of Potatoes. 

On Paring and Burning the Surface. 



The Work will also embrace many important operations not included in the ordinary rou- 
tine of farming, such as " Judging of Land,"" " Stocking of a Farm," " Improvement of the 
Soil" &c, &c. 

The contributions by Prof. Norton will add greatly to the value of the book, by adapting it to 
the Soil, Climate, Growth, <f-c, of our own Country ; and the united labors of two such dis- 
tinguished men T/ill make this work one of the most complete and valuable to the American 
Farmer, ever issued from the press. 

O" The work will be comprised in about 22 Nos. of 64 pages each. It will contain some 18 
or 20 engravings on steel, and more than 600 wood engravings, in the highest style of the art. 
It will be handsomely printed on fine paper, and sold at 25 cts. a number, or $5 in advance for 
the twenty-two numbers. The numbers can be sent by mail at periodical postage. 

The First Number was issued in March, and the work will be completed in about ona 
year. The first volume, written by Mr. Stephens, is already published in Edinburgh, and the 
American Edition will be printed from the Stereotype plates imported for that purpose. 

Booksellers and Dealers in Periodicals will be furnished on liberal terms. 

Postmasters and others remitting the money, post-paid or franked, for three copies at tho 
above prices, will receive a fourth copy gratis. 

LEONARD SCOTT & Co., Publishers, 
ZVo. 79 Fulton Street, Entrance 54 & U Street. 



THE 

GREAT WORK ON THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 

BY BENSON J. LOSSING, ESQ. 

SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX, 

OR THE WAR OF 

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE: 

A HISTORY OF THE 

ANGLO-AMERICANS, 



FROM THE PERIOD OF THE UNION OF THE COLONIES AGAINST THE 

FRENCH TO THE INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON, THE 

- FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

OF AMERICA. 



WITH GO ENGRAVINGS, ILLUSTRATIVE 



OF PLANS OF BATTLES, PROMINENT EVENTS, INTERESTING LOCALITIES, AND 
PORTRAITS OF DISTINGUISHED MEN OF THE PERIOD. 



NEW EDITION. 



PRICE $2.50. 



Conditions of the Work. — A beautiful octavo volume of 510 pages, 
printed on fine paper, and embellished by 78 illustrations, and bound in mus- 
lin extra gilt. Copies in library binding '25 cents extra. 



MRS. ELLIS'S POPULAR WORKS FOR THE DOMESTIC 
CIRCLE. 



THE 



FAMILY MONITOR, 



COMPRISING THE "WOMEN, MOTHERS. DAUGHTERS AND 
WIVES OF ENGLAND/' 

BY MRS. ELLIS. 

PRICE $2.50. 



GUIDE TO SOCIAL HAPPINESS, 



BY MRS: ELLIS, 



CONTAINING THE '■' POETRY OF LTFE. ;; < ; PICTURES OF PRIVATE 

LIFE," &C. 



PRICE $2.50. 



Each of the above works forms a handsome octavo volume, of over 500 
pa°:es, double columns, with illustrations on steel, bound in muslin, extra 
gilt. 



THE 



BROTHER AND SISTER, 

WITH OTHER TALES FOR YOUTH, 

BY MRS. ELLIS. 



A neat little volume, of 216 pages, muslin gilt, 50 cents. 



PUBLISHED BY E. WALKER, NEW YORK. 47 



CRITICAL OPINIONS ON COWLING'S "HISTORY OF 
ROMANISM." 

"The best evidence of the intrinsic value of this remarkably popular 
work is to be seen in the fact that within the comparatively recent period of 
its first publication, the extraordinary number of 17,000 copies have been 
disposed of, 

" The following is an extract from a letter from the Rev. Dr. Giustiniani, 
the converted Roman Catholic priest, who is abundantly qualified by educa- 
tion, observation, and extensive study, to testify to the fidelity and value of a 
i History of Romanism.' 

" ' If the reader wishes to be acquainted with the errors of Romanism, he 
has only to open the pages of Dowling's History. If the reader is anxious 
to read an epitome of the history of the Popes, their ambition, their intrigues, 
their avariciousness, their tyranny, their superstitions, and their mummeries, 
he can here find all proved and authenticated by the most accredited authors 
of the Church of Rome. L. Giustiniani.' " 

" It reflects much credit on the skill, patience, industry, and judgment of 
the author ; he appears very justly to have conceived the idea of a work 
which has long been regarded as a desideratum by a large portion of those 
interested in the great controversy with the Romanists." — Protestant 
Churchman. 

" We think it an able work, comprising the results of extensive reading 
and research, and well adapted to fill an important chasm in our literature." — 
Lutheran Observer. 

" We regard it as a most important addition to the historical and religious 
literature of the age. Its contents form a rich storehouse of historical in- 
struction, which should be placed within the reach of every family." — N. Y. 
Christian Intelligencer.. 

" It presents a succinct, but sufficiently full, history of the rise, progress, 
errors, cruelties, and present condition of the Papacy, authenticatedeby refer- 
ence to the most undoubted historic sources, related in a spirited, engaging, 
and impressive style, and arranged in the most lucid manner. It abounds in 
facts and incidents, and, with its beautiful illustrations, is better adapted to 
furnish a vivid and impressive portraiture of Romanism as it is, than any 
other book we know of." — N. Y. Evangelist. 

" The detached portions of Roman history which were everywhere to be 
met with, needed to be brought together and presented in systematic order. 
The reading of one book thus becomes better and cheaper than the reading 
of many." — Boston Recorder. 

" It is written with a ready, popular eloquence, for which the well-known 
author is distinguished, and cannot fail to arrest attention to the controversy 
of which it treats, ft is a strongly Protestant work, and exhibits the defor- 
mities of Popery with great power." — N. Y. Recorder. 

"The author appears to have brought to the execution of this great 
work, unwearied industry, genuine and thorough scholarship, and scrupulous 
fidelity. Rufus Babcock, 

" Late President of the Waterville i 



48 NATIONAL AND STANDARD WORKS 

" The arrangement is lucid, the facts are well attested, the style is vigor- 
ous, and the subject one of surpassing interest. We have read several pages, 
and turned to different parts of the book, and have found nothing dry — nothing 
dull. The issue of such a book is timely. Of its usefulness there cannot 
be a doubt. Its comprehensiveness, embracing as it does, every fact of mo- 
ment, gives it superior advantages over any other history for general reading 
or ordinary reference." — Christiaii Reflector, Boston. 

" Its value is greatly enhanced by a large number of beautiful engravings, 
illustrative of the principal events of Papal history, which are executed in 
the highest style of art, and are often eloquently expressive. This work is 
prepared for the people, and is admirably adapted to the times. Its circula- 
tion would do incalculable good in making known the system, tactics, errors, 
and dangers of Popery, and thus most effectually put us on our guard. We 
trust its beautiful appearance will secure it an introduction where its stirring 
appeals and thrilling facts will tell upon the consciences and hearts of the 
people.'' — National Protestant. 

From the Rev. W. C. Brownlee, D. D., New York. 
" I have examined the work entitled, ' Dowling's History of Romanism, Il- 
lustrated.' I consider it one of the most valuable works on the subject, that 
I have ever perused ; and trust it will meet with an extensive circulation. 

W. C. Brownlee." 
.From the Rev. Joseph Wilson, D. D., Pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church, 

Tarrytoum. 
" I have carefully read ' Dowling's History of Romanism,' and can cheer- 
fully recommend it to my fellow Protestants, as an instructive and faithful 
exhibition of Popery, from its origin down to the present time. It is a book 
that should be in the hands of every one desirous of obtaining a perfect know- 
ledge of the great Apostasy. J. Wilson.'' 

" Good service has been done for the cause of truth by its publication, and 
it certainly ought to secure for its author an enviable reputation among con- 
tributors to the standard literature of the day. It reflects much credit on the 
skill, patience, industry, and judgment of the author. It is a history — veri- 
table, authentic history, and not the fabrications of a one-sided controversialist — 
not the conjectural inventions of a determined and bigoted partisan — not a series 
of declamatory tirades against what the Romish Church is supposed to be by 
those who discard her doctrines and authority — but a plain, unvarnished his- 
tory of what she is actually by her own admissions and practices — a faithful 
and impartial exhibition, from her own archives, of her recorded and attested 
opinions and usages. As a book of reference, the work will be found valu- 
able." — Protestant Churchman, New York. 

" This work exhibits a comprehensive view of Romanism — its doctrines 
and ceremonies, its politico-religious machinery, its popes and councils, its 
intolerant spirit, and its murderous practices — from its first origin to the pres- 
ent day. Such a work required deep and protracted research, and it affords 
evidence that diligence, caution, and judgment, in the selection and arrange- 
ment of materials, have not been wanting. The author has availed himself 
of the writings of both Protestants and Papists, and has brought together a 
greater mass of information on the history, the spirit, and the doings of Popery, 
than we have ever seen before in one volume. When the enemy is coming in 
upon us like a flood, it is time to lift up such a standard. The deluded vo- 
taries of the Man of Sin may raise the cry of persecution, and recreant Pro- 
testants may join in the cry, but all who value the truth of God, and the civil 
and religious independence of our country, will hail the appearance of such 
a work." — Philad. Presbyterian. 



[For Specimen Portraits sec Frontispiece.] 

THE STATESMAN'S MANUAL. 



THE 

ADDRESSES AND MESSAGES 

OF THE 

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES 

INAUGURAL, ANNUAL, AND SPECIAL, 

FROM 

1789 to 1849 ; 

WITH 

A MEMOIR OF EACH OF THE PRESIDENTS, 

AND 

A HISTORY OF THEIR ADMINISTRATIONS: 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, AND A SELECTION OF IMPOR- 
TANT DOCUMENTS AND STATISTICAL INFORMATION. 



COMPILED FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES, 

BY EDWIN WILLIAMS. 

EMBELLISHED WITH PORTRAITS OF THE PRESIDENTS, 

ENGRAVED ON STEEL BY VISTUS BALCH. 



IN FOUR VOLUMES, 
PRICE $10. 



Conditions of the Work. — This noble work is comprised in tour oc- 
tavo volumes, of 1942 page*, beautifully printed on the finest paper, with 
12 Portraits exquisitely engraved on steel, with Vignette Title Pages, and 
bound in Strong muslin extra gilt. Copies in sheep binding, library style, 
25 cents a volume extra. 

The Reference Edition of the above work in three large octavo volumes, 
without portraits, muslin, price $7.50. Sheep binding 25 cents ;i volume 
extra. 



PUBLISHED BY E. WALKER, NEW YORK. 23 



CRITICAL NOTICES OF THE » STATESMAN'S MANUAL." 

From the President of the United States. 

Washington, Oct. 19, 1849. 
Mr. E. Walker — Sir : It affords me pleasure to say that I consider the 
'Statesman's Manual" one of the most valuable publications of the day. 
it must become an indispensable book of reference to all persons engaged 
in public affairs, and others who study the history and practical operation 
of our government. I am yours, &c. 

Zachary Taylor. 

From the late President of the United States. 
" To Mr. E. Walker — Dear Sir : I have found your Statesman's Manual 
a valuable work, and exceedingly useful and convenient. Yours, 

J. K. Polk." 

From the Hon. Henry Clay. 
" My Dear Sir : — Your Statesman's Manual is a very valuable work for 
reference. Yours, &c, Henry Clay." 

c - 1 have examined the Statesman's Manual, and am of opinion that it is a 
proper work for school district libraries, and deserving a place in these in- 
stitutions. J. S. Randall, 

Dep. State Sup. Com. Schools." 

" This superb work is a complete repertory of political information re- 
lative to the United States, from 1789 to 1849, containing the addresses and 
messages — inaugural, annual, and special — of the several Presidents be- 
tween those two epochs inclusive. Accompanying is a memoir of each 
of the Presidents, and a history*of their administrations ; also, the consti- 
tution of the United States, and a selection of important documents and 
statistical information. The contents are compiled from official sources, by 
Edwin Williams, Esq., and the whole is embellished with portraits of the 
Presidents, engraved on steel by Balch. The political events which 
have marked the progress of this great Republic, have necessarily been 
foreshadowed in the messages and addresses of the several Presidents, 
bringing them into chronological order and exhibiting their march from in- 
ception to conclusion, must, in a great degree, abridge the time and labor 
usually devoted to their study by politicians. Mr. Williams's work is, 
perhaps, the best help to the student of history, administrative and diplo- 
matic, of the United States, that exists in the language. It should be in 
every library, and form a vade mecum or constant companion to every one 
who aspires to take part in the legislation of this country." — New Orleans 
Picayune. 

"This is one of the most important books published in the United States 
for a long time." — New York Journal of Commerce. 

"A most complete library in itself, of all that concerns the politics of the 
country. No individual should be without these volumes. How many 
hours of idle discussions and senseless debates might be spared to heated 
partizans, were these books at hand for appeal. We shall have frequent 
occasion to refer to them." — Democratic Review. 



24 NAITONAL AND STANDARD WORKS 

" It is emphatically a national work, and as such eminently deserving 
of a national support. No American library, however small, is properly 
made up in which a copy of this Statesman's Manual is not found." — N. 
Y. Express. 

" This is the most important contribution to American political history 
ever published. Certainly, no work can compare with this in condensed 
comprehensiveness, in accuracy, and in all the features which make sucli a 
book valuable. To all persons connected with, or in any degree inter- 
ested in, public affairs, or the political history and condition of the coun- 
try, it is absolutely indispensable." — N. Y. Courier and Enquirer. 

" No politician, no man who desires to understand the history of the se- 
veral administrations of the General Government, should be without a copy 
of it. As a book of reference, it is invaluable." — Harrisburg Argus. 

K It is, in truth, the best historical narrative of our political statistics that 
has ever been published on the science of government, of any description 
whatever, for it furnishes, throughout, the varied and interesting develop- 
ment of the action of a free and enlightened government on the multifa- 
rious interests oi society, and demonstrates that the latter are more per- 
fectly guarded under the segis of republican institutions than any other. 
This work is well written, well printed, and well bound, and must, 
sooner or later, enter into every library." 

" There is no man that ever investigated a political subject connected 
with American affairs, who did not feel the necessity of having just such 
a book of reference as this, and its possession would have often saved 
hours of search after facts. Mr. Williams, the accomplished statistical 
writer, has managed to crowd into the historical sketches of the various ad- 
ministrations a very perfect view of all the political events of each period : 
the predominant influences of each term of administration are fully pre- 
sented, and all are written in a spirit of candor, fairness, and strictest im- 
partiality. He presents facts, and leaves his readers to draw their own 
conclusions. It is scarcely possible to exaggerate the value of a work of 
this kind among a people who enjoy the right of universal suffrage. Ex- 
tensive libraries might be culled, without finding the useful knowledge 
contained in this book — knowledge, essential alike to the voter, the poli- 
tical aspirant, the editor, the legislator and the statesman." — Louisville 
Courier. 

"It contains an immense amount of statistical information of the high- 
est value and importance, to all who are interested in the history and poli- 
tics of the country." — Boston Courier. 

l< It is eminently a national work, and is a vast addition to the literature 
of our country. No statesman or politician can afford to be without a 
copy of a work of such rare excellence and value." — Washtenaw Whig^ 
Mich. 

"We can say no more, and ought to say no less, of this work, than that 
it is the most complete constitutional history of the United Slates thai exists, 
or that can be constructed within the same space. Il is indispensable to 
the library of every American scholar;, as a book of reference, and as its 
title indicates, it is, and always must be, the Statesman's Manual." 
York Evening Post. 



PUBLISHED BY E. WALKER, NEW YORK. 25 

" We cannot well see how any one who takes any interest whatever in 
political events can do without this book. It is a vade mecum that has no 
competitor among the books of this country : this work fills a hiatus 
that has long been sensibly felt." — Louisville Journal. 

" A most useful work, one which every man who would know a great 
number of the most important facts and statistics in the history of our gov- 
ernment, ought to have.." — The Aurora, Ohio. 

" The { Statesman's Manual,' is a work of great value, and should be 
owned and read by every citizen who wishes to know the administrative 
history of the government under which he lives. It presents information, 
no where else to be found in a combined form, of the utmost importance to 
every American, and absolutely necessary for every public man to pos- 
sess." — Boston Post. 

"This publication is invaluable, not only to the politician, but to every 
citizen : no American library will be complete without it." — New Orleans 
Bulletin 

" No library should be without the book, and if any man has got a house 
without a library, let him purchase these to begin one. We take, it for 
granted that a work of such unusual interest will be universally called 

for." — Graham's Magazine. 

" We have no hesitation in pronouncing this work the best standard pro- 
duction that has come under our observation. That such a national work 
as this is valuable, it needs not our assertion to convince our readers, for 
all must admit that a more estimable treasure, excepting the Bible, could 
not adorn and enrich their libraries." — Weldon Herald, N. C. 

"Few productions of the present age have emanated from the press with 
stronger claims upon the public patronage than this. It is a noble attempt 
to present to the great body of the American people, in an available and 
popular form, the documentary history of the executive government from 
its commencement under Washington to that of Taylor, together with the 
details of each administration, in consecutive order, and a mass of impor- 
tant statistical matter not elsewhere to be met with." — Boston Post. 

'•'A work of the utmost utility and value as a standard of reference. 
We commend it to the especial attention of our readers as a production of 
rare excellence and merit, and one eminently deserving their patronage. It 
must ever remain an authority of high and permanent utility."— Boston 
Puritan Recorder. 

"Here is indeed a work worthy of its title — national ; there can be no 
doubt of its taking its place permanently among works of the highest 
value." — Boston Christian Register. 

"To say that these elegant and important tomes deserve a conspicuous 
place in every private and public library, is not all that should be said — 
they are indispensable to every lawyer, politician, or intelligent, patriotic 
citizen." — Boston Christian Witness. 



AUG -1 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Jan. 2006 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



